# Help with vintage snakeskin ID please!



## LucyE (Jun 7, 2021)

My aunt has a snakeskin that belonged to my great-grandfather. It's probably from Brazil or Honduras. I think it may have been the skin of a snake that lived in my g-gd's shed that was preserved when it died. She wants to send it over to Australia for my son, who's a keen herper. If anyone has any idea what sort of snake it was, we'd love to know. I'm guessing it's some sort of python.

Thanks!


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## Shaggers89 (Jun 10, 2021)

LucyE said:


> My aunt has a snakeskin that belonged to my great-grandfather. It's probably from Brazil or Honduras. I think it may have been the skin of a snake that lived in my g-gd's shed that was preserved when it died. She wants to send it over to Australia for my son, who's a keen herper. If anyone has any idea what sort of snake it was, we'd love to know. I'm guessing it's some sort of python.
> 
> Thanks!
> 
> ...


I have a feeling it may be a Rainbow Boa skin but id take it with a grain of salt do you have a closer photo of the markings? as I cant see them clearly in that one 
cheers


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## Pythonguy1 (Jun 10, 2021)

Shaggers89 said:


> I have a feeling it may be a Rainbow Boa skin but id take it with a grain of salt do you have a closer photo of the markings? as I cant see them clearly in that one
> cheers


That was also my original guess but I can't say for sure cause I'm not 100% on it.


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## LucyE (Jun 10, 2021)

Interesting! I thought boa markings were more splotchy (technical term  ), rather than geometric. Here are some close-ups - apparently the skin is a bit shiny, so I'm not sure it's any better! Apparently this is only the tail section. The other section was made into a handbag for my great-grandmother!


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## Pythonguy1 (Jun 10, 2021)

LucyE said:


> The other section was made into a handbag for my great-grandmother!


??? 
RIP snakey.


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## LucyE (Jun 10, 2021)

Pythonguy1 said:


> ???
> RIP snakey.


Bear in mind that this was the 1920s! Let's assume that the snake was already dead from natural causes & my relatives thought it would be awesome to preserve it for posterity...


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## Pythonguy1 (Jun 10, 2021)

LucyE said:


> Bear in mind that this was the 1920s! Let's assume that the snake was already dead from natural causes & my relatives thought it would be awesome to preserve it for posterity...


That snake skins over 120 years old! Your gonna make your granny feel ancient! Lol, at least the snakes legacy is being continued...


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## Allan (Jun 10, 2021)

Boa constrictor. The reddish colour is most probably a result of age or whatever was used to preserve the skin.


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## HadesPanther (Jun 20, 2021)

rainbow boa. rainbow boas often have the pattern and the pattern being less portrayed may be a result of aging


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## LucyE (Jun 20, 2021)

For anyone who said boa constrictor, could you please let me know why? Is it because of the South/Central American context, or because of the pattern? Always good to learn more! To my untrained eye, this looks so much more like a reticulated python pattern, rather than the saddles of a boa, and we don't know for sure whether it was bought/preserved in the Americas - my Great Grandparents travelled a lot.


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## Sdaji (Jun 20, 2021)

LucyE said:


> For anyone who said boa constrictor, could you please let me know why? Is it because of the South/Central American context, or because of the pattern? Always good to learn more! To my untrained eye, this looks so much more like a reticulated python pattern, rather than the saddles of a boa, and we don't know for sure whether it was bought/preserved in the Americas - my Great Grandparents travelled a lot.



The high scale count and pattern, and probable locality. If you look at a Retic, the pattern has large pale areas along the dorsal line. This pattern looks like a boa, though not the most common type.

The colour being distorted and the glare in the picture make it difficult for me to make the pattern out very well, but it doesn't look like a Retic to me. It doesn't look like a Boa constrictor (constrictor constrictor or constrictor imperator) to me, it looks like one of the South American boa species with a more busy pattern, but I really can't make it out very clearly. Looking at the tail would make it very easy to see if it's a Boa constrictor (either subspecies), but it doesn't appear to be anyway. I'm pretty sure if I was able to hold the skin I could work it out.


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## Herpetology (Jun 21, 2021)

I’ve been wondering if you would even be allowed to import this??


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## Pythonguy1 (Jun 21, 2021)

Herptology said:


> I’ve been wondering if you would even be allowed to import this??


In QLD when you fill out a movement advice you need to specify if it is a live animal, a dead animal, or a skin. And that's just for moving addresses!


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## LucyE (Jun 21, 2021)

A


Sdaji said:


> The high scale count and pattern, and probable locality. If you look at a Retic, the pattern has large pale areas along the dorsal line. This pattern looks like a boa, though not the most common type.
> 
> The colour being distorted and the glare in the picture make it difficult for me to make the pattern out very well, but it doesn't look like a Retic to me. It doesn't look like a Boa constrictor (constrictor constrictor or constrictor imperator) to me, it looks like one of the South American boa species with a more busy pattern, but I really can't make it out very clearly. Looking at the tail would make it very easy to see if it's a Boa constrictor (either subspecies), but it doesn't appear to be anyway. I'm pretty sure if I was able to hold the skin I could work it out.


Thanks for this detailed response! Very interesting. I'll see if I can get some photos without the glare.
Apparently you have to complete a CITES declaration and it can't be on a list of banned species (which seem to be native Australian species). It might be that it can't be imported, but it's worth finding out.


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## Allan (Jun 22, 2021)

LucyE said:


> For anyone who said boa constrictor, could you please let me know why? Is it because of the South/Central American context, or because of the pattern? Always good to learn more! To my untrained eye, this looks so much more like a reticulated python pattern, rather than the saddles of a boa, and we don't know for sure whether it was bought/preserved in the Americas - my Great Grandparents travelled a lot.


The size and pattern of the skin gives it away as a Boa Constrictor. None of the other South American Boa species have that girth nor length, except Emaralds. This, combined with the saddles on top and diamond shaped blotches on the sides makes it a typical Boa constrictor. I've kept both species and it is definitely not a Retic (nor a Rainbow Boa)


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## Sdaji (Jun 23, 2021)

Allan said:


> The size and pattern of the skin gives it away as a Boa Constrictor. None of the other South American Boa species have that girth nor length, except Emaralds. This, combined with the saddles on top and diamond shaped blotches on the sides makes it a typical Boa constrictor. I've kept both species and it is definitely not a Retic (nor a Rainbow Boa)


If it is a Boa constrictor, the tail pattern will be very obvious.


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## LucyE (Jul 29, 2021)

Hi All

Some more photos. I have no idea why my mum can't get clear photos! (well, other than the fact she insists on using a 20 year old camera  ). Fabulous markings.


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## Friller2009 (Jul 29, 2021)

Definitely a boa of some sorts


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## Sdaji (Jul 29, 2021)

Yeah, it's definitely a Boa species of the genus Boa.


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## LucyE (Aug 1, 2021)

Thanks all! What is it about the tail pattern that makes it obviously a boa?


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## Allan (Aug 1, 2021)

The "saddles" change shape from squarish to round/oblong.


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## Sdaji (Aug 2, 2021)

LucyE said:


> Thanks all! What is it about the tail pattern that makes it obviously a boa?


Boa Boas (as opposed to Boas of other genera) have distinct tail patterns. If you google "Boa constrictor constrictor" or "Boa imperator" or just "Boa constrictor" or "Red-tailed Boa" you will see examples. If you look up other Boas such as "Rubber Boa" (an actual type of live Boa from another genus) or "Emerald Tree Boa" or "Yellow Anaconda" (which is a type of Boa but not in the genus Boa) you'll see the patterns are very different.


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