Rosy Boa Question

I have been out of the reptile hobby for a few years and it seems like a bunch has changed including so many new morphs of everything! I recently picked up a pair of rosy boas for my wife and the pet store she found them in had them listed as “Harlequin Albinos” I can not find any indication of a harlequin morph for rosies just red tails. I suspect that this is just a mispronunciation of “Harquahala” which is a locality I am familiar with and when I look for pictures of Harquahala albinos they look just like my pair. However, as I said I have been out for a while so maybe there is a morph I just have not heard of. Anyone out there know if there is a harlequin morph for rosies? I will add a pic or two as well

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I believe you are correct! I was curious myself, and have been digging for about an hour. Harlequins dont appear to exist for Rosy Boas.

It reminds me of when I picked up my Albino Pacman Frog :frog: the girl at the store was calling it a Tomato :tomato: which isnt even the same species. I think all these cool sounding morphs can confuse lots of people. Sellers and Buyers alike.

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Thanks for looking it up. I kind of figured if it was a real morph someone out there would be breeding them . But noone has said so. Pet stores tend to get things wrong in my experience especially for herps unless they have a really good herp guy (or girl) to be fair this particular shop is more fish focused anyway

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If they have red eyes and that coloration then they are likely Harquahala albinos. Though it is impossible to tell if they are pure Harquahalas given they weren’t purchased from a reputable breeder. Now the thing I am most concerned about is whether or not you are keeping correctly given how long you have been out of the hobby and it was just in the recent years that we figured a bit more about their keeping since no one bothered to share much of their care online for a while. First thing is first, do not keep them together. The only reason they should be together is for breeding, and in order to breed them they have to burmate for at least a month. Outside of that they are solitary and will only stress when kept together, especially in that small of an enclosure. They could possibly kill each other if you get unlucky. The only snakes that actually benefit from being kept together are garter snakes.

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There are harquahala albino Rosy obviously I would not expect a pet store to use proper term or really know what they have which is why when looking for a specific quality animal and even more so locality going straight to a breeder is always your best bet.

Some pet stores often make things up as they go especially if they don’t know and if the name sounds similar (which it doesn’t :rofl:) you become the proud owner of a new one of the kind animal.

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lol when I was 10 I got scammed by a pet store I got a normal corn for 80 and + all the must things they said you must have to keep them 500

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Yea I hope they aren’t set up like that get rid of the sand or whatever that is desperate then put them on aspen or Sani chips and change the water I use heat mats and with mine no heat lamps some disagree for sure but if you do use a heat lamp make sure you have a nice new age thermostat that’s a must have for sure also The most common albinos I see are whitewaters and Limburg albinos that would be a kinda sweet find if that was the locality but you won’t have a real way of knowing if they are or not

Actually I bought them specifically because they were breeding in the store. Brought them home and they were still going for a few more days. they have since been separated. but thanks for tip

Thanks. I did get rid of the sand and the old school heat rock. They are also in separate cages now. When I brought them home they had been actively breeding and I put them in the cage I had already clean and could quickly set up so as not to discourage further breeding activity.

OK I guess the individual replies went to the bottom and this probably deserves a story. My wife and I were at the pet shop getting rats for my carpet pythons and a basking lamp bulb for my Savanna monitor. She went over to look at the rosy boas and noticed that they were twined together. tails up an next to each other. the cage decor blocked the view of actual copulation but it was pretty clear. We left and she decided on the way home that she wanted the pair and missed having baby snakes around (I used to breed) so I went back the next day and got them for her. I had the old 20 gallon tall tank that had bee cleaned and new sand put in about 55 years ago. I planned back then to get something (don’t remember what) but never did so there has not been any other reptile in there. That is where I put the new snakes to continue breeding while I set up something better. They were on top of each other for a few days, no actual witnessed copulation though.

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5 years ago not 55, even I am not THAT old! fat fingers, don’t type good!

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@ashleyraeanne
Just an FYI, Harquahala albinos do not have red eyes. The only albino rosy boa with red eyes is the Limburg.

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interesting, their eyes are small and it is hard to tell. mine look black but I just assumed that they were actually red because they are albino. I will have to get one of them out and get a brighter light and see what color they are now.

I honestly cant say what color their eyes are. They look brown with a very bright light but it is a reddish brown if that makes sense? My own eyes are not good enough to tell I guess and I can’t get a good enough picture . I am going to get some second and third opinions but now you got me stuck on figuring it out

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