Crawl Cay dwarf Boas

Crawl Cay dwarf boas,currently lumped in with Boa constrictor imperator,come from a single sand cay off the coast of Belize Central America. This cay has an area of approximately one acre,consisting of mangrove,grass and sand,which accounts for half the cay,it is also inhabited at least some of the time by people and dogs. A recent National Geographic survey of the cay found 8 boas remaining,the first expeditions to the cay removed 65 animals of varying colours from white to black with orange and yellow individuals noted. I have had great sucess breeding these boas and currently work with several colour/pattern morphs,such as Tangerine line animals and the Pinkfire line (the pastels of the crawl cay world).

Crawl cays mature at 4+years of age and between 3.5 and 4 feet long for females,and 30+inches for males,they are of slender build and like to climb,in the wild they are dependant on a twice yearly arrival of migrating passerine birds landing to rest on the cay,a real boom/bust feeding cycle. Neonates can be difficult to start feeding,presumably being lizard/bird etaers in the wild,however once started they are easily maintained with standard boa husbandry and feed well on defrosted mice/rats. They exhibit day/night and mood colour changes as do many boas. Adult sizes are generally less than 4.5 feet in length,I have a 22 year old gravid female here who has just topped the 4.5 foot mark.

Crawl cays have something of a nasty aggressive reputation,however it is overstated and F1 and F2 animals have much better temperaments.

Incidentally both the Tangerine and Pinkfire lines have proven to be dominant.

NEWS UPDATE:

 Some years ago I used a partially striped male bred to a normal looking Crawl cay to produce two litter mates with almost "jungle boa"markings. Those two snakes have produced a small litter today 20/6/10 with two long striped animasl,one with a jungly saddle or two and a "hypo"(where did that come from??) thus proving the striped gene. Unfortunately there were 7 slugs (infertile ova) which will make it more difficult to decide how this gene is working,more work needs doing to clarify this.

 Here is the partial striped male who started it all:

The female and male produced from this animal,that have now produced the striped neonates,

Male:    

Female:

2010 Neonates:

(Please note:That these are sold out for 2010 season)

Pinkfire founder female:

Anery type1 Crawl cay