Boa morphs/breeding advice needed

[Salamander Rising]

I have 3 Boas, 2 girls and one guy.

The guy has been judged 'normal' by someone who only saw him in deep shed and pastel/hypo/something not normal by somebody who has seen him wearing his usual suit.

This is Bob









No matter what I do, I can't get the camera to show how peachy-pinkish he is or how his saddles are a weird brownish/burgundy color.
[his saddles are also "pointy" instead of the "bow tie" kinds I've seen where the spaces between the saddles are oval or round]
His belly always has the orange spots/tint .

This is Belle Boid [Bella] who is supposed to be a hypo Orangetail



She had babies this year and half of them looked like her and the other half looked sort of normal but not quite, if that makes sense.
"Panama" was also mentioned. [?]

This Billie Jean who, according to the papers I got with her is:



Het Albino from F1 Het Sunglow x F1 Sunglow with "litter sires" F2 Sunglow, Albino Jeff Gee line.

[I have no idea what any of that means]

Her sisters are Sunglows.

I have "The Complete Boa Constrictor" and "The Complete Ball Python" books and can't make head or tails of the Boa genetic/locality stuff.
The German 'calculator' is way over my head and Punnett squares are incomprehensible.

After all this rambling, what I'd like to know is, what is Bob and what would be the best male for the girls to 'get the most bang for my buck', as it were?

BJ is just over 2 so she won't ready for quite a while and Bella just had babies so this year is out, I assume but I would love to know what male morph to buy for them.

Sorry this was so long but I really need help, offered/explained as simply as possible.

Thank you for your patience.

[TheWinWizard]

I'd get either a sunglow or 100% het for albino for BJ. I'd let him father them all and see what comes of it.

[Salamander Rising]

I'd get either a sunglow or 100% het for albino for BJ. I'd let him father them all and see what comes of it.

Thank you for helping me.
I'm leaning towards the Sunglow idea.

[Jason Bowden]

Great looking boas! I like the orange tail hypo girl!

Male looks normal to me---nothing wrong with that.

I'd get a multipe gene albino to put with the het albino girl. Like a jungle sunglow.

[Salamander Rising]

Great looking boas! I like the orange tail hypo girl!

Male looks normal to me---nothing wrong with that.

I'd get a multipe gene albino to put with the het albino girl. Like a jungle sunglow.

What would a jungle sunglow make with the hypo girl?

[seriously, I know nothing of boa genetics]

;D

[Evenstar]

I agree with Jason. The male looks normal - althought it is possible there is some low-expression jungle going on with those wacky saddle patterns. More pics might clear that up. Some normals can look fairly pinkish, but your boy has too much black/grey tones to be a hypo. Just my thoughts on that. I think pairing him with a jungle, hypo jungle, or maybe a squaretail would be your best choice for him. Although if you have the financial means, consider an aztec.... wow.

Doing the jungle pairing will get you normals and jungles - possible high expression jungles if, indeed, your boy is a low-expression jungle himself. A hypo jungle will get you both normal and hypo jungles. Should be the same odds for the squaretail and aztec, so if you go this route, choose the morph you like best.

Het Albino from F1 Het Sunglow x F1 Sunglow with "litter sires" F2 Sunglow, Albino Jeff Gee line.

This means that your het Albino girl is the product of a hypo male that is het for albino (ie: het sunglow) and a female Sunglow. Jeff Gee is the bloodline these snakes originated from (probably the breeder that did the original pairing). F1 and F2 are the generations - first generation, second generation, etc. In other words and in more simple terms, you have a normal female that is 100% het for albino with documented bloodline.

I also agree with Jason that I would put her with a multi-gene albino male. A jungle sunglow would be nice because you'd produce hypo jungles, jungle sunglows, and albinos in one litter.

A jungle sunglow paired with your hypo girl (who is very nice btw), will only produce more hypos, possible super hypos, and hypo jungles. The bonus here is that every baby would be 100% het for albino. I would probably do this as you can get a jump start on producing jungle sunglows with this female as well and you can use the same male with both of your females thereby saving some $$. Pick up a super nice jungle sunglow male - bright colors, high-expression jungle pattern, and you won't go wrong with either female.


Hypomelanism is a co-dominant gene. More accurately, it is incomplete dominant. Meaning that hypo will be dominant, but even in a hypo x hypo pairing, normal offspring are still a possibility. A snake cannot be "het" for hypo. If it has the gene, it will be expressed. A hypo x hypo pairing can also produce a "super hypo" - a particularly clean patterned and vividly colored animal that can only produce hypos - because that is the only gene it can pass on. Super hypos are nearly impossible to tell from a regular hypo and should only be described as "possible super" until the animal is bred and every baby is hypo.

Jungle is dominant. It will express over normal, but there is no known super as far as I know.

Albino is simple recessive. An animal must inherit a copy of the gene from both parents in order to express it. If one animal is albino, but the other parent is not, the babies will all be het albino but unable to express the gene themselves. They can pass on either a normal gene or an albino gene to their own offspring. If you pair a het albino to an albino, theoretically, you will get both albino and 100% het for albino babies.

Hope this helps you!

[Salamander Rising]

Thank you for that very good explanation, Evenstar.

I guess I will be saving my pennies for a Jungle Sunglow.



Bob may or may not be normal but he is my beloved snuggle bunny with whom I would never part.



Last month I had to put my old Ibizan down after a year and a half of literally carrying her wherever she needed to go and hubby was super busy with a customer's trike and I had no one to cry on.

I took Bob out and sat in the kitchen with him and instead of exploring and shoplifting everything in sight, he wrapped himself around me and gently hugged me.

I was crying and he kept rubbing his face on my cheeks, as if to dry the tears.

I hugged him back and he sighed and just settled down and held me for a good half hour.

I have no idea if they can sense sorrow or what but he sure outdid himself, consoling me.

If I thought I loved him dearly before that night, it was nothing compared to the love I feel for him now.

He's just a really good boy.