Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hello! I recently acquired two red tail boas (1 columbian and 1 surinam). The person I purchased them from was not sure of the ages of the boas. He thinks the female is 8 months and the male is a year and a half. I was wondering what a healthy weight is for a breading female. I am planning on waiting for at least 2-3 more years. I was just curious at what approximate age and weight would be good to consider breeding them.
I was also wondering what their breeding season was.
Thank you!
-Dan

few points to make reguarding your post ...

-breeding age is most important especially for females and generally 3 years is the minim. not sure on exact weight at the moment but i am thinking 10-15ish (dont quote me though).

-check out riobravoreptiles.com there is a great section on breeding and your questions should be answered there.

-i am assuming since you only have a colombian and a surinam that you are planning on breeding the two together. this is pretty frowned upon by many, and the reason i bring this up is because more then likely you are going to have to sell the babies and a cross like that is not very desirable.

-breeding seasons can be induced and many have had success year round.
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- Jason F.

I was actually planning on buying a couple more. I want to keep the lines pure as you said. I have one male that is bout 3 months old and he is a surinam. I was just curious if they had different ages and sizes being different types of snakes. All the snakes i buy i make sure to buy from different people or make sure the breeder i buy them from says they arent of the same parents. Inbreeding is just wrong imo! Usually i can get snakes that have a history or records of birth date and all that good stuff. Only the columbian and surinam i bought out of the local newpaper and the person i bought them from recieved them from a friend but neither of them were sure of the exact age.
Thank you!
PS What does it mean when people put things like:
1.1.0 Colombian Redtail Boas (normals)
2.1.0 Sumatran Blood Pythons (normals)
1.0 Black Blood Python (normal)
1.0 Dumeril's Boa (normal)
0.1 Coastal Carpet Python (normal)
0.1 Jungle Carpet Python (normal)
0.1 Surinam Redtail Boa (normal)

Are the numbers before the name the ages or how many they have or sexes? I have always been curious about that since i started reading these forums.

sounds like you have a good plan and are being smart about the future. i am not one to say imbreeding is bad or wrong (as far as animals go) but there is no question it does not help the gene pool.

as to your other question, it is both the quantity and sex of the animals they own.
- the first number is male, second is female, and third is unknown sex ... (male.female.unknown)
- the number corresponds to the amount of that sex they are speaking of ... 1.2.0 would be one male and two females
1.1 would be a pair
0.0.3 would be three animals of unknown sex
it is like shorthand, once you understand it you dont even realize and it makes things much easier to write.

good luck with your animals.
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- Jason F.

n/p

Surinams tend to be bigger than Colombians in general. (Males tend to be smaller than females of both though) Females are not ready to mate until at least 3 yrs old, males at least 18 months. She should be in perfect health and be slightly overweight before you consider breeding. You should read this:
http://www.riobravoreptiles.com/care_breedingboas.htm

Good luck,
Caden