ARABESQUE BOA

This morph was first produced by Steve Hammond of Exceptional Exotics in 1989.  In 1993 the trait was proven genetic by Steve Hammond when he produced a litter that included sixteen arabesque.  In 1997 Steve Hammond discovered that the morph was co-dominant when he bred it into his "Sunburst" line, which was totally unrelated to the original arabesque bloodline.  The following year Peter Kahl bred and arabesque female to an albino male, the result being nearly half of the babies exhibiting the arabesque trait, making them heterozygous for albinism.  The original arabesque line shows hyper-melanistic (increased melanin) traits.  There is typically intense black speckling throughout the body, the belly is strongly marked in black as well as the head and the tail blotches are black.  The linear pattern is typically connected by narrow saddles.  The ground color is generally a light cocoa with a highly contrasting dark pattern.  Steve Hammond has also produced a line of arabesque boas known as "sunburst" arabesque that have little to no black speckling and intense orange, pink and gold hues.  In the very near future we should also see "albino arabesques".

Article compliments of: Chris Romine and Steve Hammond

Photos compliments of: Jeremy Stone, Chris Romine, John Skipper and Gary Mirone.