Reptile & Amphibian Forums

hello. I have an 04 female het for albino and an 05 dh sunglow male P het anery. I wasn't planning on breeding them for another 2 years, but as I was sufing the classifieds, There were several o4 females her size that people selling as 'ready to breed' Isn't 2 year old a little young?? I know that it is possible, but is it really a good idea to breed them so young?? Does it cause any long term issues??

Part two of my question is:
If it is a good idea, meaning that it doesn't hurt the female, or make her life expectincy shorter, is my 05 male going to be ready by next year, or should I just hold off until 2008 to start my breeding project?? It will be my first time breeding boas that I raised so any info would help. Thank you!!
~Dale
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Alone, alone, all, all alone. Alone on a wide, wide sea.
-Rime of the ancient Mariner

while theoretically it's possible for a female to have babies at 2, in order to accomplish that you'd have to feed the snake enormous amounts of food to get her big enough, and if you did that you would shorten her life expectancy DRASTICALLY. In my opinion, some females aren't even ready at 3 years old, requiring 4 years to be ready. Now maybe all you care about is the money, if that's the case I suggest a better investment than snakes. If yo9u care about your snakes, don't do it.

Caden

I know....splitting hairs but really depends on the individual animal. Also can be dependant on when in the year they were born vs when you plan on breeding.

100% agreed, not a good idea to breed a female on her second birthday!! But, IMO, 2 1/2 years old may be old/large/mature enough.

I have two 04's and am planning on breeding the younger (yes, I said younger) one of them, she is 12 lbs and nice and healthy. I am not planning on breeding my other 2004 which was born two months earlier since she is smaller and IMO does not look not mature enough.

Could that change, possibly, maybe a late season breeding if she matures and stays on feeding. My "new" cages are individually controlled so I can cool some while maintaining temps in others.

Neither of them has been fed "enormous amounts of food" Both were fed weekly as neonates and every other week as yearlings. Sometimes went longer between feedings when rats were scarce, I breed my own feeders.

Snakes are just like any other animal, some will mature sooner than others. You have to base your decisions on a case by case basis.
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Thanks,

Dave Colling

www.rainbows-r-us-reptiles.com

0.1 Wife (WC)
0.2 kids (CBB, selectively bred from good stock)

LOL, to many snakes to list, last count:
13.26 BRB
11.16 BCI
And those are only the breeders

lots.lots.lots feeder mice and rats

I agree there are always indicviduals that make you 'wrong' whatever you say! : )
Snakes have a way of humbling a person. I have a female bcc who is 4'8" and she's an '05. I feed her the same as the one who's 3 months younger than her and she's 27 inches! lol Always go by evaluating your personal snake, not by general advice people give.

Caden

Most people will agree that males are ready to go at 18 months, if you go younger than that you're likely to find yourself up to your eyes in slugs. Some people will try them earlier anyway, but I figure its best to save your female for when you're sure the male can do his job.. they have to recover from slugs the same they do babies.

I know some people do breed at 2, but I don't think its worth risking your female by breeding before three years or later. Don't push them, they'll get there at their own pace, even if it takes three, four or five years. When I look through the forums and see people breeding at 2, or look in the classifieds people calling 2 year olds 'ready to breed' I cringe.
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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"

thanks for all the info. I love my snakes (they're my kids!!) and would rather wait another 2 years or however long it takes, for them to really be ready. Thanx again!!
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Alone, alone, all, all alone. Alone on a wide, wide sea.
-Rime of the ancient Mariner

in the classifieds call two year olds "breedable" they are just trying to make a sale. It is a deceptive marketing ploy.
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Jason Dowell

sounddjinn@yahoo.com

Things always get cloudy, just before transformation.

When I find myself dreaming of future parings, I always consider 3 years old the minimum age, that I would consider trying to breed a female. I have never tried to breed a female at 2, but the two year olds that I have had and fed regularly without "power feeding" or aggresive feeding schedules just did not seem mature enough. I have heard people say at least 3 years old, at least 6ft long, and at least 10lbs for a female.

As far as males go, I consider 2 yr olds to be pretty much a sure thing and 1 year olds(18 months) to be a gamble. This might be more of a conservative approach than some of the other people here. I tried putting an 18 month old male het for sunglow in with a 6.5ft plus 4 year old female albino and he hid underneath the aspen bedding like a little girl! It scared me to death because when I first opened up the cage to check on them and did not see the male, my first thought was that the female ate him!

I too have heard the "10lb" rule. Last year I had a pastel female just under 6ft, who was probably around 6-7 lbs and built like a male, she was 8 years old. What are peoples thoughts on breeding snakes this size, its healthy for their build. I ended up selling her, so I'm just curious. I do know she had 10 slugs after I sold her, even though she wasn't ever bred... but she was definately capable.
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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"

n/p

When I plan a future project, I project it to take 3 years for female BCI and 2 years for male BCI to be able to breed. However, actual time frame is changed as I see how the boas grow and metabolize. I'd consider myself VERY moderate in my feedings. For instance, my only two '05s both male imperator I have just now eating rat pups-weanlings. My 5 month old female imperator is on hopper mice. All fed every 7 days, or less frequently.

I have one '04 female I am trying this year, with an '04 male. They were born in June of '04 and I feel they are ready. Neither was pushed, and both were started just as all my other boas were. Early on I actually changed the male to eating every 3 weeks, because I noticed his metabolism was so slow, the female was growing fast, so she was slowly moved up in prey size.
Meanwhile I have a Bolivian amarali female that was born in '03. She is over 3 years old, however I do not expect her to be of proper size until about 5 years old.
Likewise looking at my other '04 female imperators I have 3 that might be ready next year, and 2 that will probably be 4 years old before they are ready.

Typically it seems that once my males pass their second birthday, they are ready that season following their birthday. So males born in summer of '04 are ready now.

I have a gravid 04 het albino female right now. she was an early 04 she was fed every 10 days and just grew very quickly. she was 16 pounds when i decided to breed her. She was 2 and a half when she ovulated. she was not power fed and still grew very quickly

It never occured to me but you have me thinking, I have a bcc (suriname) female 55 inches long, 4 pounds, who's a few months shy of her second birthday. I always assumed I should wait till she's 3 years old to consider breeding her, even though she's obviously a big girl. Is this assumption wrong? She's my favorite snake, and I would hate for anything to shorten her lifespan or be bad for her in any other way.

Caden