Cost for a hog isle boa?

[ChristinaM]

Just curious as to what kind of price range these guys run in?


Thanks

[Drew S]

I got my female for $225 Canadian, but I think they average higher than that.

[foman]

$300-$400 but be careful they are just like werther's candy you can't just have one.hehe

[BoidKeeper]

Mine will be $350 if they produce next year.
Cheers,
Trevor

[djc3674]

WOW!!! $350 seems quite high. I paid $225 for mine. He is from a reduced pattern line produced by Paul Mitchell. www.pmherps.com

[NiagaraReptiles]

I see you are in NY, which would mean you paid $225 US. Trevor was talking in Canadian funds. Actually, $225 US = $300 CAN at the current current exchange rate, plus CITES/Inspection/Shipping, your snake would have cost a Canadian close to $500 CAN.

JonK

[BoidKeeper]

Thanks Jon.

[ChristinaM]

So is it pretty much safe to say it would be around the $300 mark?

JonK: do you have any hogs?
Trevor: hmmmmm, too bad you weren't closer. I'd like to avoid shipping if possible, but will keep a look out for your posts saying you have babies up for sale.

Thanks folks.

[BoidKeeper]

If you get $300 you're doing good. Demand for these small boas is on the rise. My only concern is that more and more people are claiming to have Sears line when I only know one person with, them. By tagging the name Sears line onto their hogs breeders also tag on another $100. All you have to do if want to make sure you're getting pure hog blood is ask to see pics of the parents. If the mother is under 5' then your going to be getting a hog that will stay small the way they are supposed to be. All the hogs that were imported in the 70's were small. It's only since people started crossing them with colombians that 6'+ hogs have been produced.
Cheers,
Trevor

[ChristinaM]

Thanks Trevor. I will definately keep that in mind, as well as post a zillion questions if I decide to get one. They are beautiful, but may be out of my price range.

[djc3674]

I see you are in NY, which would mean you paid $225 US. Trevor was talking in Canadian funds. Actually, $225 US = $300 CAN at the current current exchange rate, plus CITES/Inspection/Shipping, your snake would have cost a Canadian close to $500 CAN.


Didn't realize he is in Canada. So do you need a CITES permit for each snake you purchase in Canada? How much do these permits cost? If someone pays $350 CAN dollars plus all those other costs does it wind up being over $500 CAN? That ends up being a nice chunk of change for a Hog Isle, not to mention, if you become addicted to them...you'll be broke in no time...hehe.

All I know is I paid $225 US and he included shipping for me. I'm happy!! I'm thinking about getting one of his Hypo Hog Island females that should be coming soon, to breed w/ my male in a few years.

Here are my males parents...again bred by Paul Mitchell. As far as I know they are pure Hog.

Normal Female
http://pmherps.com/boids/hog/hog202F.jpg

Patternless Male
http://pmherps.com/boids/hog/patternless/hog10a.jpg

[foman]

djc3674- Looks like you scored a hoggie from some nice stock, I have seen pics of hypo hogs and they look awesome.

[tHeGiNo]

What is a hypo hog?

[NiagaraReptiles]

Bichiraddict - Yes I do have Hogs and expect a litter in about a months time.

Trevor - I'm not sure how much weight I would put in the whole lineage thing with Hog Island Boas. It's been many, many years since they were collected, so new blood is pretty limited I think. I also think this can be attributed to the larger size of some of the females we see today. Reptiles evolve over time, and it's been theorized that Hog's were staying small to begin with due to the limited amount of food in their natural habitat. Many species grow larger in captivity (especially after several generations of captive breeding) than their wild counterparts. I'm sure people have crossed them out with mainland locales, but I wouldn't blame every large female of being tainted....... I don't know, just my thoughts.
From what I understand, the original wild caught imports were quite "ugly" and much darker than the refined versions we see today as well.

djc3674 - My point was to lay out what your same snake would have cost if someone on the Canadian side of the border were to have purchased it at the same price you did. Any and every type of Boa requires a CITES permit and inspections to be moved across international borders. They can, however be moved internally within a country with out the need for CITES paperwork and inspection.

Best wishes all,

JonK

[BoidKeeper]

Jon,

According to Vin Russo's article "mini boas" there are american breeders that have been able to retain pure blood hogs.
As for them growing larger in captivity there is some weight to that therory yes but I think of it like this, no matter how well you feed a poodle it will never grow as large as a great dane.
So given that they will grow larger because of better diet and some mixed blood I still feel the best way to ensure small hogs is look at the parents. Regardless of the line, if you want small hogs buy from breeders who have small adults.
Cheers,
Trevor

[NiagaraReptiles]

I do see your point, but I don't agree with the analogy. Mammals and reptiles are very different metabolically.

I don't know if there would be any way to tell purity or not based on appearance and size.........personally, I buy what I like :) I might have a more strict opinion if they were actually two different species I guess........

Your final statement sums it up well and I agree fully :)

I hope I didn't offend you Trevor, I was just offering my opinion :D

JonK

[djc3674]

What is a hypo hog?

This is a hypo hog. I think they are beautiful!!!!

http://pmherps.com/sub/hypohog.html

[BoidKeeper]

I hope I didn't offend you Trevor, I was just offering my opinion
Oh please! Just because two people don't always agree doesn't mean the other one will be offended. Frankly, I think that's offencive! lol
Now take Jeff and Invictus, now there's two guys that never agree on anything, they never get offended. We need more members that are easy going and let other people have their opinions even if, like in this case they are wrong. hee hee:p
Cheers,
Trevor

[NiagaraReptiles]

hahaha, nice.........

I do tend to tread lightly on forums as I have had many experiences where statements have been taken completely out of context and such. Good to know I don't have to worry about that with you :)

JonK

[BoidKeeper]

You take that back!

[Linds]

Originally posted by BoidKeeper
All the hogs that were imported in the 70's were small. It's only since people started crossing them with colombians that 6'+ hogs have been produced.


Where are you getting this information from? Unfortunately when everything was wiped out on my computer a few months ago I lost all my bookmarks, but I know several of them (breeders with pure stock that could be traced or that they imported themselves) backed up what Jaremy explained in his post.

Originally posted by JDouglas

She is around 6ft an is still growing. I have seen many posts here and on other forums that say "pure" Hog Island boas don't get over six feet long but many females do and I can prove it.

Mark Wendling was one of the first people to breed Hog Island boas and started over a decade ago. I first met him at a show seven years ago. He had wild caught adults from Bob Sears and later purchased a few from Tracey Barker. One of his wild caught Sear's females was over 7ft and would drop litters of 40+ babies. I was able to see all of these Hogs when I visited Mark's house on many occasions. His large WC female is the mother of my 6ft Hog. One of her siblings that was born a few years earlier is owned by Dr. Shawn Lockhart and is over 7 ft. Mark sold "pure" Hogs for many years and much of the Hog Island boa population in the US originated from him, especially in the midwest. At the last show in Des Moines, IA there were three tables selling Hog babies that were all grand-kids to his WC adults. Chances are that if you bought a Hog in the Midwest it originated from his adults. A few years ago Mark sold all of his animals. His Sears line Hogs were sold to the "Boaphile" Jeff Ronnie, and his Hogs from Tracey Barker went to John Meltzer who is also in MN. My guess is that the majority of Hogs are smaller but a few WC Hogs were larger and are responsible for many of the larger Hogs we see today. So the next time you see a large hog don't instantly think it is "unpure" because you may be wrong.

[BoidKeeper]

Where are you getting this information from?
Vin Russo.
I recently acquired a pair of what I have reason to belive are WC Hogs. I can't wait to see how big they get. Hopefully I won't be eating my words.
Cheers,
Trevor

[hip]

Trev I hate to burst your bubble ..................... But Hog's haven't been seen on the Island since the mid to late 80's (many people have been there looking for a wild population.) I am 99.99% sure your very nice Hog's are captive born from a few generations of captive born lineage. Makes keeping the lines pure all that more important dont you think?


Hip

[BoidKeeper]

Well sorry hip but thoes 10 San Andres Boas that Boa Mania bought two years ago....if they were infact imports, they were imported Hogs, not San Andres. No hogs have been seen on the main Island since the 80's but that's not to say that there aren't any left on the smaller suronding islands. I have it on good authority that they are imports and on good authority that they are hogs, not San Andres.
Cheers,
Trevor

[BoidKeeper]

Hip,
Remeber this pic from last year? Mike from boa mania posted it to show the difference between a Hog Island Boa and a San Andres boa.
http://www.ssnakess.com/photopost/data/508/289249san_adreas_and_hog_island-med.jpg
Well I have the "San Andre" boa in that pic, it is in fact a hog. A very nice a hog, but a hog just the same. Some Colombians are nicer then others, they are variable, you of all people know that. Well hogs are also variable.
Boa Mania (Mike) told us that Ben Seigle imported 33 San Andres boas from the island and sold 10 to him. That's all fine and good they are imported boas but they are imported Hogs not San Andres. I've consulted with Vin Russo recent author of the reptiles magazine article entitled "mini boas" and he told me he was aware of the snakes before Boa mania got them. He also told me that he believes they are hogs.
They eyes on these boas is larger then that of my other hogs. When I asked Vin about this he told me that the original hogs also had large eyes but through years of selective breeding they have been bred out just like most of the speckling.
So, now you know why I believe I have a pair of WC, unrelated to almost any other (except for the other 10 in Canada) hogs in the country.
Cheers,
Trevor

[ortega]

i bought one at the reptile show for 270.00$ in november.

[BoidKeeper]

$270 in Canada, that's a good price!
Cheers,
Trevor