Colombian Boas

Boa Constrictor imperator

or

Boa Constrictor constrictor ?

I believe all Colombian Boas are constrictor constrictor. This is a controversial opinion I know but it is based on the legitimate original descriptions of the various subspecies and not on any opinions written or spoken. Of course the conclusions I come to are my opinion but this is the only conclusion I can come to based on the facts written in the original descriptions.

Colombian Boas, commonly referred to as Colombian Red Tails are not Boa constrictor constrictor or Boa constrictor imperator because anyone says they are or are not. They are not one or the other because I say so. They are not one or the other because any other breeder says so. They are not one or the other because any taxonomist says so. They are not one or the other because any herp writer says so. They are not Boa constrictor constrictor or Boa constrictor imperator because of where they originate either. An all too little known FACT is that neither of the original descriptions of constrictor or imperator ever refers to any Boa constrictor found in Colombia. They are completely silent on any of the specifics of Boa Constrictors found in Colombia. So anything that anyone says about the particular subspecies these animals belong to is strictly speculation based on absolutely nothing factual unless they specifically reference the original writing for the two descriptions mentioned earlier to scientifically categorize Colombian Boas into either constrictor constrictor or constrictor imperator.

So what are the facts? Categorizing Colombian Boas into the proper subspecies whether that be constrictor constrictor or constrictor imperator can only be done be studying these animals in light of the specific physical differences between constrictor and imperator. The fundamental difference between these two is scale rows. Imperator has only up to 79 scale rows. Constrictor has 80 and over. It is that simple. Read the original descriptions which were written without any prejudice or to prove or disprove anything. They were not written to strong arm some group of animals into one group or another but to set up the standard by which future scientists like wanna be scientist such as myself. These descriptions or “keys” were written to clarify what species or subspecies a given Boa Constrictor could be classified as and to set about laying out an accurate scientific record of these animals and their far more detailed descriptions that I can get into here.

Now, I have done an extensive amount of scale row counting on my Boas over these many years. This was done more than ten years ago using the many many Colombian Boas I had in my collection that were the Colombians of old. I counted no fewer than 30 different specimens. That is Colombians that were imported into the United States in the 70’s, 80’s and their descendants. I do not have any specific information regarding the exact locality of any of the Colombian Boas I own. However I do know that every single Boa I counted had more than 80 scale rows. Most had around 85 scale rows with a high of 89 scale rows on one particular animal. Jim Pomaville a Boa Constrictor Whacko like me from way back (Actually from farther back) has counted the scale rows on numerous newly imported Colombian Boas as well. Guess what? Every single one of these animals is constrictor constrictor as well based upon the number of scale rows.

This is why my opinion is that all Colombian Boas are actually Boa constrictor constrictor and not imperator.

I hope this is not confusing for anyone. The Boas that most people breed and sell as imperator, assuming they are Colombian Boas, are the same subspecies as the Colombians I am breeding. We simply disagree on which subspecific name ought to be affixed to these equal animals.

I do not however believe as some would inaccurately presuppose that it is perfectly fine to breed any constrictor constrictor with any other constrictor constrictor. I am not a totally extreme locality whacko as some of my good friends are BUT I would never ever consider breeding a Colombian with a Surinam. I don’t think it’s a moral issue mind you but just one that is my preference to keep things clean and straight. Anything that anyone is attempting to accomplish breeding dramatically different locals of Boas together can be achieved the old fashioned hard work and selective breeding over multiple generations way. This is the way I prefer to do it. Ten years ago the pinkest Boas out there were probably some Surinam Red Tails. Today I produce Colombians that blow away these same high pink Surinams. I did it the old fashioned way through hard work and selective breeding. So please do not mischaracterize or misunderstand what I will do or think anyone else should do based on my iconoclastic opinion regarding the proper and scientifically agreeable subspecies that Colombian Boas belong in.

Thank you,

Jeff Ronne