What do look for in a "nice" boa

[scottrussell]

hey, i'm doing my research on boas and i've narrowed it down to either salmons or albinos - or maybe both!

but through looking at tons of snakes and reading descriptions i've tried to break down what makes a really good LOOKING snake. i know what a healthy snake looks like but its the aesthetics that i need help with. i know it can be personal preference but i want to get very high quality animals because even if don't breed them i'd still consider it an investment. basically what i've come down too is that regardless of trait (normal, salmon, albino) it's important to have lots of contrast between the colors and one thing especially is to have limited freckles. i've kinda picked up the idea that the goal to get the nicest boa is to breed out he freckles on their backs? or is that something that's just not even considered. sorry if i sound stupid but theres no one else to ask. but personally i think a boa thats really clean looking would be important especially if you plan to breed it.

 

[scottrussell]

now this looks like a nice salmon:

http://market.kingsnake.com/detail.php?cat=8&de=382519

and it seems like an especially good price too. do they normally retain their color as adults or do they get muddied up?

 

[Mike Greathouse]

Thats a pretty one and Chris Pearson is a great guy to work with.

 

[hhmoore]

As you stated, Scott, aesthetics are often a personal thing. For me, a nice "clean" pattern is the way to go (except with Hogs...for some reason, I prefer those speckled). To further muddy the waters for you, some salmons retain their vibrancy, and become awesome red/orange adults...some don't. Some albinos retain very distinct pattern contrast, others turn mostly yellow. While seeing the parents isn't a guarantee, it certainly helps swing the odds in your favor. Hmmm, just realized I haven't taken any shots of my albinos, and I should take some of the hypos, too. Maybe I will get them by tomorrow

 

[The Reptile House]

Me personally, I like nothing more than a really clean looking little to no speckling. I have a Salmon and we got ours from our friend Mike Weitzman of bassicallyboas.com. I have 4 from him and love them all. The quality is superb and the snakes are top notch. He has some really nice ones on his site for sale at this time if you wanted to check them out for comparison. From him we have our Salmon, an unrelated salmon sibling and a pair or het for coral albinos with a ton of color!! Our salmon did not go this season but will go next and we can not wait to see what he turns out. I hope you find what you are looking for. Shanell

 

[scottrussell]

if anyone has pics of their baby salmon and then one of their salmon grown up for comparison that would be awesome! and if anyone has examples of a really nice adult salmon and a really ugly adult salmons for comparison too...because i know when snakes grow up some of them tend to look worse so what i think may look bad might just be normal for a snake to grow up into.

 

[Art Klass]

For me, I like light colored boas with a symetrical connecting pattern. A nice red tail is also a must. Boas vary as much as people do.. but i've never seen an ugly boa. I can always find something nice about all of them. Beauty is truly in the eye of the beholder with boas.

 

[Vinny D]

I am a freak when it comes to my boas i like true red tails like pokigron suriname local i have 1 male here are some pic's of my females the lighter 1 is a Marajo, Guyana local c.b. '03 boath of her parents were wild collected in the Marajo area in 1999 and the other photo is a Belknap suriname female CBB '03 she has alout more color in real life pictures dont do much for my BCC's but when im going to purchase a boa i look for the following. saddle count, peaks, all around color, and mostly locality if you have any questions please feel free to ask thanks for reading