Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have been reading up on breeding boas and I see that there are a couple of trains of thought. Some breeders are suggesting that it is important to cool the animals in order to trigger mating and the other side says not to cool them and keep them together most of the time? Can someone give me a definitive word on this?
thanks
John

there is no definitive answer for this one, people are successful using both methods. Personally, we decided not to cool since one of our snakes is prone to RI's and cooling her is just asking for problems.
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1.1 96, 04 Het Albino - "Suzie" & "Lumpy"
0.1 03 Poss. Het Albino - "Ami"
0.1 05 Super Salmon - "CreamSicle"
1.0 04 DH-Sunglow - "Dwayne"
1.0 06 TH-Moonglow - "Gargamel"

....twice out of 5 attempts... Maybe i could of had a better outcome if id of cooled ? Maybe? Maybe not ? I dont know. I really dont think im going to cool em. I wouldnt want to take a chance of an RI as well. When i used to breed BCI i never cooled them as well and they bred alot more readily than BCC without the cooling. Just give it a shot however you think will be best. As for me ? I dont think im gonna .. Koky
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THERES NO BEAUTY LIKE THE BEAUTY OF A TRUE REDTAIL

gus and rio bravo has an excellent care sheet. here is a quote from the breeding page

" In very broad terms the imperator subspecies requires much less seasonality to produce young. At northern latitudes and in many facilities a pattern of seasonal change sufficient to aid in reproduction in most imperator may be experienced even without planning or action. However, the constrictor group responds best to a much sharper gradient in temperature and (to a somewhat lesser extent) photoperiod. Other subspecies in captive culture more closely follow the pattern of one or the other of those main groups. Closer observation of these animals yields a better theory. It is not the subspecies but rather the natural environment of origin that determines whether or not controlled seasonality is more needed to achieve repeated breeding success. As an example B. c. imperator from the upper Yucatan Peninsula will breed consistently in the mainland U.S. with little attention to seasonality. Imperator from higher altitudes in N. Chihuahua or Sonora, Mexico can require a near 25% reduction in mean temperatures from those experienced at the height of Summer. And while inbreeding and intergrading Boas in captivity has blurred the lines between some populations you will discover that all the boas will respond favourably to seasonality and in some populations it (seasonality) is a near necessity for successful, reproducible breeding."

Please read the whole page so things are put into context.

BTW. Gus is a great guy to deal with.

-hope this helps

I'm no expert. but I've been reading up on the subject. And what I understand is some people have used cooling and got a lot of slugs. Same people without cooling and no slugs. The snakes seem to breed with or without cooling.

By "cooling", what do you mean exactly?
Some people consider a 10*F drop, around the clock, cooling. Others consider a 5*-10*F NIGHT drop cooling, with normal day temps. Some people don't consider a night time temp drop to be cooling.
Last year, I gave my Boas normal temps around the clock, and continued feeding. The only change was going from 13 hours of daylight, to 11 hours of daylight. I introduced my male, and he courted for three months. Looking back on it, I think the feedings interupted the breeding. I didn't get any babies.
This year, I'm giving them a 5*f temp drop at night. The male has been courting for the last 3 weeks. He only courts late at night through early morning. I checked them at 9:30 this morning, and it looks like a pre ovulation swell is going on.
Also, my male courts more heavily when I spray the cage down with water at night.
No matter what you do, I think it is VERY important to leave them alone while the courting/breeding is going on. No handling or feeding. But then again, I could be totally wrong on all accounts. Breeding Boas seems to be one big lesson in humility! Kinda like raising kids..
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Jason Dowell

sounddjinn@yahoo.com

Things always get cloudy, just before transformation.