Haitian Boas.. a few pics

[Stockwell]

Hopefully Simon S. and I aren't the only lovers of
insular Epicrates. Yesterday he posted some pics of Jamaican boas, and here now are a few Haitian boas. (Epicrates striatus)
I have a bit of a sentimental attachment to Haitian boas, as a Haitian boa was one of my very first snakes, back in the 70's, when they were very common in the North American Pet trade.

They are rarely seen these days and few herpers work with them.
These snakes have personality, and one nice thing about them is they never bite, and rarely have trouble differentiating between the keeper and the mouse.
These ones are a few of a huge litter produced in Ontario by Jeff Carson, back in 2000. I promised him, I'd raise them up.
As neonate they are tiny skinny shoestrings and most of them don't eat mice. They need Anoles or Anole scenting for a while until they get going.
I don't like feeding wild caught prey to CB snakes, as it can give them parasites, so having lots of force feeding experience I simply put these on the pump for a couple years.(yeah years)
They are now feeding by themselves on adult mice and starting to put on good size. The largest male is 40 inches long but probably doesn't look that long due to their thin nature. They will reach 6 or 7 feet in captivity, but remain quite slender.

Here's A pic of 3 of them in my baby rack..they need bigger housing very soon. These snakes are very well behaved and don't rub or try to escape.
Other than the initial feeding problems with babies, they are a joy to work with.

My reddish female after just eating a mouse

My biggest male.

[Clownfishie]

Wow Roy -- those are awesome! Sounds like they take a lot of dedication... great stuff!

[Matt_K]

those are just amazing looking Roy!!!

[Tim and Julie B]

I got to see my first one at the Fall Calgary TARAS show. I appsolutely love them. Very cool looking snake. I almost bought it but .......... Maybe next time.

[Simon]

Roy,

you can definately add another Simon on your list that loves these. They are absolutely beauties~
I love that male close up that you took. He's great looking~
Too bad that they are hard to get eating on mice when hatchlings...or else I would really love to get my hands on those. I hate feeding anoles and scented (like my upper keys hatchling) and I don't have a pinky pump like you do...and if I have to pump them for years it's going to be hell for me....

great shots and very beautiful animals!

[BoidKeeper]

I would have a pair too but I with the numbers that I have I fear I can't provide them with the special attention they deserve. Maybe some day when I move out a few projects.
Cheers,
Trevor

[CDN-Cresties]

Wow great looking snakes. Sounds like a lot of work with them as babies but im sure its all worth it.

-Steve-

[Invictus]

I would absolutely love to get my hands on a few of these, if I can get them already established on mice. If I'm not mistaken, Steve Chandler had a few of these at the TARAS show, didn't he?

[Linds]

Beautiful! The male is especially nice!

[Sean_.E.]

Very nice animals. The male looks very blue-ish.

[Tim and Julie B]

Simon do you have a blender?

Yes the Chand man had one at the show!

[Simon Sansom]

Roy,
Honestly, those are some of the best-looking Haitians that I've ever seen!
I'm glad that they are feeding more reliably for you now...it was worth the time and effort, wasn't it? They are super snakes.

The world of the insular West Indian boas is quite fascinating, and some illustrious Canadian herpers have been at the forefront of keeping and breeding quite a few of them.

I often jokingly say, "Insular Boas, the alternative to the Carpet Python", lol!.

Again, great pics, Roy!

Simon

[Simon]

Tim,

Yeah I do have a blender but trust me...if I use that you'll never see me on this planet anymore....I'll be toasted like a piece of bread.....lol

[Retic chic]

Actually, Steve Chandler returned home from the Calgary show to find that he was the proud owner of 14 more babies (hatians, not humans, that was 2001's show)

He too, force feeds for years until they pick up on their own. I imagine finding 14 babies would be mixed emoitions - and I can just hear Steve say "as if I didn't have enough stuff to get done around here, 14 more baby hatians to force feed..."

They are very cute snakes, and the babies.

What is it with being long term herpers Roy? Steve and you share so many the same interests in many snakes, it bugs me sometimes.

He used to try and talk me into all of these weird snakes that I wasn't too interested in. (Sand boas for one) - actually, Gord R. from B.C. did listen to Steve, this year he had 180 kenyan babies.

Your hatians look really great Roy - all of that hard work (getting them to eat) really paid off.

Ryan

[Scales Zoo]

To avoid confusion, the above post was mine. Sheila is Retic chic, and It automatically logs in as retic chic, and sometimes I forget.

Ryan