Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I lurk here and have often been on Rubberboa.com. I enjoy Rubber Boas, but the prices I have recently seen on ads have been so excessive for such a small plain worm like looking animal.

I know prices are driven by demand and they are not commonly bred by those of us that like them and litters are small but still, anything over $50.00 or $60.00 seems SO excessive. I'd hate to see people plunder them in areas because there are now some folks willing to pay more than $100.00.

Cute, awesome, personable little guys but REALLY?

Just my opinion. You may feel differently and are entitled to your opinion too but sheesh!

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"If people are only good because they fear punishment, and hope for reward, then we are a sorry lot indeed." Albert Einstein.

I agree.
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Kent

I realize folks can ask anything they want for things. I guess I just enjoyed this little corner of the reptile hobby that is not mainstream? Where just some few folks enjoy a neat little snake that is somewhat drab and unattractive and overlooked by the masses. Oh well.... Sorry for the rant.
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"If people are only good because they fear punishment, and hope for reward, then we are a sorry lot indeed." Albert Einstein.

The sad thing and what is wrong, is alot of the so called captive bred rubber boas are wild caught. At least call them what they are.
They are not even close to being rare at all, in fact I have caught more in one night than any other snake that I have looked for.
They were all photographed and released, except for one female that I caught over eight years ago which I have have.

Yes, I've seen that, where CB babies arrive with scarred tails and skin problems.

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"If people are only good because they fear punishment, and hope for reward, then we are a sorry lot indeed." Albert Einstein.

BobS, others:
The only restrictions on the take of non-protected species of herps in Oregon is that native species, including the Rubber Boa, cannot be sold or bartered. So for years, I have had a standing offer to anyone willing to travel to the Corvallis, Oregon area, I would take them out so they could collect their own boa. And over the years, I have had a few individuals do that very thing.

As for price, many years ago I looked into the commercial sale of the species and the asking prices in the Kingsnake web site's ad section. At that time, prices ranged from about $100 to $150 as I recall. So it would seem that not much has changed price wise. And yes, a number of individuals posted photos of the Rubber Boas they had purchase as having been captive bred but with grossly scarred tail tips indicating they had been wild caught.

The reason the species has been considered to be rare is due to a number of factors not the least of which is the species is mostly fossorial and secretive. Then on top of that aspect, most professional and amateur herpetologist make searches for snake during warm, sunny weather from mid spring through the summer months. That is fine for finding some species of snakes but not very conducive for finding the boa.

I begin my field season for finding the species in February here in northwestern Oregon and continue until it gets overly warm and hot which usually occurs by late spring.

As for abundance, consider the following: For over 40 years, I have traveled a certain road west of Corvallis and have spied a couple of abandoned sheds in a field on the east side of the highway. I have always felt that the site was a prime place for finding the species as the field had remained undisturbed all of this time. On April 19th, when driving by those two sheds, I though I could see a roofing on the ground by the north shed.

I have been able to contact the owner of the property and got permission to see what I could find. On the first visit, in 5 - 10 minutes of turning about 10 roofing tins, I came away with 9 Rubber Boas. After recording data on those specimens at home, when I returned to release those boas, I found two more.

Richard F. Hoyer

Wish Oregon wasn't so far away. Lol

The local shows out this way like Hamburg PA and White Plains usually bring an asking price of $45 to $60. The basic novice folks perusing all the snakes are more into the shiny, colorful and "pretty" snakes. Little Rubber Boas are looked over because there's not much out there less interesting to the majority of folks in that category other than DeKays snakes and brown Anoles.

It's the seasoned hobbyist that generally notices them and understands there is beauty in this cute little worm snake. They are drab by Milksnake and Ball Python standards, not impressive and don't generate tons of interest from the folks who see snake breeding as income because they can't be bred in large numbers.

I think they are awesome little guys but I still think prices of $100.00 or more is excessive. To me it's like charging $80.00 for a ho hum Drab Eastern Garter snake or $60.00 for an Anole. You can ask that kind of price and some folks might pay that much but most sensible folks are going to pass.

They lack curb appeal but folks like me are always going to see them as a gem and I like it that way.
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"If people are only good because they fear punishment, and hope for reward, then we are a sorry lot indeed." Albert Einstein.

I have never been involved with the pet industry side of herps so am pretty much ignorant in that regard. I suspect that the price for any species is pretty much governed by supply and demand.

Essentially every species on earth are gems in their own way possessing unique life history aspects that could be fascinating if such were to be revealed. I began my continued involvement with the Rubber Boa in July, 1962 and then in 1965, decided to learn all I could about the species. At the time, I had never encountered the species in the wild and didn't do so until about 1966 or 1967 when I was 32 or 33 years of age.

Richard F. Hoyer

Pretty cool.
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"If people are only good because they fear punishment, and hope for reward, then we are a sorry lot indeed." Albert Einstein.

Like anything else, it's a supply and demand thing. I wrote an article for "Reptiles" on Rubber Boas and had an endless string of e-mails from people wanting them (I am raising a CB pair that are not up to breeding size).

I've seen them cheap and I've seen them expensive over the years. Their seeming "seasonal availability" tends to get people crazed and willing to pay more than if the snakes were available year round.

I have not seen either WC or CB Rubber Boas advertised that much over the last two or three years and that presents the idea of scarcity.

I started keeping them after finding my first wild ones in 2011. Luckily there was a local breeder working with them.

Tim

NorCal Boa that I found last year:

Third Eye Herp

Looks like a nice fat female. It interesting how clean she looks. Most of the wild boas I have seen in Oregon have a lot of scarring.
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Kent

Nice pic
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"If people are only good because they fear punishment, and hope for reward, then we are a sorry lot indeed." Albert Einstein.