Boa given to me, need some advice on morph & pricing

As most of you know, I'm more of a ball python girl, but a student of mine hit some hard times and had to rehome his boa. I helped him out and she's in my care now.

According to him, she's a hypo arabesque boa het for albino. Apparently a local boa breeder sold out his collection to the local pet shop (which unfortunately is in the process of killing the rest of the clutch, which haven't sold). My student purchased this female the day the snakes got to the store.

I can definitely see she's a hypo arabesque, but with the different albino lines out there, I'm wondering what strain she is? I'm guessing Kahl is the most likely?

Also, I have absolutely no eyeball for what constitutes a good example of this morph combo. I told my student that I would probably sell her because I don't have the set up for keeping boas long term, and this wasn't the morph I was looking at anyway. What do you feel would be a reasonable price for her? I saw a male hypo arabesque for $475 shipped, is that a reasonable price for a female?

Thanks for your help!

She is a stunning boa that's for sure, she's definitely hypo and looks like an arabesque to me , she also got very clean markings and saddles, but with out any breeders paperwork it's really hard to tell for sure as to what strain of albinism she is carrying hidden in her, if she is the common one is kahl as you say as normally they would say about sharp strain and t+ as these tend to be a bit more, I don't think it's unreasonable a price , the people who enquire just might gripe about if she isn't het for albino, she is stunning no matter what in my eyes, good luck with her


Sent from my iPod touch using Tapatalk

Color me jealous, I wouldn't turn a free female hypobesque BCI away from my snake room.

Most likely she's het kahl but I agree without some documentation from breeder there's no way to know. Does your student remember who the seller was? She doesn't look very old so maybe she can be traced back to the breeder.

Unfortunately none of us have any idea who the seller was. I could ask the pet shop but I'm a bit leery to do so. Thanks for the feedback guys, I appreciate it. I'm still on the fence about keeping her. I was hoping to get a boa at some point but I was caught completely off guard with this acquisition so I'm a little off balance. I guess an alternative to selling her is to purchase a male Kahl albino and try to prove her out.

She has nice solid patterning for a hypo arabesque, I suggest you hang onto her for at least a short while to see if she grows on you.

Originally Posted by snowgyre

I guess an alternative to selling her is to purchase a male Kahl albino and try to prove her out.

I'll just send mine on a road trip once she's of age.

The pet shop is killing the snakes cause they haven't sold?

The pet shop does not take care of their reptiles. The snakes are languishing due to improper care. Not enough heat, multiple animals in one small 10 gallon tank, shedding issues, dehydration, mites... the whole 9 yards. This little girl was extremely fortunate my student came along. The shame of it is that the other snakes are really good looking (hypos, motleys) but I simply will not purchase them in such bad condition, nor risk introducing a disease to my personal collection.

Originally Posted by snowgyre

The pet shop does not take care of their reptiles. The snakes are languishing due to improper care. Not enough heat, multiple animals in one small 10 gallon tank, shedding issues, dehydration, mites... the whole 9 yards. This little girl was extremely fortunate my student came along. The shame of it is that the other snakes are really good looking (hypos, motleys) but I simply will not purchase them in such bad condition, nor risk introducing a disease to my personal collection.

Ugh. It's too bad whoever produced them didn't try selling them privately instead of wholesaling to a shop like that.

Vanessa, is there an update on this girl? She is gorgeous! Did you decide to keep her?