Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi, I was just wondering whether anyone had any pictures of pregnant hogg island boas that I could see. This would help me greatly as I have just purchased a pair of Hoggs where I was told the female was pregnant. She is very heavy but I'm not sure how fat she is supposed to be.

Any pictures would be greatly appreciated.
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Katie

2.0.0 cornsnakes (Ghost and Normal)
0.0.1 Jameles Ratsnake
0.0.1 Western Hognose
2.2.0 Hogg Island Boas
1.1.0 Argentinian Tegus

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sig file edited 1/29/05 [phw]

Well, unless they mated at an abnormal time of year, more than likely your female is just in the beginning stages of pregnancy if she is gravid, so you might not be able to tell until later. One thing you could try is putting the male in with her and see if he is interested in mating (usually males do not want to mate with an already pregnant female).... but he might not show interest period. She should be darker than "normal" while pregnant - but you just got her so you might not know what she looks like normally.

Are there other ways to tell if a female is pregnant other than waiting or trying to put a male in and seeing his reaction?
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Lauren Madar
www.ophidiagems.com
1.1 Hog Island Boas
1.1 Hypo BCI
0.1 Sorong-type GTP
1.0 Normal Ball Python
1.1 Surinam BCC

>>Well, unless they mated at an abnormal time of year, more than likely your female is just in the beginning stages of pregnancy if she is gravid, so you might not be able to tell until later. One thing you could try is putting the male in with her and see if he is interested in mating (usually males do not want to mate with an already pregnant female).... but he might not show interest period. She should be darker than "normal" while pregnant - but you just got her so you might not know what she looks like normally.
>>
>>Are there other ways to tell if a female is pregnant other than waiting or trying to put a male in and seeing his reaction?
>>-----
>>Lauren Madar
>>www.ophidiagems.com
>>1.1 Hog Island Boas
>>1.1 Hypo BCI
>>0.1 Sorong-type GTP
>>1.0 Normal Ball Python
>>1.1 Surinam BCC

Thankyou so mcuh for you advice on the matter. At the moment the male is living with the female and as far as I know he always has. I have not seen any signs of mating behaviour however... could this mean that she is gravid, or that he is simply not interested? Also what time of year, and day do they usually mate?

Also if she is gravid, how long would it be ok to leave the male with her?
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Katie

2.0.0 cornsnakes (Ghost and Normal)
0.0.1 Jameles Ratsnake
0.0.1 Western Hognose
2.2.0 Hogg Island Boas
1.1.0 Argentinian Tegus

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sig file edited 1/29/05 [phw]

Well, normally boas will start mating in September, all the way through January (the days getting shorter and a little cooler can trigger them to start mating). There is no specific time of day. However, some boas, especially if housed together all year round, might not follow that schedule and CAN mate at any time. The male would be near the female or riding her around (as part of courting) if he was interested... but I've heard that long term cagemates may not show interest in mating (since they're so used to being "roomies". I have recently put my two hogs together, and at first the male didn't seem that interested. Another person on one of the forums told me to take the male out for a few days and put him back in with the female - and he started following the female around. I haven't seen any mating yet, but courting can take weeks or even months before any mating occurs. He is acting interested though, after being separated for a few days.

So with your new arrivals, it might be hard to tell. If you can, try to house them separately for a few days, and put the male back in with the female. If he still doesn't act interested, take him out again for a couple of weeks. Try once again - if still nothing, separate again and try again a few weeks later.... Also keep watch on the female and see if she changes in size, gets lumpy, or sheds and gets darker after the shed. I wouldn't leave him in the cage with the female permanently if she IS pregnant, because the female needs to be able to get the best cage spot (so she can be at the perfect temperature to not stress the growing babies), and having to compete with a male for the best spot in the cage might not be good.

Boas typically give birth about 105 days after they shed (the shed occurs right after ovulation and is called the post-ovulation shed), so if 3 1/2 months or a bit more passes and she doesn't have babies, she probably was never pregnant or the pregnancy didn't take. Before that, though, if she is pregnant, you should notice the back half of her body getting fatter, and her neck looking a bit skinnier as her body resources go towards growing her litter. Bear in mind that this is all from what I have read in many places, I'm a first time breeder myself this fall (I've been reading up for YEARS in preparation though, while my boas grew up).

I think further along in pregnancy, you COULD take her to a vet and get an xray or ultrasound to see if she's pregnant, but moving and handling a pregnant female isn't good, nor would that be cheap! Wouldn't it be great if they had a boa pregnancy test?
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Lauren Madar
www.ophidiagems.com
1.1 Hog Island Boas
1.1 Hypo BCI
0.1 Sorong-type GTP
1.0 Normal Ball Python
1.1 Surinam BCC

It really would be much simpler, although it could be a little tricky to get her to pee on the little stick.

Thankyou for the tips, I think when I can I will seperate them for a bit to see what happens when I put them back together. I may need to buy another cage for the male then, but its worth I think.

What do I do if I have had them seperated for about a month or so and he is still not interested?
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Katie

2.0.0 cornsnakes (Ghost and Normal)
0.0.1 Jameles Ratsnake
0.0.1 Western Hognose
2.2.0 Hogg Island Boas
1.1.0 Argentinian Tegus

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sig file edited 1/29/05 [phw]

Picture of a pregnant hogisland boa.

Kind regards,
Miro Voutilainen
http://www.mkv-reptiles.cpom

Woah!!!! She's huge, how many babies did she have? Also is that the male in the background?

Thankyou so much for the picture, I think now I can safely say that I don't think my female is in the late stages of pregnancy.
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Katie

2.0.0 cornsnakes (Ghost and Normal)
0.0.1 Jameles Ratsnake
0.0.1 Western Hognose
2.2.0 Hogg Island Boas
1.1.0 Argentinian Tegus

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sig file edited 1/29/05 [phw]