What's YOUr opinion of my crosses ?

[Hogboa]

I breed my high orange Hog Isle to a Hypo columbian boa ::) I'm hoping to produce a really orange boa ;D I've heard ALOT of people don't like crosses :o What do you think ??? Have I went & done a BAD thing here ??? Will I make people cwm8.gif of me ??? Will people >:( me for it cwm14.gif I just want to see what comes out.
Of course if I was to sale any.............I'd tell people exactly what they were :-[
So be honest,please don't "bash" me :-[ Just your thoughts ;)

[kasper22]

I don't really think that that is a good cross. I don't see much wrong with crossing some of the localitys, but since the hog, from what i've read, is no longer found in the wild it should be kept as natural as possible.

[redtailboas]

I am not one for all the cross breeding either, but according to all literature hogg island boas are classified as BCI. So are you really breeding BCI to BCI? That makes for interesting conversation.

[Red]

I personly think that if nothing else we have found out that there is always going to be people that are going to breed region specific snakes and the people that just want to breed a realy cool snake will also have a good market. because the people that just want a pet snake are look'in for a real cool snake not the perfect suri. So I think what you did is going to be real cool and probly make some nice boas...
Well that is my .02
ERIC aka...Red

[OldTimer]

I feel that this needs to be cleared up here and now. Hogg isle boas have NEVER been classified as Bci. In some popular books the authors state that they MAY be Bci. But, until a field biologist classifies them and his/her work is published where it can be judge by his/her peers we should not assume they are Bci. My guess is that they will be classified as a separate (and possibly extinct) subspecies. Along with the Argentine boas the Hoggs should be treated with great care and no cross breeding should ever be done.

[The_Boaphile]

Most of the time crossing two different types of Boas is done for one reason. To achieve something that may take much longer or multiple generations doing it just using selective breeding within the same breed of Boa. I use the word breed rather than subspecies because Guyana Boas and Peruvians are the same subspecies but certainly everyone would agree that this breeding would be a "cross". The excuse some might use might be that “I don’t have time to wait for something good to happen”. I have been selective breeding for a long time. When I started there were other "Old Timers" in this hobby I envied. I stuck with it and now I am one of the "Old Timers". To me it doesn't matter if the breeder says he will disclose what he has done. The fact is the next person that sells the animal may not. In fact many will say whatever needs to be said to separate you from your money. This is one of the greatest dangers of "crossing". 50 years from now will there be any "pure" forms of Boa Constrictors in the US? Probably not unfortunately but I for one will not be going out of my way to contribute to this morass. This does not make me better than anyone who disagrees. Not at all. We just have a different view of the importance of keeping pure animals that way.

[cb76]

well every one seems to know my point of view from other posts on this forum.

i will say that hogg island has not been classified (as oldtimer said) and just because it has the subspecific status of bci- dont mean they are the same.

this is my gal ribs- a colombian bci.....

http://photo.redtailboa.org/albums/album-of-colombian-boas/ribs_stail.sized.jpg

this is my sonoran desert mexican, also a bci.....

http://photo.redtailboa.org/albums/albuo48/smex1f1.sized.jpg

just because they are bci does not mean they are the same!

in fact there are 4 different types of mexicans that i will not cross- but all are in mexico

i would not cross northern and southern colombians

not to mention all the central american boas that are extremely rare!!!

crossing is a huge no no in my eyes. i really hope you tell what these babies are to your customer, but what jeff said is true.

i for one am trying to keep my guys pure.

[cb76]

also like jeff said and to quote the ketchup

THE BEST THINGS COME TO THOSE WHO WAIT!

and i will add work hard for what you want!

[serpents33]

I have crossed a hogg and a columbian before and they are a very pretty snake. MIne came out a real light beige color with very little black. I sold some of them, but I imformed everyone what they were getting was a cross. The first feamle that I kept is 3 yrs. old and is very lite, the second set is a year old now, they are also getting lighter with every shed still. I beleive you will be delighted with what you get, but I think we should all think about trying to keep different strains pure for conservation of the species. I do not plan on crossing any more myself though, because of the fact that it is getting hard to find a true columbian anymore.