Wild Fiji Boas photos posted

[Helenthereef]

Hi, I live in Fiji and have three year old Fiji Boa babies (Candoia bibroni bibroni) born to wild snakes saved from being killed by locals during land clearance.

If you are interested in colourations and behaviours found in the wild, I've jusy posted some photos in the boa gallery (helenthereef) .... any comments or questions welcome.

Helen

 

[ravensgait]

Helen why not post them here so we don't have to search for them.. Randy

 

[Helenthereef]

I haven't posted the photos here 'cos I can't figure out how..... Technologically challenged or what. You can push the 'Gallery" button under my post and get to them easily though.

Instructions on how to properly use the site welcomed....
Helen

 

[crotalusadamanteus]

It's pretty easy. When you click a picture in your album, you'll see a URL underneath it. Like so...

Put your cursor inside that URL area, and press Ctrl A to highlight it. Press Ctrl C to copy it. Go back to your post and hit Ctrl V to paste the url, and your image will appear like so....

Not hard at all.

 

[Helenthereef]

Thanks for the photo posting advice, when I follow it I paste the link, not the photo - maybe it's the way my computer's set up - can you view the photo of the black boa morph below?

Sorry to turn this into a computer seminar, I am well known for being a Keyboard Klutz

Helen

 

[crotalusadamanteus]

I see a picture of a black snake with a red belly.

Now you can practice and show us some more.

 

[Helenthereef]

Fiji wild boas

OK, I have finally been able to post the photos, so here they are (below), thanks very much for the "How-to" advice.

These 'Candoia bibroni bibroni" native Fiji boas are in Fiji, rescued from being killed by locals during land clearance during construction activities. These are 4 adults, of three naturally occuring colour morphs, two of which display threat postures similar to a venomous snake, and at least one of which will actually strike aggressively if threatened. The other two are much more docile and easily handled.

There are also shots of the babies born in capitivity and now a year to a year and a half old. I'm interested in how these colours compare to those bred in capitivity.

Also my brown/pink babies seem to be able to change colour according to preference - one likes to remain quite pale pink, the other remains brown most of the time, and the third prefers high contrast dark grey, however all can be brown or pink at will. Is this sex linked? Do they retain this ability?

Thanks for your interest!
Helen


Four adult wild Fiji Boas, 1 brown, 2 grey and 1 black morphs

Three coloured heads in a snake tangle

Standard brown adult

Grey morph

Grey morph striking pose

Black morph red belly

Black morph defensive pose

 

[Helenthereef]

Baby pics Fiji boas

Too many pics in my last post, so here are baby pics under seperate cover: Born to wild Fiji boa adults in captivity, so natural colouration, but seem to be able to change colour at will from pink to brown to almost grey.

Brown baby about a year old

Pink baby about a year and a half old, 2 feet long

"Double header" Two babies in tube

 

[scotty77327]

Awsome pics I'm drooling on my keyboard

 

[crotalusadamanteus]

I take it by their slenderness, that they are arboreal? Or at least partially?

Sure a nice variation amongst them.

 

[Helenthereef]

Yes, they are normally found in the trees, and are nocturnal. Mine spend all day in a tube or under a hide, then come out and stroll in the branches at night, sometimes bathing in their water bowl.

All the ones I've seen are slender like this, no matter what their length. My babies are feeding on geckos once a week, the adults are taking rats and the local mynah birds about once a month.

PS I may be computer dumb, but even I think drooling on the keyboard would be a bad thing overall....

 

[Metachrosis]

That black animal is a MUST HAVE !
Have you reproduced any of them ?

I WANT !

 

[Helenthereef]

I wish.... I also think this is a spectacular snake, and it's a female - I am trying to persuade the owner to breed her.

Unfortunately this is a wild snake in Fiji controlled under CITES regulations so even if I had bred them I couldn't export.

This is the second of this colouration I have seen here though, so although it's not common it's around - I wonder whether any of the Candoia specialists have bred this colour in the US?

Maybe it's worth moving here for?

 

[ravensgait]

Nice photos and thanks for posting them.. Though I don't consider myself close to being an expert on Candoia I have kept and bred them in the past. I've never seen nor heard of a black one like that so that is something different you have there..

it is even easier to use photobucket.com to post your photos on sites and in email. More pictures !!!! Randy

 

[ravensgait]

Here's one I used to have, female Solomon island tree boa..

I bred only a few of these guys and getting the babies going was a chore, hard to come up with a steady supply of small lizards and frogs around here.. Neat little snakes though.. Randy

 

[Metachrosis]

Awesome animal,but hardly worth moving into a tourist trap
Please post some more pics,rarely is there anything posted these days that interests me on the snake forums.
But that one is the BOMB !

Please try photobucket.com for your pic hosting.

I wish.... I also think this is a spectacular snake, and it's a female - I am trying to persuade the owner to breed her.

Unfortunately this is a wild snake in Fiji controlled under CITES regulations so even if I had bred them I couldn't export.

This is the second of this colouration I have seen here though, so although it's not common it's around - I wonder whether any of the Candoia specialists have bred this colour in the US?

Maybe it's worth moving here for?

 

[Behmfamily]

I agree, this is one of the best photo posts that I've seen in the past year.

Mitch

 

[Helenthereef]

More black boa shots

Thanks for the nice comments, glad to find this is of interest. More photos of the black morph, which is the one everyone seems most excited about, follow.

I don't know much about breeding snakes (always been a pet keeper, not a breeder) - if we wanted to try and produce black boa babies, can anyone advise on how to work out when a female boa is in season? The black is a female and we have a grey male ... and they are being kept at their normal temperatures, light levels, humidity etc, so I think we shouldn't have too much difficulty. (and then our tourist trap may be worth at least a short visit maybe? )

Hope you enjoy the shots, and not TOO much drooling is produced!
Helen


Black morph reared up

Black morph whole body

Three females: Black, Grey and Brown morphs

Fijian handler with black morph (Yes I wish he wouldn't hold it like that too, we have had words, but he's been bitten by this one a few times; she has a temper).

 

[Helenthereef]

Solomon vs Fiji Boa

Hi Randy,

The Solomon Boa is VERY pretty, much more two-tone than the Fiji species, but they must be pretty closely related. Here's a few of my normal brown coloured boas when neonates;

And a pair about a year old

My young Fiji boas are eating geckos, of which we have an unlimited wild supplu, but the older ones have gone onto rats and birds, so it's possible to shift them over.

Do the Solomons boas come in a variety of colour morphs or are they all the grey/brown combo seen in your photo?

Helen

 

[crotalusadamanteus]

The little bit (very little mind you) I've picked up over the years suggests, (to me anyways) that the various colors found in some Candoia are more of a phase, then a morph, and you may get multiple color phases from a single litter. (Morph being used meaning a proved genetic mutation)

I have never read of any attempts to isolate a single color phase though. Maybe they are carriers of many different genes, and completely dependent upon how the genes pair up, as to what you get. ????


I wish you luck in your endeavors. Sounds like an interesting project for sure. Some pretty neat looking critters right there.