Boa Crosses

I have recently begun to acquire a breeding group of Hogg Island Boas. While attempting to acquire the group I have ran into numerous Hogg crosses. Some Hoggs where crossed with other BCI but some also stepped outside the BCI boundary. I searched and read one other thread that brushed on this topic and understood that among locale "purists" this would not be acceptable but apparently is somewhat accepted by the mainstream Boa Breeders (judging by the individauls that are selling them). I am looking at Hogg Island Boas for their smaller size and wondered how crossing the smaller hogg with some of the larger BCI's would affect their size. One would assume that the smaller Hogg x Larger BCI would overall end up larger than the original Hogg. Can anyone verify this? I have no desire to go randomly crossing things to "see what happens" but was attempting to acquire information from those who have. I would love to attempt to move toward a smaller stature boa line but if it would be considered an "evil" by the majority I would possibly refrain from crosses and lean more toward like individuals that show the trait I'm working toward. I am aware there are quite a few other "smaller" boas besides Hoggs but you have to start somewhere and Hoggs are somewhat readily available.

Respectfully,

As a general rule I am opposed to cross breeding. Basically, you end up with offspring of pet store value and will probably end up dumping many of your young there. Some exceptions may be working with morphs. As far as obtaining a larger boa by breeding, its logical that this will occur. However, you can stunt any Boa constrictor if inclined to do so, or in many cases, even if not inclined to do so, i.e., the baby boa purchased at a pet store 8 years ago that is all of 5', but at least its still alive (not too common I think, but have seen it).

Others mileage may vary...

Kevin

As a general rule I am opposed to cross breeding. Basically, you end up with offspring of pet store value and will probably end up dumping many of your young there.

This is only because of the relatively primitive nature of the herp hobby, and the incredible natural variety of herp species.

In nearly all well-established pet communities, there is a lot of hybridization -- cats, dogs, rodents, and others.

Look at what is happening with "designer snakes", mostly Ball Pythons and Cornsnakes, and the "dwarf" crossbreeds in the Reticulated and Burmese Python lines. Boa crossbreeds are the next logical step in the popularization of herp-keeping. As long as they don't get released back into the wild (already a problem with other animals, but not too much as hybrids don't usually survive in the wild), then there isn't any real reason not to.

Many boas, particularly BCI, already crossbreed in the wild when possible (not usually possible for island sub-species; but not uncommon with regional mainland variants).