Great news...

[William C]

After talking with a breeder, I realized I was lied too.. but in this case, it's a good thing. My two males are NOT SALMONS. They are Hypo. Which is great for future breeding projects. And I got them for a steal since the guy thought they were just Salmon. SCORE!

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Apollo...





Rocky...

[snake8myelbo]

Awesome! They look good!

[TheWinWizard]

I find that amusing that a breeder doesn't have a clue what he's selling. How did you find out they were hypo's? Pm me the breeders name please.

[Evenstar]

Ummmm..... I'm sorry - maybe I'm missing something from a previous thread. So keep that in mind as I mean no disrespect.

But salmon IS the same thing as hypo. There are 2 recognizable bloodlines of hypomelanistic boas - orange-tail and salmon. They both originated from the same wild-caught specimen collected from Panama. Despite developing from different matriarchs, the genes are completely compatible and work in the same way - hypomelanism is a reduction of black pigmentation. The hypo gene can occur in nearly all of the various localities with only a few exceptions.

Please refer to the following educational sites for documented information regarding boa morphs and hypomelanism in general and for further information on the gene:

Class Reptilia - boa morphs

Boas and Balls - classification

Selective Bred Reptiles - boa morphs

And this thread at Redtailboas.com does an excellent job of more fully explaining the gene and its effects:

http://www.redtailboas.com/f115/hypo-same-salmon-42216/


Hope this is of help to you..........

[William C]

I appreciate the info, I never intended to breed them anyway. Just loved the look of them. I do not understand why Rocky has so much grey and Apollo has none, though. They HAVE to be two different morphs.

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And the guy that told me they were not Salmon is a breeder from the UK named Stu Beadle.

[Evenstar]

A boa can be a hypo and NOT be a salmon, but if it is a salmon, it IS a hypo. Salmon is a specific line of hypos. So all salmons are hypos but not all hypos are salmons. That might have been what the breeder meant.

If you can post a few additional pics of your two boys, we might be able to shed additional light on them. Rocky in particular. I don't think there's any doubt that Apollo is a hypo. BTW, I like how Apollo's head stripe connects to the first saddle at the base of his neck - nice!

[William C]

Thanks for that little bit of info. I appreciate it. I'm new too boas, and morphs... so any and all information I appreciate.

[Evenstar]

Ask away - we're happy to help!


BTW, it really is possible that they ARE both hypos, even though Rocky has more grey. Hypos go through a light and dark phase and they can look very different from each other. My female, Peaches, is very bright with orange, coral, and peach tones. My male, Jasper, is more muted with softer mauve tones. They look completely different, but they are both hypos.