Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I am curious to know how much you think the publications and videos on breeding boas that have been made in the last decade or so have helped other breeders? I learned a lot from VPI and salmon boa's video and I soon hope to own boaphiles. I would love to know some success rates in the breeders that have been doing it for a while from when they started to now. Both BCC and BCI. Also, what advice would you give breeders just starting out? Come on big breeders what do you wish somebody would have told you when you were a newbie? Thanks to everyone who has contributed to this great hobby. Any opinions at all are welcome.
Michael Burton

I'm not really a breeder, but I have produced a few litter.

I found the info in the breeding videos very "informative". I also found that it all doesn't work for me "exactly" the way they tell it. What I do is take the info I learned from the videos and change it as needed for my situation. I also try to figure out what other methods will work the best for me. I found I've learned a lot from reading posts in the forums. I believe the secret of getting a female to ovulate is still "unsolved". I believe that part is still a hit or miss situation.

As far as advice.....

Well, boas can be very "humbling". I learned this first hand and I've heard it from many others many times. I think if you want to start breeding you should "start small". Don't spend a ton of money on high end morphs. Purchase good quality animals, but don't spend your life saving hoping to make it back later, after you boas produce. Get boas you would want, even if they "never" produced. Don't start breeding boas, at all, if you're only in it for the money. Purchase proper cages, thermostats, heating devices, water bowls, and find a good source for feeders, before you purchase a snake. Hopefully you've already been reading and learning about boas in general, along with the breeding end of it. When you're finally ready to start breeding.... Try to have fun with it. Don't stress out and don't count your boas before they're born. Breeding boas and having your frist litter is the most INCREDIBLE FEELING EVER!!! It can also be the worse feeling when things go wrong.
Good Luck.

Ill start off by saying great post. I see what you mean about starting small but to me it isnt about making money, I have yet to breed anything and I didnt really start small. I have the animals I wanted to work with and if they breed I just add more to my collection. Granted I did start with a C.A boa and I liked the little guy then I moved on to higher end animals because I understood the care for them and I liked how they looked. I should hopefully be breeding all my girls personally next year this year might be working on some things with a friend but I have a decent collection

0.1 Ghost
0.1 Anery Het Albino
0.1 Het Coral Albino
0.1 Albino 'het' stripe (only saying 'het' because she has a slight stripe
0.1 Sunglow
0.2 Anery Longicaudas.

I have worked up a decent collection and hope to buy into some DH Albino Leopards, Motleys, and maybe some Jungles this or next year.
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Brandon Nixon

I never watched the vidoes. i spent a lot of time reading and talk to people. it took me 3-4 years after my first litter of sand boas before i got it figured out for myself and was able to good results. just because it works for someone elswe doesnt mean it will work for you. just keep track of what you do and what works and what doesnt. and dont sweat the small stuff the snakes will figure it out if you just get close.

if I may add my experience.
I am a book and video junky. I try to get my hands on them all. The VPI Boa video is entertaining. And educational. It did leave me wanting to hear more about the breeding process. It's done in an "interview" format with Rich Ihle. Tracy visits him at his facility. I loved seeing all his projects and his breeder setup. That alone was worth the price of admission.
It's a little less technical (I thought) than their ball python video, but then, I might have missed some things.

The one thing that I WAS told starting off, was to start off small and easy. And that was the best advise I was given, and have given others. The snakes don't care if they are a morph or not. They do what they do because they are boas, or "fill in the blank". So what I a mean is that you should gain some real life experience, without mortgaging your house. Less sleepless nights, and a whole lot more enjoyment.

The videos and books are super valuble as a starting point. But your experience will be the real educator.

Troy Dozier
Reptilian Projects

But first-time breeder, here is my experience. I have kept herps of all sorts since I was around 7. That makes 31 years. I have kept alot of big constrictors including boas, retics, carpets, burms, bloods, etc. For one reason or another, I always ended up trading or selling my animals after a few years to try raising up something else. 8 years ago when I was a newlywed, first-time home-owner and first-time proud daddy, cleaning up cages just wasn't fun for me anymore so I got completely out of the hobby. Long story short, 4 years after that, I got the itch again and my daughter was showing a genuine interest in herps as well (we would catch all kinds of critters in our Florida neighborhood). So I got back into it, but on a smaller scale with animals I really liked and a renewed commitment to the animals themselves. The ultimate goal was to just keep the animals I had as best I could and maybe, just maybe, I would get lucky and they would breed for me down the road. Well, this year is the year and my CA boas bred (15 bouncing baby boas!), my Amazon Trees bred (expecting a litter in September) and my Yellow Rat snakes bred (11 eggs in the incubator right now). I haven't read any of the latest books or purchased any of the videos, but I have read some of the "older" books and scoured the internet as well to get the very basics such as cooling, introductions, signs to look for for a successful breeding, ovulations, POS', gestation and finally parturition. The information is all out there, but you have to have good, healthy animals first and foremost and you have to be able to "read" them to identify the sometimes subtle (and sometimes not so subtle) signs. Again, I am no expert breeder, but I do have probably thousands of hours under my belt raising and keeping snakes. I like to call it "snake sense" and I bet most of the big, successful breeders will agree that they all have it as well as a deep, genuine love of the animals themselves. If you start with those two things, I bet you'll have success!
Just my $.02

Billy