Boomslang?

Stiglitz · 03-04-17, 12:39 PM

Is this a boomslang (Dispholidus typus)?

Scubadiver59 · 03-04-17, 12:45 PM

I'm saying, "yes".

Went searching on Google and the snake has the same three plates between the eyes and the four "boxed" plated just forward of those towards the tip of the nose.

Why, did you want one?

TRD · 03-04-17, 01:03 PM

Yes that's a boomslang. Cute as hell, but ebola venom glands aside, not easy to keep.

Stiglitz · 03-04-17, 01:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Scubadiver59

I'm saying, "yes".

Went searching on Google and the snake has the same three plates between the eyes and the four "boxed" plated just forward of those towards the tip of the nose.

Why, did you want one?

Quote:

Originally Posted by TRD

Yes that's a boomslang. Cute as hell, but ebola venom glands aside, not easy to keep.

Thanks! No, I do not want one haha. I just like snakes in general and saw this picture so I was wondering. When I look up other images of boomslangs they look much darker than my attached picture. But sometimes color isn't always a good gauge for classification.

TRD · 03-04-17, 01:22 PM

[Edit: almost all..] Boomslangs turn black in captivity for some reason (no one really knows why), also they go through a color change when they age. Lookup juvenile boomslang, very pretty

REM955 · 03-04-17, 03:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TRD

[Edit: almost all..] Boomslangs turn black in captivity for some reason (no one really knows why), also they go through a color change when they age. Lookup juvenile boomslang, very pretty

Perhaps UV exposure is related to it? Just 2 cents.

TRD · 03-04-17, 04:09 PM

Don't know, could be. AFAIK nobody has actually properly researched it. It has either to do with the light, or the diet. I can't really see anything else that could be an underlying cause besides maybe stress of captivity(?). It also doesn't happen to all of the boomslangs in captivity, but most of them under the same conditions, to make matters weird. Could also be that some turn black earlier than others, as I read or heard it happens anywhere between 6 months to 3 years.

FWK · 03-04-17, 07:50 PM

It is not Dispholidus typus. The nostrils are located too high, the first upper labial is too square, the rostral scale is incorrectly shaped, and the posterior genials are far to long. A Boomslangs fourth upper labial contacts the third postocular, clearly not the case here.

Everything I can see is morphologically correct for a few species of Leptophis (Parrot Snakes, found in Central and South America), including L. mexicanus and L. nebulosus (we can rule out L. ahaetulla and several others by the presence of a loreal).

Nightflight99 · 03-12-17, 11:38 PM

FWK is correct--that is definitely not D. typus.

Regarding the observed color-change of members of that genus in captivity: This morphological color change occurs over a period of days or weeks, and is relatively common in captive boomslangs. Of the probably 30+ individuals of this species that I have kept long-term, about 15% or so displayed that color change (always to a near solid black) within the first few years of captivity. Once initiated, that color change consistently progressed until the individuals were fully black.

Although the physiology of this morphological color change has not been properly investigated in this genus, it is likely caused by an increase in melanophores (cells that contain melanosomes, which are organelles that function in the synthesis of melanin). The trigger for this color change is likely to be hormonal in response to some external stress factors (alpha-melanophore-stimulating hormone comes to mind).

This is one of my former specimens that I kept for many years. It started off being emerald green, and eventually turned nearly completely black.