All posts by Michael

Chilabothrus neononate season begins with Ford’s Boa

Captive breeding, Chilabothrus, Conservation, , ,

This time of the year is the start of the season when West Indian Boa babies are born.  The various species employ slightly different reproductive strategies, reflected in their annual timings of birth.  Ford’s Boa (Chilabothrus fordii) is generally the first of the genus to give birth in- and ex situ.
This litter of four C. fordii, produced by a five year old female, was born on July 24, 2021 in Germany. The moon phase was full moon, a low pressure system was in the making and the boas were born in the hours of the (not so early) morning and discovered around 11am – most likely – soon after birth.  Yolk sacs and fetal membranes were still attached.
The weight of the boas was determined with a household fine scale. The measurements of the seemingly largest specimen was approximately 25 cm and weighed 4.9 grams. The shortest was about 23 cm and weighed 4.4 grams.  The weights of the others were 4.5 grams and 4.8 grams, respectively.  Mean neonate weight was 4.65 grams.
No stillborn, deformed young or unfertilized eggs were discovered.  It appears unlikely that the female produced and consumed them because:  (a) the boas were discovered right after birth and ( b) no signs of consumption were made – the mother looked very emaciated.
The boas are from Jeff Murray, a mixture of US lines.  Jeff coined the phrase: It’s Christmas in July!  Which appears very accurate when one sees these beauties.

A litter of Chilabothrus fordii with the mother boa. Photo by E. Fitzpatrick
A litter of Chilabothrus fordii. Photo by E. Fitzpatrick

Litter of 9 neonate C. fordii born 27 July. Photo Jeff Murray

The first newborn boa shed after 5 days. A comparison of the first skin to an adult C. fordii shed illustrates the size differences.  Notice that the skin stretches when the boas shed, the baby boa measures about 25 cm, whereas the skin measures close to 40 cm. The adult boa skin has stretched to a lesser percentage.

Size comparison between adult shed skin and newborn first shed.

We look forward to more litters coming on both sides of the Atlantic.  To read more about the fascinating Ford’s Boa, click here

Recommended Reading

Corallus, Natural History, Recommended reading, , , , , , ,

 

Robert W. Henderson dedicated large parts of his professional life to the study of West Indian reptiles with particular focus on the Genus Corallus and herein the species Corallus grenadensis. This fascination, research and accumulated knowledge is the foundation of this synopsis reflecting the status of the current knowledge. The book is more than 400 pages strong and contains more than 300 high quality color photos, most of which never been published before.

Unsurprisingly, Henderson’s love for the species residing on the Windward Islands is shown by the fact that much more information and scientific analysis is provided on these species than on some others. But don’t get me wrong, it’s not a fault of the author, but simply a lack of data and detailed analyses that we suffer from for many of the other taxa. It’s about time to change that. 

This book is a must read for any person interested in the genus Corallus.  Get it directly from the publisher  here  or, if you are in the USA,  here.

Quote of the Month

Conservation, Natural History, “Quote” of the Month
It is not the strongest of the species that survives but the most adaptable.
~ Charles Darwin

The rapid changes in the West Indies include development, deforestation, chemical uses, increase in population and traffic, pollution, exploitation, drought and climate change.  It is questionable if any West Indian Boa species has the capability to adapt to these, given the brevity of time in which these changes occur.

Happy Birthday

Uncategorized

Few (if any) people who have seen his miracles were not captivated by the magic which waits underneath the curtain he uplifted for us to see. He’s thought to be one of the most well-travelled people on the planet. From his journeys he always brought us a wealth of information, novelty, and impressions, so beautiful that no one was left untouched.

He turned many of us into naturalists, paved the way for many academics and certainly succeeded to instill the will to preserve (or even restore) the planet in most of us.

Congratulations on your 95th Birthday Sir David Attenborough!

Recommended Reading

Conservation, Natural History, Recommended reading

We assume all of our readers have a genuine interest in not only West Indian Boas but herpetofauna, in general. This book, written by two well established academic researchers in the field is worth reading. It deals with the geographically small subsection of the West Indies (St. vincent and the Grenadines) but does so in such great detail, that it is almost impossible not to learn a wealth of new things about the herpetofauna from these islands.

It contains more than 400 color photos and distribution maps of the 32 species of reptiles and amphibians that occur on the more than 40 islands of the St. Vincent Bank and the Grenada Bank. It touches also topics of conservation and provides a compilation of our current knowledge of the frogs and reptiles of the two banks and raises concerns for their futures.

ORDER it directly from the publisher (here) or another privately owned small bookshop.

 

A short film on deforestation

Conservation, Natural History

The following short video shows real images, comparing the state of forests in 1984 to 2020. Many of our readers have been already born when the first images of this film were taken. So this all happened within our lifetime…

While many of the images are from South America, it is necessary to understand that deforestation is not a local problem of some less developed countries, but rather the result of a globalized world where it is cheaper to cut and burn trees for a meager harvest of soy, corn, sugar cane, palm oil, etc., which in turn is exported to feed cattle or sweeten our soft drinks, than to produce healthy food from the soils we live on.

Deforestation is real and the root cause is the human population.

It is important to notice that on the West Indies, changing natural habitat occurs at an unprecedented pace, for different reasons than in South America, but with the same result.

With deforestation measured in hectares per hour (ha/hr) instead of ha/month or year, this is the biggest threat to all biodiversity on this planet. PERIOD.

Recommended Reading

Recommended reading

This is the first blog post in our recommended reading series.

The book is a must read for anyone with a serious interest in boas and pythons.  It covers ecology, natural history, evolution, behavior, physiology, neurology, reproductive biology, and conservation.  From a perspective of West Indian Boa aficionados, it contains several highly interesting accounts.  Support the small private publishers-buy several for your herp holiday gifts.  Available directly from the publisher here.