Questions for the biology types.

[Gio]

I bought a 10 month old Royal female for my son in late May. Since then, I have become very interested in snakes, primarily the pythons and boas.

After reading up a bit I started to become interested in the differences and similarities between boas and pythons. From what I understand the pythons have an extra row of teeth, and additional bone in their skulls, and lay eggs as opposed to boas that give live birth.

I also read the 5 pits on each side of the python's snout are unique to pythons.

Do those pits make them more efficient at detection by heat?

Do boas have better vision than pythons?

I'm curious to know more about stuff like that and also a little more about royal pythons in the wild.

Most of what I read on B/P's is in regard to care and breeding and such.

Maybe the answer is a herpetology book, but if anybody wants to school a newbie in the similarities and differences between some of the less obvious characteristics of boas and pythons, I'd love to lear.

[The Serpent Merchant]

I'm not 100% sure but I believe that pythons have better "heat vision" and boas have better eye sight. I know that my Dumeril's boa seems to actively track things with her eyes while my BP's don't.

[Mike41793]

I tend to agree with what aaron said.

I also always notice people saying that their boas seem smarter, more curious, and are more aware of whats going on around them. Also better eaters.

I think this is probably due to boas having better eyesight and not just seeing heat. They are able to recognize you easier bc they can see you rather than just see a body of heat moving towards them. I mean both have really good scence of smell so they can probably both recognize you by that but overally boas can probably see more stuff whereas pythons just mainly see warm stuff and cold stuff. This may be why boas sometimes like to watch tv lol.

But Im not positive about this, more so just a hypothesis.

[Gio]

That seems like a decent start. My guess is boas being "new world" snakes are slightly less primitive? Only a guess, but it seems live young as opposed to egg laying shows some advancement.

I am not wanting to talk myself out of our B/P by any means, but I like some of the info on the boas as far as being inquisitive and having seemingly better vision.

I'd be interested to know in general if boas have bigger or better functioning brains. I have seen some huge beautiful pythons.

There is a tiger reticulated on you tube that is in my opinion one of the most beautiful snakes I've seen. I think it's a 21 footer and the owner takes her out to show some friends. Her head is huge, but I wonder how the brain compares to a huge boa. Obviously knowing size of subject doesn't equal huge brain

Just looking to find out more. I'll read as people answer. I'm really into this stuff now thanks to my son.

[The Serpent Merchant]

It's amazing how this hobby grabs hold of people. I was the same way, my girlfriend wanted a pet reptile so I started researching... We settled on a BP and were just going to focus on them but now we have more non-BP's than we have BP's.

Boas are definitely further down the evolutionary path. Better eyes, slightly more intelligent, and live young... As well as a few other things.

[WingedWolfPsion]

Oh, I don't think boas are more intelligent than Retics. From what I understand, reticulated pythons are quite a bit brighter than most other pythons, or, at least, their behavior suggests it.

There are trade-offs when it comes to live-bearing for reptiles, which is why most reptiles don't do it. It's not really a 'more evolved trait'. Birds are much further along the evolutionary ladder, and none of them are live-bearing. Even flightless birds lay eggs.

Better eyesight will make an animal seem more alert, reactive, and aware, but it doesn't actually indicate that it is smarter. Boas do have infrared vision--their heat pits are located between the labial scales, instead of in the center of them, as in pythons.

Of course, each individual species should be taken individually--I don't think a rosy boa shows any more intelligence or alertness than a ball python. The boa constrictor may be a bright animal, but I would guess that a retic gives it a run for its money in the brains department. The green anaconda, on the other hand, is not known for being brainy, or for having good eyesight, and it is a boa.

[Trackstrong83]

Yes pythons have "heat pits" while Boa's do not. And the cool thing is, pythons can switch from heat seeing, to regular eye sight voluntarily! I thought that was pretty cool. I agree with the guys before, Boa's do seem much more active/sqirmy lol but they're really awesome animals. Most boa's do tend to get bigger than ball pythons, but not monstrous. I mean a red tail boa can get around 10 feet but in my opinion they're one of the best, most docile pet snakes you can have. Along with Ball pythons of course

[Gio]

Looks like Mark O'Shea has a book out on the subject. I'm going to check out. I have to agree this is an interesting hobby.

I got a fever and the only cure is,, more cowbell. Little joke there,

I think the only cure is more knowledge.

What I don't want to do is regret buying the B/P. She's pretty cool and has been fine to handle. She's a bit stationary the last day which is probably good, but the kids like to watch her move, and for crying out loud if I hear I should have gotten a boa because they are better eaters, and just as easy to care for and handle I'll be a tad bummed out.

However maybe the saving grace is most (boas) get beyond the 6 foot limit I imposed here at the house.

BTW,
Thanks Aaron and Mike. Once again you guys rock.

[Trackstrong83]

Boas do have infrared vision--their heat pits are located between the labial scales, instead of in the center of them, as in pythons.

.

Say whaaaaat? I did not know that. Learned something new today.

[Mike41793]

Looks like Mark O'Shea has a book out on the subject. I'm going to check out. I have to agree this is an interesting hobby.

I got a fever and the only cure is,, more cowbell. Little joke there,

I think the only cure is more knowledge.

What I don't want to do is regret buying the B/P. She's pretty cool and has been fine to handle. She's a bit stationary the last day which is probably good, but the kids like to watch her move, and for crying out loud if I hear I should have gotten a boa because they are better eaters, and just as easy to care for and handle I'll be a tad bummed out.

However maybe the saving grace is most (boas) get beyond the 6 foot limit I imposed here at the house.

BTW,
Thanks Aaron and Mike. Once again you guys rock.

Whats the book called? Id like to read it too. I liked mark oshea and his show when he had it on AP!

Hog Island boas look similar to red tails if thats what youre looking for