I was curious what can make a rainbow boa loose its shine? My Chem teacher (i failed it previously and now taking it as a senior, so no im not an 18 year old sophomore lol ) has what she claims is a columbian rainbow boa that is solid brown. She is very ignorant and I have tried to tell her what she is doing is wrong because the snake is about 3 1/2 to 4 feet long and lives in a 30 gallon aquarium. but anyway the enclosure is too small, she feeds him just enough so he wont get any bigger, he has no heat gradient, 1 hide, no lighting (other than what comes from the classroom ceiling).... and she has had him for 12 years from a student who wasnt able to take care of it how it needed be, who said it was about 10 years old then. so my teacher says he is about 22. Other than he is very unhappy in his home and not cared for how he should be what would cause him to not have his shine/glare on his skin? Would it be because of one of those reasons or another reason all together?

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Randy

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Sounds to me like a case of mis-identification. There are quite a few boas from the columbian region, she may be making an assumption that it is a rainbow. Print out a few pictures and ask her to pick out the one she owns. I would print out a Rainbow, an red tail boa and a Hogg Island for starters.

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Answers are great. But I prefer questions!

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well if they are as ignorant as you say she could have the wrong species all together

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It could be a Columbian... some of them really come in dull brown shades. There should be some indication of the typical ring markings on his back and sides, though.
Here are some good pics of Columbians: http://www.rainbowboa.co.uk/colombianphoto.php
(This site also has VERY good care info that you could print out and give to your teacher... for all the good it will do!) Personally, I'd threaten to call the animal control if her keeping conditions don't improve before the end of the quarter!

The conditions this boa is being kept in are horrible and I'm surprised the poor thing has lasted so long!

To answer your original question: Rainbow Boas don't usually "shine" unless there is a strong light source nearby: sunlight, a camera's flash, or other strong artificial light. The rainbow shine is caused by light being refracted by little tiny ridges on their scales. So if he's kept in a tiny cage without light, you'd probably never see him shine.

All of the other conditions would contribute to bad health and unhealthy skin, but should not affect their irridescence if it truly is a rainbow boa. My rainbows "shine" even in their dullest blue phase before a shed, so I think if you took him outside in the sunlight, you could be surprised!

Keep us posted!

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Andrea

With most boids the "shine" is a sign of good health. if the irridescence isn't there to me it would indicate a problem.

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Merlin,
What's Life Without A Little Magic!

If you're talking about "luster" or "sheen" in the sense that it has the nice semi-gloss look to it that healthy snakes have, it sounds like a health problem.
If you're talking about the rainbow shine effects, it's probably that he isn't in strong enough light to show it off.
Either way, that teacher should be reported if she doesn't start caring for the snake properly!!

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Andrea

i will have to take a closer look at it to make sure it has the rings... i havent really taken a good look at him and when idid it was right before a shed.

what I mean the shine I mean the rainbow effect. he still has the shine they have when the light hits

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Randy

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