New to Boas (and the Forum) - Meet Aunty Rachel

[dannybgoode]

Hi All

I used to own a corn which I rescued a little (bought 'second hand' though I hate that phrase when it comes to animals). She was in poor shape but I didn't know at the time but I got her feeding good and she lived to about 16 yo.

I was getting ready to dismantle her viv the other week and it made me realise how much I wanted another snake. A bit (ok a lot of coercing) of my wife and she eventually agreed.

I have always loved Boas - I love their head shape, their proportions, size - everything!

So a visit to a (truly excellent) local reptile store and I came with this stunning CA BCI. I love just the 'common' morphs. Nature knows how to do beauty IMO better than humans do.

She's settling in well, no hiding at all and has taken her first mouse from me.

Just one question - is it possible to tell where in CA she would originate (although she is a CB if that makes sense)?

[dross9615]

It may be my mind playing tricks on me but she looks like a lot of visible hets for blood that I have seen. Do you have anymore pics of her?

[bigsnakegirl785]

No, there's no way to tell by looking at them. You can make guesses, but they could be way off or the snake could be a mix.

But either way, welcome to boas, and to the forum!

[dannybgoode]

@dross - she is 66% poss het t albino. However I have no idea what that means! I'm afraid I'm not really up on morphs etc - it was just love at first sight. Which bits are the hets?

She was actually bred in house by one of the store owners so I can get full details of lineage etc.

I'll get some more pictures today. I'm limiting the handling of her whilst she settles. She seems remarkably calm though. No hissing or puffing when I do get her out and she's happy to be on full display during the day and get active at night.

[dannybgoode]

Oh and in case anyone was wondering my little boy named her after a teacher at his nursery who he likes.

He took one look at her and said she's Aunty Rachel. I was going to think of something more unusual but if you've ever tried to change a 3 year olds mind about something like that you'll know that that's what she's going to be called!

[EL Ziggy]

Welcome back to the hobby and best wishes Dan. Very nice boa.

[toddnbecka]

Pretty little boa, looks quite a bit like our male. He's also 66% het for albino and leopard. BCI's typically have a great disposition, more inclined to calmly hang out with you than corn snakes generally do.

[dross9615]

No, there's no way to tell by looking at them. You can make guesses, but they could be way off or the snake could be a mix.

But either way, welcome to boas, and to the forum!

Sorry I got ahead of myself I didn't mean to make it sound like I was suggesting it was a blood. I just thought the reds were pretty out there in this one.

[bigsnakegirl785]

@dross - she is 66% poss het t albino. However I have no idea what that means! I'm afraid I'm not really up on morphs etc - it was just love at first sight. Which bits are the hets?

She was actually bred in house by one of the store owners so I can get full details of lineage etc.

I'll get some more pictures today. I'm limiting the handling of her whilst she settles. She seems remarkably calm though. No hissing or puffing when I do get her out and she's happy to be on full display during the day and get active at night.

66% poss het albino means it has a chance of carrying the albino gene. Since albino is recessive, animals that carry one gene of albinism are called hets, or heterozygous. You need two genes to make a visual. And a poss het means that both parents were hets.

You can't tell when a snake is het albino without breeding them, so all you can do is say poss het unless the parents leave no doubt of the offspring being visual or 100% hets.

Sorry I got ahead of myself I didn't mean to make it sound like I was suggesting it was a blood. I just thought the reds were pretty out there in this one.

No worries, I was actually responding to dannybgoode anyways, with their question about whether or not it was possible to see what locality of Central American their boa was.

[Nightflight99]

@dross - she is 66% poss het t albino. However I have no idea what that means! I'm afraid I'm not really up on morphs etc - it was just love at first sight. Which bits are the hets?
bigsnakegirl785 already gave a good explanation of what it means, so I'll just add a few comments:

Anytime you hear someone mentioning specific percentages followed by the term "het," they're always referring to statistical probabilities of that animal carrying a particular genetic trait (i.e., being heterozygous for that trait). As long as that same genetic trait was known in the parent animals that produced this snake, those probabilities can be calculated. However, since they are based on statistics, which can be highly inaccurate at small sample sizes, they are merely loose predictions.

Statistically speaking, if you were to mate your specimen to an albino male, it would either be expected to produce 50% normally-colored and 50% albino specimens (if yours is in fact heterozygous for albinism) or 100% normally-colored snakes (if yours is not heterozygous). In genetics, this is called a test cross. In herpetoculture, it is mostly a fun experiment.

If all of this sounds too confusing and academic, then don't worry about it and just enjoy the animal. :)

Nature knows how to do beauty IMO better than humans do.
I love this quote and wholeheartedly agree!

[dannybgoode]

Well I am pleased to report that Aunty Rachel is settling in well.

She is feeding well - refused her mouse just after sheffing but left it 4 days and tried again and she ate no problem.

Her shed was perfect - one nice piece of snake skin. Always a relief when they shed nice and clean, particularly the first few times.

Weighed her in (as she was nice and empty) at 77g. First weigh in so we'll see in a month or so how she is progressing.

Was very tempted by one of her siblings when I went to the snake store - a CA super motley - iridescent green/black. Stunning snake. Luckily she has sold now so the temptation is removed.

Pic of the CA super motley:

https://scontent-lhr3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xft1/v/t1.0-9/1929764_459270227596495_1104481914328031051_n.jpg? oh=5bfe85d45cc1e8154db62b16099c3ba7&oe=5744B09D

And a recent pic of Rachel. Taking under flash so this is a good indication of her colour...

[chairman]

I may be mistaken, but isn't the maximum life expectancy of a super motley about 2 years? You may have saved yourself some money and heartache by passing on that purchase.

[dannybgoode]

I may be mistaken, but isn't the maximum life expectancy of a super motley about 2 years? You may have saved yourself some money and heartache by passing on that purchase.

Really? I know the store that sells them have held back some from previous litters and they are going strong at 3+ years.

I will ask them next time I am in there. They are pretty much one of the best stores in the UK so I would not expect any BS from them.

As it is I am very happy with my 'normal' - had her out just a short while ago and she really is a pretty snake...

[chairman]

I ran across the lethality issue in a recent BOI thread. But I just did a little digging, apparently Central American Super Motleys don't have issues. Columbian Super Motleys die young.

[bigsnakegirl785]

Well I am pleased to report that Aunty Rachel is settling in well.

She is feeding well - refused her mouse just after sheffing but left it 4 days and tried again and she ate no problem.

Her shed was perfect - one nice piece of snake skin. Always a relief when they shed nice and clean, particularly the first few times.

Weighed her in (as she was nice and empty) at 77g. First weigh in so we'll see in a month or so how she is progressing.

Was very tempted by one of her siblings when I went to the snake store - a CA super motley - iridescent green/black. Stunning snake. Luckily she has sold now so the temptation is removed.

Pic of the CA super motley:

https://scontent-lhr3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xft1/v/t1.0-9/1929764_459270227596495_1104481914328031051_n.jpg? oh=5bfe85d45cc1e8154db62b16099c3ba7&oe=5744B09D

And a recent pic of Rachel. Taking under flash so this is a good indication of her colour...

I would not waste your money, and the breeder who bred the pairing that made that super motley made an unethical breeding. There's a reason why respectable breeders refuse to make a motley x motley pairing.

It's because, as mentioned, super motleys have a 100% mortality rate, and 2-3 years is honestly really old for a super motley. They are born with muscle deficiencies that get worse and worse, no matter how much you feed them they wither away. As far as I know, there has either only been one super motley that made it to breeding age, or there has been none. If one did make it to breeding age, it most likely didn't produce anything. A boa in as sorry of a state as a super motley would be seriously harmed by trying to use the energy needed to breed.

Both the CA and the Colombians die at early ages.