Thanks ! Sean, most nominate Eryx johnii johnii will have lost most of their banding by their second birthday, but it varies greatly with the bloodline, and the geographic origin of the founder stock. While the orange becomes brown in many,the bands remain on the tail for years, in some.
I have some of Rick Staub's " Sunset Johnii" which have been selectively bred to remain orange right into adulthood. They are really quite fantastic and even have a lot of orange on their bellies.
Trevor, I'm not aware of anyone else in Canada currently breeding Johnii. There might be a few around but not many. With litters so small there
will be a shortage of CB stock for years to come.
They are really a very nice species, but rare in collections. Some people find the brown unicolor adults a tad boring, but they are the tamest of all the Sand boas and also the biggest,some reaching 4 foot.They are trouble free feeders, very hardy, and they feel like satin, because of the small smooth scales. They remind me of giant Rubber boas.
There is still much selective breeding work that can be done with Johnii. I will continue with trying to increase the orange content by using my Staub males to sire future offspring from normal females, as well as my Staub females.. This should result
in neonates that will be brighter orange and they should hold that color. I feel the quality of the color and longevity of it, can greatly be improved through more selective breeding. This has already been proven by Rick Staub's work, as seen here.
Finally!!! Baby Indian Sand Boas...(pics)
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