Reptile & Amphibian Forums

My GF and I recently brought home a ETB from the Pet Store she manages ( I also manage a differant pet store). He is a long term
captive wild caught Northern ETB. He is also one of the sweetest boas I have ever encountered. However I have some questions. We have dicussed breeding him. How difficult is it? What do we need to
do to breed him. Also I don't see a lot of Northern ETBs for sale. Does anyone know any reliable breeders. I'll try to post some pics soon. Thank you for all your help.
~Cordell

What works for us:
The male needs to be at least four years and females 5-6 years before they are sexually mature. Both need to be in excellent health. Depending on where you live, you may need to "cycle" them for breeding. This is dropping the dth and ntl temps over a period of time while increasing the amount of moisture in the enclosures (simulating rainy season). I don't spray my emeralds directly but heavily mist the enclosure. Once cycled, the male is introduced to the females enclosure. We start introductions in late October and early November. Males are removed for normal feedings, given 5 days for digestion and re-introduced to the females enclosure. Some males may go off food during breeding season. This is continued until all mating ceases, usually late Jan. to mid Feb.

The females will ovulate within a couple months from the end of mating usually. You won't be able to miss it as the mid-body will swell, sometimes to a size that you think she will explode and she will look very uncomfortable. The swelling will subside somewhat. Usually she will shed 20-30 days after reaching her peak girth during ovulation. She should be given a basking spot around 90 F. She will decide how often and how much she uses it. If it took, on average gestation is 130 - 150 days from post ovulatory shed. She may go off food, so she must be healthy enough to do so, through gestation. We always offer food on schedule whether she takes it or not, however we do go down in prey size from her normal.

Sometimes the female will reject the male or he just might not have a clue. I think it is safe to say that having multiple males will hedge your success rate. BTW, you don't put two males in at the same time. In my experience, if you didn't see copulation, no mating took place.

Craig

n/p