Boa morphs that don't change?

[Kira]

Hello! I love how a lot of boa imperators look as babies but it seems like a lot of them change drastically. Are there any morphs that look essentially the same as they age? I fell in love with some anery jungles on morphmarket but I'm worried that they will brown out as adults.

I guess my dream boa (aside from IMG) would be grayish with light eyes and a black tongue. Hopefully this post makes sense! As you can probably tell, I'm not well versed in boas. I'd love to hear from you guys!

[dakski]

Hey Kira! Lots to love about Boas.

I hear you that it's tough because they can change as they age. With new morphs constantly, we aren't even sure what they will look like as adults.

I'd let others chime in here who breed, but it doesn't hurt to reach out to a few breeders and see what they say and can show you from established morphs.

I bought my tanks from Jeff Ronne, the Boaphile, and although I haven't bought a Boa from him, trust him and he's a good guy. He also has some amazing animals, but breeds more run of mill type stuff too. He can probably send you some baby to adult pics if you ask him.

He's notoriously bad with email, but does answer the phone or call back shortly.

In the meantime, any other boa questions, just ask. There's a good group of Boa peeps on here and between us, we can answer pretty much anything.

Good luck on your search and keep us posted.

[bcr229]

I think they all change over time. Some also change based on where they are in the shed cycle, or even time of day. Maybe one that is pure white like a super fire wouldn't change, but I can't think of any others that would stay the same color.

[dakski]

I think they all change over time. Some also change based on where they are in the shed cycle, or even time of day. Maybe one that is pure white like a super fire wouldn't change, but I can't think of any others that would stay the same color.

Really good points. Behira, my Ghost BI, goes through light and dark phases during the day. He head can be almost jet black or light tan and her body does get a little lighter or darker. Not as much with my BC or my Sunglow BI. However, you are looking for darker colors.

If it's your first boa, I would also try to find one you connect with. Most are pretty chill, but see who speaks to you. Hard without reptile shows now, but at least talk to the breeder and get a sense of temperament and food response. One has nothing to do with the other, but both should be good.

[WrongPython]

If it's your first boa, I would also try to find one you connect with. Most are pretty chill, but see who speaks to you. Hard without reptile shows now, but at least talk to the breeder and get a sense of temperament and food response. One has nothing to do with the other, but both should be good.

This! In the long run, you'll probably be happier if you chose the boa you best mesh with over the one with the prettiest colors. Pretty colors won't make up for a personality you clash with, especially if you're just looking for a pet! That said, you should be happy with the color of the boa you buy, so try to hold out until you can find a boa that has both the personality and the colors you want.

Onward to grey boas: the Colombian anery gene (ie. the one you're probably dealing with when someone says "anery") does brown out with age, unfortunately. If I understand things correctly, the black-eyed anery and Nicaraguan anery genes do stay grey throughout their lives, so those may be worth a look. You'll want to double-check with a breeder of those genes on that, though. There are also a couple locality boas that are naturally grey. Crawl Cay and Caulkers Cay are normally grey, and there are anery lineages of Nicaraguan, Paraguanera Peninsula, and Sonoran boas as well (though the latter two are harder to come by). Anery and hypermel longicauda boas are worth a look as well, though they're admittedly more dark than grey.

As far as other morphs go: jungle, from what I understand, is kind of a color-enhancing gene. The older jungles I've seen tend to be pretty vibrant, especially when there are additional genes like hypo at play. Leopard may also be another morph worth looking into. It tends to introduce darkness and reds on top of the complex leopard pattern. Some leopards even darken out like IMGs as they age -- it's believed that there's a Sonoran IMG linked to the leopard gene, so it may actually be IMG after all!

if you'd like to scout out what morphs look like as they age, try ordering the boas available on MorphMarket by "oldest birth." Typically there's a few older boas posted there, so you can get a feeling of what some morph combos look like as adults. There are also normally some older boas posted on FaunaClassifieds that you can check out as well. Checking out breeders' Facebook pages may also help, and a good breeder should be willing to send you photos of the parents of a boa you're interested in if you ask.

Good luck! If you're looking for breeders to check out, I can recommend Vin Russo (Cutting Edge Herp), Allison Theus (Crispysnakes), and Warren Booth (Boa Booth). I have two lovely boas from the first two and am looking to pick up a third boa from the latter (when the next litter of the specific locality morph I'm looking for comes along).

[richardhind1972]

I think alot of boa morphs enhance with age, sunglows and ghost fade a bit but still look great.
Img boa and longicauda only get better with age and as said the jungle gene actually gets brighter, so does the mandarin belly
Probably go for locality like suggested btberes lots of anery type in there

Sent from my CLT-L09 using Tapatalk

[AbsoluteApril]

All boas gain yellow as they age which is what turns them brown/tan. It varies per individual and per morph but in general they will all change.
Specifically looking for grey, I do agree with WrongPython that some morph locals of CA boas will probably be your best bet, but it is not going to be an easy find*
Good luck in your search

* a grey boa, we call them 'baby greys' for a reason, they only look like that when babies

[PartySnake13]

How about a locality boa?

Crawl Cay boas retain a nice grey color throughout life.

Some Tarahyumaras are bred for a dark black coloration, looking like the early stages of IMG's.


You mentioned that you like IMG's, why not just get an IMG? We know they actually get better with age.

[Kira]

Wow thank you all for your great responses!

@datski

Thanks for your tips! I've been watching lots of videos about boas and they seem awesome. I handled one a few years ago and she had a great temperament. She was very curious and the way she wrapped around me felt almost like a hug! I plan on just getting one boa so I want to be one that has a great personality and is visually appealing as well since I will likely have it well into my 50's-60's.


@bcr229

Unfortunately I'm not a fan of how most white boas look. Some change is fine but what I mean is some change so drastically. I don't want to purchase a baby that is gorgeous and then have it turn into an adult that I don't like the appearance of. But overall temperament is the most important so hopefully I can find one that fits well.


@WrongPython

Don't worry, I will not choose a boa based on looks alone, but since I plan on having only one boa I'd like for it to be a winner in both personality and looks. Thank you for your recommendations- I'll look into them I've heard great things about Vin Russo!

@richardhind1972

I do like the look of ghosts- they have those light eyes that I love.


@AbsoluteApril

That's what I've heard about boas getting yellow/brown but was hoping that maybe there were certain morphs that weren't as affected as much. Kind of like with the desert ghost ball pythons.


@PartySnake13

I was originally leaning towards IMG but I really liked the anery jungles that I saw on morphmarket. There's something about boas with light eyes that make me swoon. I'll have to take a look at some more boas in person. I'm not in a rush so I want to take my time to find one that I really love.

[Kira]

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1-Co...ew?usp=sharing


Having trouble uploading a pic but here's a link. I really love how this anery jungle looks and if it would stay this way forever it would be my ideal boa.