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Maybe it is bordom from not having to feed the snakes or it could be the below freezing temps for the last couple of weeks. But a friend and I have been trying to decide what a albino rubber boa would look like. Has one ever been known to exist, if so what color was it? I'm saying a light yellow, my friend says they would be white. Can anyone shed any light on this crazy topic?

Thanks

The one and only Charina bottae that I ever observed and collected apeard to be nearly albino. I remember it as having dark eyes but it was almost a pinkish color. I do believe if you search back a year or so in this very forum you will find pictures of it. I am sure Richard or Ryan Hoyer would be able to tell you exactly what an albino would look like as there research on the specie far exceeds mine.
My reptile collection and research

Hooch,
One would surmise that on rare occasions, an albino specimen is produced in Charina bottae as is the case with many species. I have never heard of anyone finding such a mutant. An acquaintance that once bred the species mentioned someone in Ohio or thereabouts had a piebald specimen.

If you visit my son's rubberboas.com web site, it shows the genetic variation in the normal dorsal coloration of the species. Coloration varies not only between geographical populations but within populations as well. Same thing applies to the variation in ventral coloration although, the within variation is usually less noticeable than the between population variations.

There are two or three distinct color morph variants to my knowledge. In Idaho, I once examined a reasonably large number of boas collected by others. All specimens exhibited the normal range of brown dorsal coloration. However, approximately half possessed the normal ventral yellow while the other half exhibited orange colored ventrals. There wasn't any gradation and the ratio of 1:1 suggests a simple genetic mode of inheritance.

In about 1970, in Corvallis, Oregon I found a juvenile that was a pretty shade of light purple dorsally and whitish ventrally with black eyes. The next year, from a normal appearing, gravid female that my oldest son had collected in the same region, she produced a litter of 5 with two being wildtype (normal coloration) and three exhibiting he same mutant coloration I had observed in the juvenile the year before. A year later I found a 19" subadult female with the same mutation. Over the years, I worked out the genetics. The mutation behaved as a single gene recessive which I named 'lilac' for the coloration of the neonate (newborn). With age, the dorsal lilac turns to gray. The eyes remain black and ventral surface remains white.

Due to carelessness on my part, I eventually lost that line. A similar, if not identical mutation has been observed in Utah as well and as of a year ago, the original specimen was still being maintained. I have urged my son to obtain a photo of that specimen in order to incorporate it in his rubber boa web site.

When I first examined and recorded data on a litter of 4 neonates produced from a pair that came from the Mt. St. Helena area of Napa, Sonoma, and Lake Counties in Calif., I noticed they possessed an odd type of dorsal brown and rich lemon yellow ventrals. This coloration was quite different from what I had observed in all other neonates examined in Oregon, Washington, Calif., and Utah. I made note of it but then forgot all about it until someone sent me three neonates from SE Somoma County with the same distinct coloration. Two addition neonates were acquired (since released where found) with the same coloration.

Then this past active season, I bred a pair of boas that were found in the East Bay area of Berkeley, Calif. The female produced 7 neonates all with the distinctive coloration observed in the above mentioned boas from the Mt. St. Helena area. In contrast, all other neonates I have observed are generally a form of flesh color or light orangish/brown dorsally blending into a very light pinkish flesh ventral color sometimes with a hint of yellow.

Last, in May 2003, I found a small subadult male in Shasta County, Calif. that was burnt orange or rust color dorsally and orange ventrally. On my way back to Oregon a week later, about 100 meters away I found a subadult female that possessed the normal brown dorsal surface and a hint of orange with the ventral yellow. On my way south to Calif. to release boas I had found in the spring, this past Sept. I stopped by the same spot and found an adult female with the same identical coloration as the first subadult male. Below on this forum my son posted a few photos of that specimens along side a female with the more normal coloration.

Richard F. Hoyer

Richard
Do you remember the photos I posted of the individual I collected in the Elkins Flat are of the El Dorado National Forest “Amador Ranger District”? I have since misplaced them or I would simply repost them here. Do you recall if that is the normal coloration for the area the individual was collected? This was the first and last C. Bottae I observed anywhere. If I remember correctly it was a pinkish coloration with black eyes.
My reptile collection and research

Jasson,
Only have a vague recollection but I do not recall viewing any boa photo that I would have considered as unusual. If I had, I would have paid particular attention to it since I wish to record
the variation that occurs in the species.

The vast majority of neonates have dark grayish/black eyes at birth. Within about a year, sometimes longer, they eventually lighten up. The eye color varies greatly withing he species ranging from yellow, to bronze, greenish, gray, to black with gradations and flecking with combinations of different colors.

Richard F. Hoyer

Ok thanks. I will see if I cant somehow dig up a picture of the individual in question but its doubtful I still have it. If in fact I do have it I will repost is.
My reptile collection and research

Richard
The good news is I found the pictures of the individual I collected. The bad news is since I am out of web space I must wait for my ISP to call me back so I can add more space. I was correct in thinking the individual was pinkish in color. I hope my ISP gets back to me today but if not I will have the pictures posted to this thred no later than tomorrow.
My reptile collection and research

Here are the 2 remaining pictures I have of the indevidual observed in the Elkins Flat are of the El Dorado National Forest

My reptile collection and research

Jason,
The coloration of your boa in your photographs as the shown on my computer are not even a hint of pink in them. The lower photograph show a more basic orange coloration whereas the closeup on the bark shows shows a dorsal coloration that is orangish-brown. Both dorsal colors are typical for a boa of that size (9" - 10" stretched length) that is around 1 to 2 years of age.

Richard F. Hoyer

Hmmm now that you mention it I guess there is more orange in there. The pictures really do not do the coloration of this individual justice. Roughly 2 years old you say? That’s interesting, I would have guessed a lot younger but I am use to larger specie. As stated before this is the first and only C. Bottae I have ever observed and collected. I have since made the trip back to the location it was collected but had not luck in obtaining anymore. Dose this specie normally stay in communal areas? I have read about several individuals occurring under one piece of cover but as stated have never observed it myself. I am in high hopes this year that I will observe more C. Bottae as I have become very interested in them. What would you say is the best time of year, day, habitat to located this specie? I have been told that with the very wet weather we have been having here in N California we should start seeing C. Bottae as well as C. Tennuis under cover object soon. Dose C. Bottae not hold out under ground for the winter. I have personal observed several C. Tennuis just this last winter but they seem to seek more secretive shelter in the warmer months “About May- August” Anyway thanks for any info you can offer.
My reptile collection and research

Janson,
I believe I mentioned about 1 to 2 years old. As shown, the dorsal coloration is rather dark for a recently new born boa. Thus if you found in it Sept. or Oct., in all likelihood it would have been born the year before. If you found it anytime between March and the end of August, it also would have been born the year before. It is also possible that instead of being born in 2003, it was born in 2002 as there usually is very little growth between the first and second year of age.

C bottae can sometimes be found in aggregation similar to many other species. This is particularly true where they hibernate and in the early spring when they are thermoregulating before going forth to seek prey and when they are seeking mates. The most I have found at one time was 9, two females being courted by 7 males under part of a metal sign in Salem, Oregon.

Best time of year to find the species is in the spring and time of day depends on specific environmental conditions of sunlight exposure and temperature. In your region of the Sierras, I suspect the species begins to show up around 4000 ft. Once you get 3 -4 days of sunshine with temperatures in the mid to high 50's and above, adult males can be found. This can occur in March or possibly earlier in the Sierra. They can be found here in Oregon and in the Bay Area in Feb. and sometimes in Jan. Adult females begin to emerge about 3 - 4 weeks later than the adult males.

Contia tenuis can be found every month of the year at lower elevations when sunlight warms surface objects. As mentioned earlier on Kingsnake, I found 8 Sharp-tailed Snakes thsi past Dec. 24th at Wheatland, Calif. on our way south of Christmas with my kin. The one research paper on the species by Cook (1960) showed that the species is most frequently found in Calif. during Feb. - March and again in November.

Richard F. Hoyer

Well that is unfortunate news. I am sure that the info you provided was basic info that will vary from place to place. But all the habitat above 4000’ here is still to far under snow in march for me to get my research vehicle in. I suppose I can leave the vehicle at the highway and take the ATV in to the area in question. That is however a long 15-20 mile ATV ride in deep snow. I don’t quite recall when I collected the one in the pictures but I believe it was late spring/early summer of 2003 if I am correct. I suppose my best bet would be to try to locate a female later in the season as you mentioned. That way there would be no question as to being able to get that far back of the main road. The individual pictured was found only about 200’ off of a forest service road but the road was all dirt and still about 15-20 miles off of the county road. Anyway thanks for the info I will make sure to post any pictures if I observe or collect any.
My reptile collection and research

Jason,
Hang on a minute. You need not go back to exactly where you found your specimen as if that is the hot spot for the species. Suitable Rubber Boa habitat is exists virtually uninterrupted from northern Kern County all the way to British Columbia. Conseqently, the species distribution also extends continuously from north to south as well.

Richard F. Hoyer

So from what you say the specie should occur right here in my backyard? Lower Amador County near Sacramento County? The reason I figured going back to the same area is after 7-8 years of field collecting and 2-3 years of research I have only observed that one individual. However all my past research and collecting has been with larger specie such as Pituothis melanoleucus and Lampropeltis getulus californiae so to be honest in my field collecting days I was not looking for “Worms” However I will also add we were looking for Crotelus atrox When the C. Bottae was found in a rotten log “Almost over looked do to its size and coloration closely matching the rotting log. Were I currently reside is only a couple blocks from the N. Comanche Gate at about 200’ above sea level. Is C. Bottae known to occur at such a low elevation. Our summers here are very harsh, while not as bad as S. California it gets hot “90-105F” and the ground here gets absolutely bone dry. This is why I conduct my searches in the forest as at 6000’ it still gets dry but temps are more like 70 or maybe 80F in the summer and a good share of the rivers don’t completely dry up as they do here giving the specie that like moist ground somewhere to go.
My reptile collection and research

You were looking for western diamondbacks but found a rubber boa? I hope you meant C. viridis, as rubber boas and C. atrox have completely different distributions, and C. atrox doesn't occur anywhere near Amador County (you'd need to go far southeast into the desert).

I am sorry, my mistake. We were looking for C. viridis. Silly me. I even remember doing a double take when I typed that but figured it was accurate. Thank you for pointing me in the right direction. I spent just about every weekend of last spring, summer and fall in the area in question and only observed and photographed one C. viridis. I must agree though this is not the best area to observe the specie.
My reptile collection and research