The elusive "pure" BT cribo

Excellent thread! Excellent pics!! Now can someone post some good Unicolor pics? I think this is one subject which deserves much more investigation. We should all at least keep track of our breeding results, and share them here. It would seem that the only way for us to be sure, would be to go down south and have a looksee. Any body want to go snake huntin? Call this Quetzal up, and see if he would like to host an expedition.

The other way we might learn something, is with carefull attention to breeding detail. Let us each strive toward breeding animals which display similar coloration characteristics, and see if we only get babies with similar color characteristics. If we breed animals that look like black tails, and they only throw babies with black tails, and we breed animals that look unicolor, and they only throw babies that look unicolor, then maybe we'll know something. If, on the other hand, my pair of Unis produce some brown tails, or black tails, well then I guess it's back to square one. But I do think this is one subject we should all keep in mind when acquiring, and breeding Cribos. I just think it would be wise for all of us to breed blacks with blacks, brown with browns, and unis with unis. And let us know what your babies look like. That's probably the only way we'll figure it out.

Does anyone know how to contact the folks who are importing black tails, and unicolors??? Seriously,...That's who we need to talk to!!!


And fyi,...don't worry about folks getting on your case. Everybody takes a beating around these forums once in a while. Just dust yourself off, and get back in there. Remember,...it's all about the snakes. Always.

And if any of you guys ever want to come hang out with me, and see what my snakes look like first hand,...no problem. Just say the word.
T.

Actually the last time I spoke via e-mail with Quetzal he said he was going to some Islands off Honduras to go look for some type of Cribo, I will have to look up the e-mail to figure out what he was exactly talking about. He also host's expeditions into the forest to look for herps on advance notice. Great people with a lot of knowledge and they know quite a bunch of interesting people. Their zoo is definitely worth visiting if you are ever in Costa Rica.

Here is the e-mail I found from Quetzal. I know he isn't the Drymarchon melanurus authority but he does live down in Costa Rica and he does get out in the field often.

Hey Brett, your guy looks like a typical melanurus to me, probably of Honduran origin because that is the only country that allows export of wild melanurus. Where did you get it? because the one guy who ships out of Honduras is a friend and I know who he mostly ships to in the states and maybe we can trace it that way. Speaking of Honduras, we are going up there right after Christmas to look for those little grey island cribos we talked about. Wish us luck!
Quetzal
Parque Reptilandia
Costa Rica

If my melanurus does lay eggs and they do hatch I will definitely share the results. I more than likely will be holding all of them back for some time to see what they turn out to look like and to get them feeding.

Take care-

Brett

That's great! We will definitely need to watch this. I also wonder about the possibility of {three} subspecies, instead of two, or one. Here's a big question for Quetsal,...Does he have any good pictures of a primo unicolor? You see I'm racking my brain from the other side of this equation. If we could definitively see what a true Uni looks like, and how often, and where they occur, it would be of great benefit to all. We may be dealling with three subs here,...blacks, browns, and uniolors. But at this point it's all just conjecture.
I would be grateful for any light he could shed on this subject! Thanks a bunch,
T.

Well, regardless of the "true" specific status of "real" blacktail cribos, I managed (after an exhaustive search) to find an imported male that fits the description of a "pure" blacktail...I'm not sure where exactly he is from (no import data), but by the looks of him, he's got to be one of this year's hatchlings (he's only around 2.5 ft long right now), and although he is a trifle skinny, he is nice; bright gold with a shiny black black tail. I'll post pictures of him after he's taken a few more meals and is better acclimated. :eatpointe

Hey robert-

Doy have a female to pair the male with? Would yu consider a loan with my female for next year? She has a jet black tail. She just laid 15 eggs so I should get another decent clutch next year......I am not too far from you either.

Brett-
I do have a female BT that will be two years old this year that I got from Chris Raden as a hatchling, but I don't see any reason why Vegas couldn't be used to breed two females in a season. The trouble is that I don't think he'll be big enough next year to breed. I don't know how old he is, but I'd guess he's a decently sized almost yearling. Right now he's pushing 3ft, almost as big as my '05 indigos. If he's big enough, I'd be glad to do a loan thing, but I don't want him to be lunch for your female.
Would it be possible to come see your cribos sometime? There aren't a lot of folks around here that keep them, and its always fun to compare notes.
Congratulations on the eggs. That's really, really cool. I'd be interested to see what the hatchlings look like. Good luck with the incubation. May all your eggs contain twins. :eatpointe