Posted by:
gray
at Wed Jun 22 12:57:38 2005 [ Email Message ] [ Show All Posts by gray ]
The highs and lows of boa breeding......the saga continues
Yesterday was a bittersweet one for me. I have been waiting in anticipation for months for the results of my first BCC breeding. I had raised the female since she was a baby....almost 5 years in all. I have raised the father for 2.5 years. They were sold to me as Guyanan although I have no locality data or proof. You can call them Surinam if it is your preference. They were also sold as captive born.....although I have no reason to doubt it (these animals never gave me one hint of a problem) I don't know their history. What I do know is that I have looked far and wide for nice BCC and these two are my favorites. She was only 7 lbs when the breeding trial began but she was nearly 5 years old and had good structure and mass for her length. The whole breeding trial and preganancy went smoothly. She ate and thermoregulated all the way through. Yesterday was day 108 POS and I came home to find her in the birthing process. There were already live babies and unfertilized on the ground. Unfortunately, I was only able to witness the "birth" of additional slugs. The final count was 5 live babies and 7 unfertilized. I expected a small litter from my petite lady but the high slug count was disappointing. Furthermore, a fantastic looking baby died 30 minutes after I arrived. It was still carrying a huge yolk. Two of the remaining four also had decent size yolks but I am happy to report that after a day of little movement they are have now abandoned the yolks and are exploring their enclosure. They are good sized babies so I am optimistic that all four will be survivors. They also seem to have received favorable looks from Mom and Dad. I will include a few photos and a link to the rest.
The one that did not survive:
All of the Birthing Photos
Mother
Father
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 Guyanans.......and they really are captive born......no fooling...... - gray, Wed Jun 22 12:57:38 2005
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