Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have a gravid female brb that almost refuses to bask on the hot side of the cage. What are the best temps for gravid females? what temps do they prefer? I can see skin between the scales she just went off feed and i last seen her copulating on June 3. She has all the signs except, seeking warmer temps. Any suggestions from the brb clergy? thanks for your time Jason K

Im pretty sure I dont qualify as the Brb clergy but here are my 2 cents. I sounds to me like your brb is ovulating according to the time frame I wouldnt expect her to have scale separation this early in the game. Anyway as long as you are offering her a nice warm place and she can hide and be comfortable on the warm side I would just let the snake choose for herself. I noticed our rainbow when gravid would be out on the cool side of her cage alot, especially after dark when she thought no one was watching her.

Good Luck!
-----
Chris
www.headhunterreptiles.com

Chris i live about 45 minutes from you in iowa....thanks for the advice. jasonk

So since she ovulating does she need bred again or how does that work?

Yep we are from good ole Iowa!

Personally when I see ovulation I seperate the snakes but I have heard others here say they continue with breeding attempts. I am much more experienced breeding pythons so Im not sure if I am just lucky by separating afterwards or not. I couldnt hurt to keep them together to see if the male is still showing any interest.

Are you from Des Moines?
-----
Chris
www.headhunterreptiles.com

Thanks for the info no. I from a tiny town called Yale...It's over by lake panorama....about 45 miles west of des moines...do you go to the des moines reptile show?

Hey Jason
we are about 45 minutes north of Des Moines.

We were at the show last year, we had brbs, carpets, and blood pythons. Im sure we will go to the show this year but probably wont get a table a majority of our snakes are already sold. We will be walking around in Headhunter t-shirts Im sure so be sure to say hi if you see us.
-----
Chris
www.headhunterreptiles.com

will eventually write up something better (and spell checked...) but for now, this will have to do….
To answer your question in as few words as possible…. 82-84 degrees.

BUT as Chris said, they will sometimes go to a cooler spot. I have been taking detailed notes on my females this year (breeding activity, shed cycles, temperature) and hope to shed some light on the rainbowboa breeding formula.

I do not claim to be an expert…. Fact, all I KNOW is that the snakes are smarter than I am when it comes to what conditions they need during gestation. Because of this I like to offer a large cage with a diversity of temperatures and humidity. This diverse cage mosaic allows the snakes to choose the niche that is best suited for baby boa development. I have observed numerous behaviors while using this set-up, and gained much insight into the reproductive timeline of snakes (balls, Boas and rainbowboas) by using a friend’s ultrasound.

FIRST…..LEAVE THE MALE IN. I do not think it stresses the female to have the male around. The female is most receptive as she approaches ovulation (Ova greater than 20 mm in diameter). I am of the opinion that female rainbowboas (Boa constrictors as well) cannot store sperm for very long, and therefore it is imperative that the female be bred by a fertile male as she nears ovulation. Because not everyone has the luxury of using an ultrasound machine to determine when the females are about to ovulate, it is better to be safe than sorry. Leave the male in. I have actually had pairs that were still together when the babies were born, although I do not suggest this method. Once the female goes off food for a while, AND she is still fat in the hind 1/3, AND she sheds her skin while VERY fat (post ovulation shed), AND you see her ovulate….then I would think about removing the male. Technically, after ovulation (ova between 30 and 35 mm) there is nothing the male can do. If the female is not fertilized by this time, she will have slugs…..and slugs suck. Leave the male in, just a little while longer, just to be safe.

As for temperatures, I only have a rough outline. I am looking into getting accurate digital temperature sensors for each cage so I can track hourly temperatures on my computer, keep a database for each female and correlate the temperature she seeks with the size of her ova (shed cycle, food intake, fecundity, growth rate, prey mass to snake mass conversion efficiency or any other variable you can measure). Eventually I want to publish the findings that can be gained when you have a large colony of animals and collect such a large amount of data, but for now, I rely on a Raytek infrared thermometer, pen and paper. My females typically do not seek heat until they have ova above 15 mm (several weeks into the cooling cycle). They will sit on the warm spot and do the characteristic belly scales up, or lying on their side. THIS IS BEFORE THEY OVULATE, so if you take this as signs that she is already pregnant and remove the male, you might miss the peak breeding time. My females will sit on a hot spot of about 85 to 87 degrees, but their body temperature rarely gets above 85 degrees. I do not have this charted as accurately as I would like it to be, BUT right around ovulation my females tend to stay away from the heat (or maybe they just seek the water dish to ease the discomfort of being so huge during ovulation).

After ovulation my snakes stay near the warm spot 90% of the time, Sometimes not moving for weeks at a time (80 to 85 degree body temp). Usually there are two sheds between ovulation and babies being born; post-ovulation shed at about 110 days before babies, and another shed about 45 days before babies are born. Within the last two weeks before babies are born, the snakes leave their warm hide boxes more often, soak to relieve pressure on their bloated bodies and probably look for a good safe place for them to deposit their babes. Then comes the fun part, looking at an uncomfortably stretched female one night and the next day seeing a deflated boa surrounded by dozens of alert little eyes.

I know this was a long answer to a short question, BUT just a little insight gained from observation can save a lot of heartache and slugs. If anyone else is collecting this type of information on their females, I would love to hear from you. Eventually I want to do like Dave C. and Mike L. by gathering information from numerous rainbowboa breeders to get a better idea as to the reproductive timeline, temperature preference, litter size and/or other information about rainbowboas and their reproductive husbandry. The larger the sample size, the more accurate (powerful) the results are…..so please keep accurate notes during breeding season until babies are born.

Thanks for reading all of this, I apologize for length and typos, but it is almost sun-up and I have been doing work for 24 hours straight….now it’s Bedtime.

Best of luck with your Rainbowboa breedings; luckily these snakes are very adaptable and they do all of the hard work for you. Just keep them happy and they will have babies.

BHH
rainbowboas.com

I hope the photo comes up alright.

This girl has begun to search the cage and she is not as attracted to the heat. She shed her skin on may 19th, So I expect babies real soon (between 40 and 50 days after the last shed (sample size of ten females). She is not the most bright orange of females, But she comes from one of my favorite bloodlines....the JR bloodline.
Check out the side markings

http://rainbowboas.com/images/JR2002f21pregnant 070406 011.jpg

rainbowboas.com