Brazilian Rainbow Boa on craigslist...

[Conner]

I saw this add on craigslist for an adult female BRB, at about 6 feet. It has pictures, and its a gorgeous snake. However, it appears to have some white spots on it in various places, which the owner points out. Is this a disease, healed injuries, a genetic anomaly, or what? I suppose it'd be too much to hope that its partially piebald...

 

[Gene0514]

Could be missing scales
Is the current owner feeding live?

 

[snakeguy101]

looks like scarring from a rat or perhaps old blisters from contact with a heat source. It otherwise seems in decent shape though.

 

[Conner]

Hmm, I've asked the owner for more information. We'll see what he says about what it eats...

 

[EricIvins]

Scars.....

 

[jeosbo01]

I saw the listing this morning and thought the same as most...almost definately scars!
Something tells me that if the spots were actually something more the owner would know...just my .02.

 

[Conner]

I figured it was something along those lines, just thought I'd ask to make sure. Still a pretty snake.

 

[jeosbo01]

Update on this animal...
So according to a close, and quite knowledgeable, friend this animal may in fact be something special. She is currently in the posession of another friend who says that not only are the scales fully intact in the white areas, but the pattern is also distorted around them as it would be with a typical pied animal.
The snake has apparently been bred in the past and the F1 generation showed no abnormal color so it could be at best a recessive trait. Again, I haven't seen the animal so this is all second hand info but I can safely say that both the friend I talked to about it and the friend who has the snake are quite capable of identifying an old injury on a snake...interesting.

 

[snakeguy101]

Update on this animal...
So according to a close, and quite knowledgeable, friend this animal may in fact be something special. She is currently in the posession of another friend who says that not only are the scales fully intact in the white areas, but the pattern is also distorted around them as it would be with a typical pied animal.
The snake has apparently been bred in the past and the F1 generation showed no abnormal color so it could be at best a recessive trait. Again, I haven't seen the animal so this is all second hand info but I can safely say that both the friend I talked to about it and the friend who has the snake are quite capable of identifying an old injury on a snake...interesting.

if that is the case then you need to breed it and let us know. Maybe it is hard to tell from the pics but it still really looks like scars to me.

 

[jeosbo01]

if that is the case then you need to breed it and let us know. Maybe it is hard to tell from the pics but it still really looks like scars to me.

I agree completely that they look like scars...but the person I talked to about it has produced more snakes than I will likely keep in my lifetime and I trust her opinion more than my own on things or a serpentine nature. I find it hard to believe but I find it even harder to doubt her opinion.
I wish I could breed it, but that would imply that I had it, and I don't...I haven't kept BRB's in more than 3 years and probably won't be keeping them anytime soon (focusing too much on fish and dart frogs at the moment).