Serendipity the Suriname, my first boa

Just saw your reply. I'll ask about pictures first I suppose. Might as well see. Still not sold on sending her back, she is sweet and full of personality. And the matter of I don't even know how lol.

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Originally Posted by DestinyLynette

Well, this is what I got back:

No way! We got her in trade from a good customer last week. She was in our spray rack and looked clean. When I see him I'll ask details on parents. You can send her back and we can send you a different one? Mites is weird, all snakes on the rack get sprayed every other day for quarantine.



Advice on where to go from here?

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If they got it in last week than it for sure could have had mites; that's a very short amount of time to have a snake (and IMO too short to go right around and sell it without monitoring its health before putting it up for sale).

I would wait for details on the parents and see if you can get photos of them. I just really don't see pure Suri in this animal, even a low-quality pure Suri. She looks like she has too much Colombian influence to me, but we'll see if he can send you pics of the real parents. I personally would not send your snake back and would keep her and ask for a partial refund back. You paid $150 correct? IMO $150 is on the low end for a pure Suri, but if she is indeed a cross then I would ask for a partial refund of whatever would make you satisfied. If he agrees to that then you can wait it out for a real-deal BCC from a reputable breeder.

If you like her I would keep her, but try to work out some other deal with him for something else maybe? I personally wouldn't breed her in the future, and just keep her as a pet (especially if she's a sweetheart!). And then if you wanted to work with boa projects in the future, I would look into getting one from a really reputable boa breeder. There are a lot of stunning boas out there from really awesome breeders. I don't see them around here, but if you poke around on some boa enthusiast sites you'll find some drop dead gorgeous BCCs out there. But if you just want a pet she is very pretty.

If you REALLY want a Suri BCC, I'd suggest asking some of the breeders that are here, or check the link I sent in the earlier post, or I can list SEVERAL local specific breeders that will give you a drop dead beauty of a Suri.

Just for fun, look at the Suri's on Deviant Constrictors web page.

Legacy Reptiles is assisting with Rio Bravo Reptiles stock as well.

I'm not sure what is going on with Gus but he has temporarily suspended operations and has advised people to check with Legacy Reptiles and

let's not forget CUTTING EDGE HERP. Vincent Russo's program.

As others have said if you like her/him? Hold on to it. It's a pretty snake

You have a great attitude and deserve a BCC if that's what you want.

Keep us posted.

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Originally Posted by Daybreaker

You paid $150 correct? IMO $150 is on the low end for a pure Suri, but if she is indeed a cross then I would ask for a partial refund of whatever would make you satisfied.

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I thought this too, but I hadn't looked at BCC prices in a while. I don't like how quickly he turned that animal around though, that would bother me.

Just searched Kingsnake to see if I could see Surinames for sale to get a reference on price (all I found were mature males; anyone know a good Suri breeder or two whose prices I can look at?), and what I did find was SaS's ad trying to sell a Suri female. From the description, and pics (though she looks way darker in them), I'm positive it's her: http://market.kingsnake.com/detail.php?cat=8&de=1014962

My mite-spray comes in tomorrow, so that'll be addressed. I agree, short QT time. I'll go after pictures of the parents. I'd like to know if maybe she's like half Suri or pure BCI or what, and if just pure BCI (are you guys sold on BCI x BCC? What BCC influence, given the dished saddles?), what locale? Grr.. did not sign on for this.

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Whoa hold on, lot of posts while I was typing mine, lemme read

She is much prettier than most BCIs (and I love BCIs!). Much cleaner, and she has very interesting markings. Her saddles are nice and thin, and she is pretty light. I think she would keep a nice color well as she grew, and she is very pretty. The vertical lines between some of the saddles are really neat too. But if there is suri in there I would guess it's less than half. I would guess more BCI than BCC in there. But it's all guesswork and hard to tell without seeing the real parents. She is a very attractive boa though.

Okay! So, here's what I'm thinking upon further review:

Yes keep her. I don't even know how to return an animal, I don't LIKE the idea of returning an animal, and yeah, you're right, I should go with a reputable breeder and not a store-front operation for this sort of thing. I'll still ask if he can ask whomever he traded with for pics of the parents. I think I'll ask him if he would mine giving me a deal on future snake sales? Even if it's a screw up, I feel bad asking for money back when I'm keeping an animal, so I figured this way I am staying with his business- I'd be willing to buy another BP from him, I have zero complaints about my bee he sent me- so he'll be more agreeable. He DOES have some pastel ghosts in I was looking at (ghost projects- squeeeee), so it wouldn't go to waste anyway. I'll agree to the not breeding Dippy; if I'm selling an animal I want to be able to say "oh this is a purebred xxx, the mom was xx and the dad was xx". This does mean, however, that I will have to get another boa. Oh, the travesty :rolleyes: Well played, snake gods, well played...

As for reputable breeders:
Holy bananas the Divine Constrictors and Cutting Edge Herp snakes are to DIE for!! More info wanted on Cutting Edge Herp; I see they breed hoggies and BPs as well- but I don't see an available page or anything, just info under each species they handle. Thanks for sharing, and I definitely appreciate the sentiment, Gio.



Now, for an update our beloved mutt:

No one warned me how impossible the task of returning a boa to their home was. Or taking a picture. How does anyone here take pics of their boas?? Doolittle, do you drug yours? Do they get calmer with age? Good God I take her out and she like flails around and wants to explore everything. Trying to photograph her is like trying to hold on to air. I have a feeling if I get her a mouse, she'll eat for me already. Also, she lays around her hides, not in them. Do boas not use hides?

Lol, every boa I've ever met was reluctant to go back into their cage. I get good shots by taking two hundred and hoping I get a few good ones. Good lighting is the best way for me to get consistantly good pictures though. They are such fun animals, and they only get more fun as they get older. All the ones I have known do calm down with age. My boa rarely uses her hides, but I still leave them in there for her. I know lots of boa keepers do away with them completely as they get bigger. Mine usually lays on top of it, or in her branches. I had trouble getting my boa to eat the first time, because I handled her too much at first. Once I left her alone she took her food no problem, and she has a killer feeding response. She is an extremely aggressive eater, and I think she would eat anything I threw at her.

Baby boas take a weekly feeding schedule like BPs then move up to every other week once they get to large rats, (or is it just after the first year), yes?