Cook's tree boa/Amazon

[lostwithin]

Hey everyone, well here's a question I'm having trouble finding an answer to, what difference is there, if any , between a Cook's, and an amazon tree boa. I have heard that cooks is a local, that the cooks is a subspecies, and that there just 2 names for the same animal. so could somebody clear that up for me once and for all.

Thanks,
Devon

[BoidKeeper]

Garden Tree Boa and Amazon Tree boa are the same snake, Corallus hortunalus. A Cooks Tree boa (Corrallus cookii) is different just like an Anulated Tree boa, Corallus annulatus is different. Check this site out it has great info. http://www.corallus.com/
Cheers,
Trevor

[lostwithin]

I just came from that site it's a great resource. It confirmed what I had thought. I came across a web site today claiming the 2 were now considered one species so I began to question what the truth was.

Now the pet store has a tree boa labeled as a cooks, that caught my eye. which is weird because I never look twice at pet store animals. Is there a way of telling if it's a real cooks or just a Amazon that is being mislabeled?

Devon

[BoidKeeper]

Probably a mislabled Amazon. There is good info on them in the living boas book too.
Cheers,
Trevor

[Holy Mackerel]

Read the Henderson article that is found on the corallus.com site. It is pretty easy to read. It was Henderson that broke the Corallus hortulanus complex down into four separte species (making cooks a seperate species from the amazon tree boa)

[Gary D.]

Pet stores generally know squat. They are the ones responsible for the whole Colombian red-tail confusion. For years garden phase ATBs were called Cook's, and that is still perpetuated today. Your initial mistrust of pet stores is still valid. Even the best stores just lable animals with the name that they were shipped to them as, and that is frequently wrong with reptiles and fish.

Here is a link to the Henderson article. http://www.corallus.com/articles/casc_33_03_198.pdf
If you take the time to read it through you can go assess the animal for yourself. You might get amazingly lucky and find an actuall cookii, but in reality you are more likely to win the lottery.

[lostwithin]

That was a good read, I will have to go take a few scale counts and have a closer look at him. I would still guess its not a true C. cooki, but its worth taking a closer look at.

Devon

[SnakeyeZ]

Thanks for the link Trevor....very handy indeed. Seen you posted it in some other forums..so I thought id click it finally!