This evening's meeting was small, but we welcomed some new people!
| This is Michael with Peton, my ball python. | And this is Chloe with Steve the Cornsnake. |
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There was also a gentleman who rescues Iguanas.
Here's another picture of Steve the Cornsnake showing his lovely belly pattern and his sweet face:
Other animals present this evening:
| a blizzard cornsnake |
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| an okatee cornsnake |
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| and a western hognose snake. |
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| Peton made the rounds. Here she is with Scotty and his grandfather. |
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Chris gave a little talk about boas, mostly Central American boas, illustrating with (mostly) his own collection. :) Many of them have been to meetings before, but not all: Charlie and Chris had been to the big show in Daytona and they were full of tales about what they saw.
| Here is a map of the area Chris finds most interesting. The islands are generally tiny and some of them have been wiped clean of boas, so only captive-bred are available. |
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| The common boa constrictor that people think of when they say "boa" is the Columbian boa. Notice the light color and the bright red of the tail. There is some discussion as to whether the Columbian boa is taxanomically BCC, Boa constrictor constrictor, or BCI, Boa constrictor imperator. |
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Chris's boas are BCI, Boa constrictor imperator. Their range extends south to (about) the Orinoco river basin - which is a bit below the bottom of the above map. Most BCIs are smaller than their kinfolk south of the Orinoco river basin, and in their more northern locations they have darker colors. Hog Island boas are extinct in the wild. Cay Caulkers are pretty much wiped out in the wild - the island is only 4 miles long by 100 yards wide... Mexico has dark boas. There are Mountain Boas that live at 4000 ft!. They can breed at just over 3 feet in size.
| Here are pictures of some of the boas Chris brought this evening: first, Kelly's Nicaraguan boa, Curtis. He is darker than the Columbian shown above. |
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| A Cay Caulker boa |
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| A selectively bred Hog Island boa |
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| and a regular adult male Hog Island boa |
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| Here's a box full of small boas, all squirmy and active - a picture problem, they kept trying to slither away! |
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... and here is Chris's current pride and joy, the boa he seems most excited about: A Corn Island Boa
| The back ... | ... and the belly - wow, what a color! |
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Next month we plan to collect dues.