Cooks Tree Boas (dont be fooled)

[campbellexotics]

Ive been meaning to discus this for awhile but it had not come up until yesterday. I had contacted a breeder about possibly acquiring a Cooks Tree Boa. I was wary at first because i am all to aware that they are often mistaken for Corallus Hortulanus To my disappointment the snake was falsely identified. At one time all 8 species of tree boas were grouped under that name. Distribution of Corallus hortulanus is the most widespread of all tree boas. Which brings me to why I want the cooks tree boa. Yes it is more drab in color than the infinite color spectrums of the Amazons. It is a little bit smaller, reaching a full grown adult snout to vent length of around 4.5 feet. What fascinates me about these creatures is that they are found ONLY on the island of St. Vincent in the Carribbean. The only other insular species is the grenadian boa. Both are found of the northeast coast of Venezuela

[BrianV]

well i hope u a lot of luck in finding the cooks tree boa and thanx for the info

[David Loftin]

Hey there. I was wondering. Did the "breeder" you purchase this animal from produce it. Or was it an Import? I have seen A LOT of imported "Advertised Cook's" latley.. when pics are shown they are always hortulanus. It is very annoying. It seems like People think a grey/tan/brown heavily patterned Tree Boa is a Cook's. I would suggest visiting Corallus.com [link]. There is a wealth of information of the whole genus there. Another good source of information in distinguishing hortulanus and cookii is getting a book called Kaleidoscope Tree Boas [link]. But they show actual back patterning inbetween all of the species.. and the variations. It is an awesome book. There may be a updated version of it now. I know Mike Henrich of The Boa Kingdom [link] keeps them. I am not sure if he has successfully bred them or not. There are other people out there that do know what they have.. and are breeding them.