Meet Salome the Hog Island Boa

[SerpentineDream]

We've been on the hunt for 100% pure locality Hog Island boas for a while and have had a hard time finding the real deal. They're extinct in the wild. To add insult to injury many breeders have crossed them with other BCIs to create morphs. Not too many of the true wild type are left. I usually have nothing against morphs but when the original wild type is almost gone it's not the time to be doing that IMO. A lot of sellers claim to have pure Hogs but can't verify the animal's lineage. I really don't want to see these awesome little boas disappear forever and intend to breed them. This is probably a terrible business model, but since I care more about preserving them than making money from this particular project, the plan is to sell only breeding pairs, with people who intend to breed pure locality Hogs moved right to the front of the line.


Finally struck pay dirt. Found a beautiful female from Chad Duggin's stock. He got his animals from Bob Sears and was breeding them several years ago. I'd been looking for him but found out he'd quit breeding Hogs when people began creating morphs. The seller had gotten got his animals from Chad and here we are. She was from a litter of 17 (!) Her parents were on the larger side of normal for Hog Island boas so I'll look for a smaller male to pair with her, since part of their appeal is their manageable size.


This little girl is an F5 with lots of pink and orange depending on her mood. Sometimes she feels silvery white or beige too. She has striking silver eyes. She's very sweet and calm, especially for a baby. No biting, struggling or fussing. If anything she's quite curious. Her parents were on the large side of normal for Hogs so I'll try to pair her with a smaller male. The idea is to have 2 breeding pairs so we can offer unrelated animals. Next stop: Vin Russo.


Here is lovely Salome. (Breeder photo)





Hanging out in my hand. She is a tiny thing.






Checking me out.





Continuing her exploration.

[DJC Reptiles]

I think it's awesome you're trying to keep this locality alive, keep up the great work!

[Albert Clark]

Amazing addition SD! Thanks for the history and background info too. Really incredible looking reptile. Vin Russo is the President of the Herpetological Society that I am a member of. He just recently branched out into a scaleless corn snake project. He's a great guy and always willing to teach.

[Herpin' Man]

Great looking snake. I have one myself, and would put together a breeding group if my herp room wasn't already full of other stuff.
I agree with you regarding the crossbreeding of other localities. Why ruin a good locality line? It makes no sense to me.

[SerpentineDream]

Couple more pics. Salome dumped her water bowl and found herself temporarily trapped in a large cherry tomato container while I did a quick cleanup. She watched and flickered her tongue through the ventilation slits at me.





Hog Island boas make such neat pets. They are half the size of a typical BCI or BCC, are usually very gentle critters and the metachromatic color change is fascinating.

Note in the breeder pic she is pale cream with tan markings. In the pics of her on the quilt she's beige with brown markings and a flush of orange on her tail. In the cherry tomato container she's light gray with dark brown markings and a pink flush on her face. She's also turned almost entirely pink and almost entirely silvery white a few times.

Alas we've loved these little boas nearly to death. They were over collected for the pet trade, the natives killed them and they lost their habitat. Then instead of breeding as many as possible to restore them they got crossed with other lines. Fortunately Vin Russo is one of those who gets the importance of saving them. He's the go-to guy for island localities and wrote a book on boa constrictors. I didn't know he also worked with corns. Small world!

[richardhind]

Great pick up,it is a shame when people bred out the pure forms
a lot of boas change colour quite dramatically especially pure
Locality ones, my corn island Nicaraguans are unbelievable in colour change

[JRLongton]

Originally Posted by SerpentineDream

... I care more about preserving them than making money from this particular project, the plan is to sell only breeding pairs, with people who intend to breed pure locality Hogs moved right to the front of the line.

I can't express how admirable and honorable a sentiment I feel that to be. Best of luck breeding these wonderful creatures. Maybe someday, when I'm ready, I can buy a pair from you.

Oh, and that girl is a stunner!

[Scubadiver59]

Grats! I have two females I don't plan on breeding due to the unknown parentage, but they look exactly the same.