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.