I'm sure a person who is very passionate about breeding reptiles would consider crossbreed reptiles as a major part of his passion, and even a reptile lover is always fond of seeing some crossbreeds. In India, luckily you can find a crossbreed snake known as The Whitaker’s Boa, Eryx whitakeri, named after the renowned herpetologist Romulus Whitaker.

The Whitakers Boa is a cross of the common sand boa, Gongylophis conicus, and the red sand boa, Eryx johnii, and it shows the characteristics of these two snakes. It has blotches on its body and a similar head like common sand boa and smooth scales, short tail and reddish body color are the characteristics of the red sand boa.

The maximum length of this snake is 80cm, and it is viviparous by nature, giving birth to 5-9 young ones.

I've found this snake twice on herping. The last time was last summer while herping in a sanctuary of Goa with a group of people. We saw a bison grazing, so we moved back and changed our direction. After reaching a safe distance we sat on a rock and saw this Whitaker's boa snake beside the rock. It was around 40-50cm in length and a beautiful one. "Sometimes, changing your path has great benefit."

Photo: Riyaz Khoja