Banana Boa

cathatesrudy · 06-10-10, 01:43 PM

Ok, so the reason I'm here at the moment is because I have a coworker who has this thing about making up stories that are approximately 1/8 truth, 3/8 completely made up, and 1/2 based on things he has seen on tv/movies or read about somewhere... and this coworker began talking last week about a snake he was getting. I asked him what kind of snake, just for the fun of it, and he said a "banana boa"... So I had not ever heard of a banana boa before and was assuming it was some sort of morph of another more common boa. He said he was getting it from a good friend who breeds snakes and he was getting it for free, but was asking around at work for care suggestions. I asked him again what KIND of boa, but all he could come up with was banana so I let it go. Since I was bored today I looked on google for banana boa and could only come up with a few whispers of information with almost no pics, regular inquiries about whether I REALLY meant banana BOAT, and some posts on amazon.com about a banana boa remote control snake (also available in black mamba...) So if anyone out there might know a little bit more about this, I'm sure that once again this was an almost completely made up story, but half the fun is being able to go back and tell him that he's full of baloney and being able to explain why. Any help would be awesome, or anyone able to point me in the right direction (even if it turns out that it IS a morph, either way)
Thanks in advance!
~K

marvelfreak · 06-10-10, 07:23 PM

Python and Boas by Peter J. Stafford has a picture of one on page 118 and a detail about the snake on page one 116. The genus Ungaliophis, once call the banana boas because occasinal speciments were found in shipments of bananas in northern ports, also contains two species that occur in Central America and northern South America. Yes they are real. they max size is about 3 feet.

Geckogal · 06-12-10, 11:39 AM

Isnt it maybe emerald tree boa in baby stage? I know some people call it the banana stage?

cathatesrudy · 06-20-10, 04:19 PM

I doubt very much that it is an ETB, like I had said before he kinda pulls stuff out of his rear just to make conversation. I knew there were reports of the common name referring to a REAL snake, just the likelihood of him obtaining one as a pet from a friend who breeds them seems very slim to me and I was trying to see if maybe I had missed something. If it were a tree boa he probably would have been able to come up with that when asked, which he couldn't so its probably really just another crackpot story, I gotta see if he comes up with any follow up to it or if he holds off (he claims to be going to a reptile show in August, but then, at least 2 other people I work with are also going so he might just be trying to fit in...) maybe he'll come up with something new after that "happens"... Thanks for the replies, just needed confirmation!
~K