Corn Island Boa's (USARK Auction) Input please

Discussion in 'Boas' started by supernova, Sep 18, 2012.

  1. supernova

    supernova Member

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    I just acquired a breeding pair of Corn Island Boa's, (Crawl Cay?) "Boa c. imperator" That where donated to USARK for auction by Vincent Russo. The winner of the auction is a friend who offered them to me at cost of auction. Well, how could i say no not just at the price but for where they came from and the cause they support.

    My main concern is, Can they be housed in a CB70 in my rack or do they need more room? Other than that any tips on handling would be great as this these are my first boa's. I have 18 Ball Pythons, 2 GTP, and a corn ,as well as a few species of frogs and lizards so I am well versed in the general husbandry of reptiles. Do Boa's need anything special above and beyond what i provide my Pythons with?
     
  2. JEFFREH

    JEFFREH Administrator

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  3. JEFFREH

    JEFFREH Administrator

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    Hey Robert,

    I'm a little short on time but I think what may aid your research is looking into the Nicaraguan BCI... the Corn Islands are right off the coast of Nicaragua so I'd wager they would likely to be most similar to the Nicaraguan BCI. The Corn Island locality is going to run on the smaller side as with most of the Central American BCI.

    Boa constrictor imperator are all fairly similar in care needs but each locality does have minor differences in size, appearence, and behavior. The Corn Island locality is less commonly kept in captivity then other BCI (i.e. Colombians, Hog Island, Nicaraguans, etc).

    Corn Island is also not the same as Crawl Cay who hail from Belize.

    Your CB70 tubs will house up to adult males, but large females you'll want to consider a larger tub. In my experience with keeping a Hog Island BCI, they do seem to appreciate some arboreal structures though it isn't completely necessary... the CB70 inhibit the ability to encourage any kind of arboreal behavior. Adult BCC who tend to be larger bodied don't seem to mind a more terrestrial lifestyle but I've found my BCI will readily climb and utilize a shelving in his enclosure the majority of the time.

    A couple of obvious differences you'll find with boas: the BCI's that I have cared for all ate like champions and had brilliant feeding responses (unlike some ball pythons, lol). You can also easily overfeed boas, particularly as they reach sub-adulthood and adulthood. Unlike Ball Pythons who readily eat as they are hunger and won't eat if they are not, Boas are pretty gluttonous and will eat almost whenever food is offered (in my experience). You'll want to limit feeding to smaller sized meals every 2-3weeks as the boas get older to avoid obesity and overfeeding. Another obvious differences between these snakes and your ball pythons is the obvious arboreal tendencies of the boas and more frequent defensive behavior (they don't just ball up, juvies sometimes throw huffy puffy fits when distrubed).

    I'll add more later when I have more time = ) I'm actually in the process of sorting through a few journal articles about boas and I'll let you know if I come across anything about these guys specifically. Gus Rentfro has an excellent site that probably has information on this locality if you want to do some additional research: http://riobravoreptiles.com
     
  4. JEFFREH

    JEFFREH Administrator

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  5. supernova

    supernova Member

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    In my paperwork trail i got with them.


    These snakes where descendant of the first pair that where imported by "Vincent Russo" and purchased by "West Coast Captive Breeders" in 2004. "All Things Reptile" acquired them in a USARK Auction in 2012 at the PDX show and low and behold landed in my collection.

    The female is believed to be gravid and it is my intention to keep the line clean without cross morphing them since there aren't many pure bred corn island boa's in circulation from what i have gathered talking with other breeders. The Island turned into a refuge in 1995 and these are offspring from that original 21 taken before then.
     
    JEFFREH likes this.

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