Hello all. I am looking for help identifying my new snake’s morphs. I purchased it recently from a Petco, petco claims it is a hypo Colombian red tail, she has a nearly patternless, (aside from some black specks), very wide dorsal stripe that’s a tan color. She has a mostly unbroken (warm brown) high side stripe with some very slight starts of the saddles only on the front half of her body except the neck. Below the brown stripe her color changes into a pinkish salmon that is especially vibrant on her tail, there is also evenly spaced, circular or oval, donut shaped spots on her sides. Her tail is hard to descibe but there’s photos attached to the post. She has black and salmon on the sides of her face with a small black line vertically under her eyes and a gray/ brown head.
I cannot find anything like her online. The closest I’ve found is some labyrinth boas, but I have not seen any red tailed boas with the labyrinth morph. Is it possible she could be the first? Is she even a red tailed boa?
But it does look like your Boa has some stuck shed. How long ago did you get her?
I’d give her a few soaks to help hydrate her and get that old skin off, as well as trying to bump her enclosure humidity up a bit, to at least 60%.
We got her yesterday and saw she had some stuck shed before buying. We tried a lukewarm, shallow, bath with a rock in case she wanted to get out of the water partially. She was very resistant, trying to get out immediately when she touched the water, we tried again with slightly warmer water and it was still a no. We wanted to make sure her stress level stayed down on the first night so instead we put a little organic olive oil on her areas of stuck shed then let her work the scales off on our hands, it helped immensely and really softened up the shed, it’s still flaking off but the scales and flakes are moisturized. Th humidity in her tank is on the higher side but we don’t have a humidity gauge yet so not sure exactly how high. Her tank at Petco was on average 5% humidity for the two months she was there, so it makes sense she’s having this problem. The scales keep coming off and the stuck shed is clearing up.
Not a true red tail (b. constrictor) and unless you can trace it’s lineage back to a wild caught animal, there is no way to tell if it originated from a Colombian locale. It’s likely a mix of various boa species but predominantly b. imperator. Lots of places slap “red tail” on the name to make the animal more desirable to customers and it sounds better than just “boa”.
It is hypo and that’s where the pink coloration is coming from. I’m not certain on the pattern morph. Hypo can do funny things with patterns that make some pattern mutations difficult to identify. I have seen some super jungles that have a similar pattern but without knowing the pairing info that produced this animal that is pure speculation.
I was pretty sure she wasn’t a red tail, but I’m not sure about the hypo. She has a line of circles on her sides, which I have only found in labyrinth boas so far. She also has a weird cross on her head between the eyes and running down her head, I have only seen this pattern on IMG boas. I’m not 100% on any of the traits but I’m pretty convinced she is at least labyrinth.
The rock helps, but if you want them to soak comfortably the bath has to be really shallow going no further than halfway up their body. Some snakes prefer the water only going up a quarter ways of their body. It also helps to have them in a container that can be sealed to they don’t get out.
Water temps should not exceed 86°F for soaking.
And if your Boa hates water so much that they can’t even tolerate that, you can take a towel and soak it in the water and then put it in a container with the boa for about 15-20 minutes daily until all of the shed is off. Works great for snakes that don’t do water soaks very well.
An added bonus if you also have a heating pad set under the soaking container on low heat so they can soak for even longer without the water becoming too cold.
Edit: Also for future reference I’d avoid using oil of any kind to try to remove stuck shed. Snakes can and will absorb water through their skin and if they have oil on their skin it kind of restricts their ability to absorb that water, it can also clog pores, heat pits and restrict their ability to properly thermoregulate.
Not that Olive Oil is toxic, but there are some oils like Avocado oil that are toxic to all reptiles. Its just best to avoid oils outside of very specialized circumstances.
Thanks for the advice. We will try a wet towel with her. She also has a bit of scale rot that we are gonna try a mixture of betadine and water to try to help that.
Do you have pillow case pillow cover like a regular bed pillow that zips? You can drench the pillow case cover with warm water and then wring it out until it’s not dripping. Then put her in it and zip it up. Put it in a tub with a lid and put the tub on a heat mat, so half the tub is warm.
Leave her in it for about 30 minutes and the shed will be gone!
Looks like a nice abberant hypo BCI. Im not seeing Labyrinth. Thats a pretty specific and expensive morph. I know its natural to see markings that aren’t normal and hoping to get more than whats marketed. You did purchase a beautiful hypo boa though and will make a stunning adult.
I don’t see Labyrinth. Labyrinth boas have very clean, crisp patterns and the eyes are a solid color. Sometimes with a small remanent of the pattern strike through. In the pictures you shared, your snake has two toned color eyes where the pattern strikes though.
Agree with others that she looks like a hypo with a nice aberrant pattern. Very pretty boa, but definitely not a labyrinth, lots of boas have those circles on their sides. Also not IMG, that cross head stamp is quite common in many morphs and localities (though you’re correct that many IMG boas do have it, it’s just not exclusive to that morph).
You mentioned that she seemed to have scale rot. Could you post pictures of that? That’s the sort of thing that might need a vet visit, depending on how serious it is.
I could be wrong but that looks like natural scale color to me. It doesn’t look irritated, flakey or swollen. Can you post a photo of more of the belly? That’s usually the area most affected
Gorgeous little boa though. I hope they settle in well for you
I think she is a beautiful boa and I think others would agree. What would be the best chance for her babies to look as close to her as possible or is the hypo gene unpredictable for looks? I would most likely breed her with another hypo boa, is there any recommendations for a better morph to breed her with?
Based on what you’ve said here, it sounds like you’re pretty new to keeping snakes. Absolutely nothing wrong with that, but my advice would be to focus for now on learning and mastering your husbandry (things like dealing with stuck shed, identifying common issues like scale rot and respiratory infections, etc.) and learning about genetics, how to identify boa morphs, what various combos look like, etc. before you really get serious about jumping into breeding. Breeding is a big commitment in both time and money, and there’s a whole lot more to learn about breeding on top of all the basics of just caring for a snake.
My best advice would be to just learn about boas and enjoy your girl as a pet, at least to start. If you decide you want to breed down the line, you can cross that bridge when you come to it.
Ill piggy back on what others have said. Just enjoy your boa. Learn about husbandry and needs. Breeding shouldn’t even be on your radar IMO. Breeding boas sounds easy and a novel idea until you realize what it actually entails. A close by exotic vet able to surgery on the fly, proper setup for the adults and babies, income to keep all the food and husbandry needs because snakes dont just sell since they’re born. Theres so much more to beeding than just putting two pretty boas together. Also, just because your boa has a cool pattern that you like in no way guarantees that will be passed on to the future litter.
Agree with the others above. Just enjoy your pretty boa for a good long while before you jump into breeding. I became an accidental breeder in May of 2022 due to my own stupidity! Momma ended up with a modest litter of 11 little babies but there could have easily been 20 or so if it were not for all the slugs and one deformed baby.
Boas can have huge litters. Eleven babies was all I could handle, keeping track of who ate what and when and who shed and who didn’t. I ended up keeping one, giving away two and then selling the rest to a mom and pop pet shop for 50 bucks each. That shop turned around and sold them for 249.99 each! Of course that was after I had gotten all of them eating.
Trust me, it’s a lotta work! . Save your money for awhile and enjoy your animal!
Another thing to keep in mind about breeding boas: breeding takes a lot out of the female, physically speaking. To the point where it reduces their lifespan.
I can’t remember specifically who it was, but I remember one of the boa breeders on here once giving a poignant piece of advice: if you have a female boa you’re really attached to, consider not breeding her, because she’ll probably be with you longer as a pet than as a breeder.
. Save your money for awhile and enjoy your animal! 