P is for Pink and Polygamy

[MouseKilla]

Our pink boy is getting bigger everyday and it seems wrong to not breed this guy, I want more boas like him even if no one else does. We have a yearling female but we picked this girl up to speed up the process. I introduced them to eachother briefly so I could compare them but we can't tell which is the bigger of the two, I'll have to get a scale because I just have to know now.lol!

He's pink with a little yellow, she's yellow with a little pink.

http://www.ssnakess.com/photopost/data/500/2511Im000052.jpg

http://www.ssnakess.com/photopost/data/500/2511Im000057.jpg

We got the new girl in a trade with Paul Vanhooser, who went out of his way to drive her out to me. Anyone who regularly does private deals knows that it's a rare and wonderful occasion when the person you are to meet up with shows up to the right place at the right time with the right animal and/or the right amount of cash. This was one of those deals.

Thanks for looking.

[bistrobob85]

Your male looks awesome... Actually, i know pretty well my male will look like your female, i just wish i could find a female with as much pink as your male... Try to get us some nice looking babies in two or three years!

phil.

[Colonel_SB]

Very Pink man sweet b.c.i

[MouseKilla]

Here's a better look at the new girl by herself.

http://www.ssnakess.com/photopost/data/500/2511Im000064.jpg
http://www.ssnakess.com/photopost/data/500/2511Im000060.jpg
http://www.ssnakess.com/photopost/data/500/2511Im000062.jpg

[Jeff_Favelle]

Beauty pictures!!!!!!!! :D

[MouseKilla]

Thanks Jeff. Sometimes they make it easy, ya know?

[bighillreptiles]

nice pix she have i seen her befor LOL nice doing business with you as well!!!! all of the little ons are doing fine and thanks for the nice reply talk to you soon ,Paul

[madison.s]

i got this girl the same day lol thanks pual.

[McCarthy Boas]

Hi MouseKilla,

They are both very nice looking boas you should get some nice looking babies from them.
The only thing I did not like is that you put them together so soon. You should quarantine the new boa for at least 6 months. I quarantine all my new boas for 6 to 8 months no mater who I got them from. Sometimes I miss out on a breeding season but the health of my boas comes first. I am happy you did not leave them together.

Take care
Tom

[BoidKeeper]

That male is amazing. After reading the chapter in the Boa Constrictor manual I think it is only right to wait two years after getting a new boa into your collection before breeding it because that is how long it can take for IBD to show its self. You could breed boas and then sell the offspring all over Canada and the US and spread IBD with out even knowing it until it's too late. IMO it's only a matter of time before we get nailed with IBD in Canada.
Cheers,
Trevor
PS
Don't take my rant personally just something that occured to me after I read Tom's post and I felt it would be worth mentioning for those who are not aware of IBD.

[Invictus]

Those should make some Killa babies, MouseKilla!

[MouseKilla]

Tom and Trevor,

Yes, I know you're supposed to quarantine and normally I would have, though I don't know about 2 years... I may have to confess to being maybe a little bit over ambitious with my collection in this case but I think most of us have at one time or another brought home an animal that we didn't really have the room for because it's something we've been after for a while. That's not an excuse but more of a half-assed explanation.

Once I realized they would have to be kept in the same room, I decided the harm was done and a pic or two would make no difference.

Speaking of pics, here she is alone in her temporary rubbermaid home doing what boas do best.

http://www.ssnakess.com/photopost/data/500/2511Im000072.jpg
http://www.ssnakess.com/photopost/data/500/2511Im000078.jpg http://www.ssnakess.com/photopost/data/500/2511Im000080.jpg

[madison.s]

Hey no one like my new baby. LOL. She is all pink and very beautiful, we got her the same day from Paul and she is doing very well. well we got a male and female from him and cant wait until they are 2 years old to breed. the babies are going to be nice pastel. hey mousekiller you seen the babies i got that day.

[bistrobob85]

i havent ever bred boas but isnt it harmfull for the female to be bread on her second year?

phil.

[madison.s]

bistrobob85, i guess that would be directed at me, well i have read up and they say 2 years is ok, it depends on the weight of the female and it was not intended that i would breed them in 2 years she would be more then 2 years old in 2 years if you do the math. man allthat i asked is if anyone liked the picture but thanks for your input.

[MouseKilla]

Lizlady, if you got the pastels that I saw you are very lucky indeed. I still don't know what precisely defines "pastel" but I do know those were some sweet looking boas!

[madison.s]

ya those are the ones that we got. I liked the one you got,she is a beaut. I hope to see babies from her soon. I cant wait to breed mine and see what i get as they are both pastels. the colour is the difference between them. normals dont have the light light pink/grey colour and the pastel does. you can tell the difference.You seem the male sub he had that is a pastel.

[MouseKilla]

I can SEE the difference, that much is easy, DEFINING the trait itself is a bit harder. I've read a bunch of descriptions but the words used could apply to a lot of snakes. Light, pink colours for example are often used in describing them along with a clean appearance, I have a clean pink boa but it's not a pastel nor would it be confused for one.

But it's not important to fully understand it I guess since understanding it won't make it look a whole lot better. lol!

[bighillreptiles]

Is this the one you are talking abought http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v287/paulvanhooser/brainhead.jpghttp://img.photobucket.com/albums/v287/paulvanhooser/brain.jpg
one year old male thanks for the nice words guys paul this one is for sale $150. thanks from Paul and Gloria

[madison.s]

That is the male sub you had that day right?

[bighillreptiles]

yes that is him camera relly sucks only 1.2 pix bad buy the person said it would do a good job for what i told them i wanted it for

[Reptscue]

Mousekilla,
My girl Pandora would love to meet your male. :D
http://redtailboa.net/gallery/data/aab3238922bcc25a6f606eb525ffdc56/35_p12447.jpg

[MouseKilla]

Sweet! They look like they could be littermates. How big is she?

[Reptscue]

She is about 2 years old and about 4 foot or so long. I got her from Glades Herp.

[JaredAren]

According to many a Pastel is this:
A Boa that has an odd overall wash lacking the normal amount of black and a reduction in black pigmentation in particular throughout the pattern. This is particularly apparent in babies, which have the same kind of washed out pattern as Hypos. The saddles as well as the side blotches have less black than "normal". In fact, often the side blotches have no black whatsoever.

http://showcase.netins.net/web/reptiles/stuff/pastel1big.JPG

[MouseKilla]

I have seen that same description somewhere before but I've never seen a picture of an animal that so aptly fits it. I'm still not sure about the "odd wash" but there is certainly something distinctive about the look of that snake. That one is very nice, is it yours?

[Linds]

MouseKilla,
That pink girl really has some nice tones in her!

[JaredAren]

Yes, I purchased her last week with her sibling. I had been searching the net for quite a while trying to find nice animals that I considered pastels. These two are much more pink in person and I have high hopes for them. I bought them both because I could not decide which one I liked more. Now I can't decide which to sell, so I will keep them both to see how they color up. Here is her sister. Her patterned is not as washed out, but she is more colorful so far.

http://showcase.netins.net/web/reptiles/stuff/pastel2big.JPG

[MouseKilla]

Wow, those are really cool. I think it's the common reference to a pink colouration that threw me off, the pink is there but that isn't what makes them distinct.

My pink male (pictured again below) and Reptscue's pink female (above) have a completely different look to them though the words in the definition for Pastelism may also be applied to them as well as a true hypomelanistic specimen.

In all three cases you have a reduction of black pigment along with the pink but all arising in different ways, luck of the draw genetics (in my case), a co-dominant trait (hypos), and the product of successive generations of breeding for colour which is at least how I have come to believe Pastels came to exist.

Hate to do the "helicopter" shot but here it is... man, I should vaccuum! lol!

http://www.ssnakess.com/photopost/data/500/2511Im000094.jpg

And at dinner time.

http://www.ssnakess.com/photopost/data/500/2511Im002155-med.jpg

[JaredAren]

MouseKilla that boa is sweet. She is a very nice pastel. She has faded side blotches and saddles and a lack of black in her background color. I bet she is ten times more pink in person too. Very nice!

I agree that pastels were developed through selective breeding, but I also think that normal females can throw a few babies with very pastelish qualities. Also it is known that when pastels are bred not all of the offsrping turn out pastels. The offspring usually have a varying degree of pastelism and range from normal looking to amazing.

[bighillreptiles]

Hayhttp://img.photobucket.com/albums/v287/paulvanhooser/twogirls.jpg mousekiller her is a few femalse i plan on breading this year ,Paul

[corn king 73]

hi here's a pic of snow white my bci pastel

[Reptscue]

Mousekilla,
Here she is about a year ago.
http://redtailboa.net/gallery/data/aab3238922bcc25a6f606eb525ffdc56/35_p9209.jpg