BCC or BCI?

[crocsnhots]

hello everyone,
Perhaps this question has been brought up before, how does one tell the difference between bcc and bci? The tail colour is usually a simple indicator I have noticed, however what are the documented differences that tell them apart?

Thanks

[reverendsterlin]

Boa constrictor Imperator (BCI) have 253 ventral scales (or less) and a midbody scale count of 55-79 and Boa constrictor constrictor's (BCC) have 234 to 250 ventral scales and a midbody scale count of 89-95. Some will say saddle count with Bcc having less than 20 and Bci having more than 21, and some will say saddle shape is a way. The ventral counts are very close so midbody scale count seems the best.

[reverendsterlin]

B.c.constrictor 231‑250 43-62 77-95 20-25 16-20 16-22 2-3 14-22
B.c.imperator 225‑260 47-70 55-79 17-23 14-20 13-16 1-2 22-30 first #'s are ventral plates, caudal plates, mid-body scale rows, supra-labials, circum-orbitals, inter-occulars, lori-labrial rows, and finally dorsal spots. These are known as meristics and are probably available for most species and their subspecies. hope the spacing holds for ease of read

[Linds]

Click <a href="http://www.ssnakess.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=11453&highlight=difference">here</a> for a previous discussion on the topc ;)

[crocsnhots]

Thank you so much for all the information. =)
To add to the identification question above, what about bcc locales? (ex. guyana, suriname, peruvian, brazilian...)
When viewing a bcc without importer/breeder direct information, what defining characteristics should someone look for?

Thanks =)

[reverendsterlin]

with locales, in most instances, you either have to collect the animal itself or trust the seller to be telling the truth. Some people may claim to be able to tell one locale Bcc from another but given a room full of unknown Bcc's and I think they will get about the same # correct as anyone that was just guessing. Saddle shape, saddle count, color, speckling, and size have all been offered as definitive ways of seperating them, this may be true in some cases, seldom will a hog and colombian be confused. Still, without verifiable documentation (locale specific breeders always have it) Bcc is just Bcc. This link has a table with the meristics of the subspecies of Boa constrictor, boa constrictor meristics table (http://home.att.net/~crinaustin/BoaGeneral.htm)
The mention of some folks that believe Bci should really be Bcc 'imperator' hasn't been made either. If you want to get into locale breeding, the only real ways to do it is to collect your own, deal with specialist breeders, or make sure the smaller breeder has records that you can verify, you should be able to trace lineage all the way back to the original import records, your own records should be able to produce the same info on every animal you sell.

[Linds]

Guyana and Suriname BCC are pretty much the same snake. Some people claim that suris are pink while guyanas are purple, all the while you will see some very pink guyanans and some purple suris... why? Look on a map....they are the same snake. They were there long before there was a manmade border involved ;) Brazilians are not as common and don't typically acheive the rich pinks or purples that may be found in suri/guyana, often displaying a paler body colouration. Peruvian BCC tend to be a bit more obvious to tell apart, as they often have yellow base colour. These are supposedly the largest locality of BCC.

[crocsnhots]

Thanks!

[MouseKilla]

So, in other words: there is no easy way to tell BCI from BCC? I know I've seen plenty of both but I couldn't tell you one from the other. I keep watching this topic come up hoping someone will come out with a simple way to tell what I have. I've been told it looks like I have a Columbian BCI but I don't know how people arrive at this conclusion.