I almost hate to place this question in this category but there is not a General category for snakes, and this question applies in general to all snakes, so here goes:
How is a proper scale count done?
I picked up what was purported to be a Brazilian Rainbow Boa from a friend who wanted me to try and sell it at the White Plains Show last month. When it did not sell, I bought it. It is a nice healthy juvenile snake of good size, but I think it is a Peruvian Rainbow Boa based on a scale count I did and on information from
The Rainbow Boa Page. I came up with 42 scales at mid-body, which according to info on The rainbow Boa Page means this is a Peruvian.
Yet I wonder if it matters that I counted from the ventral scales on one side straight across the back along a diagonal row to the ventral scales on the other side. I did it like /. I now wonder, was I supposed to hit the spine and then turn back as if counting along a > instead of a /? Since I counted twice, and my eyes really get strained doing this sort of thing, I am hopeful someone can tell me if I need to do it again, this time along a >, or if I did it ok the first time.
THANKS
Best regards,
Glenn B