This first girl is an 01 EBV red group. Bred by an 03 K-Grade possible super salmon male. She is due March 24th - I am pretty much certain she is gravid. She's parked on the hot spot and is clearly swollen. She refused to eat post ovulation, until just recently. She was starting to look fairly skinny around her upper neck area so I'm real glad shes eating once again. The male bred her pretty much non-stop for 2 months or so and is now on another female.
After her post ovulation shed, around a month ago, she lost most of the color in her tail. It looked very anery-ish. Here is a shot of her out of the cage with a different camera than what I normally use:
And here she is today, 1-7-2007, parked on the hot spot in a heat conservation position as usual:
This next female is an 03 model - albino het stripe. She's the meanest boa I've ever had the pleasure of dealing with. She was bred by my favorite boa in my collection, my 04 male sunglow possible het stripe. She had what I hope was a post ovulation shed a little over a week ago. The noticeable swelling is minimal, but she acts gravid (parked on hot side), and the male, who was breeding with her very consistantly, seems to have lost interest. It is also hard to see the swelling in these short 12inch tall cages. Male is staying in regardless.
Here is the male, hanging out on the cool end, he's the type that when you open the cage he just comes on out. Very "friendly", so to speak.
The next female is an 02 arabesque het albino het stripe. The male that bred her is an albino possible het stripe. They didnt breed as consistantly as the above pairings but I defenitely saw their tails locked on occasion. The female has been staying in tight heat conservation balls for the past 2 weeks or so and the male seems to have lost interest (constantly hiding). It's difficult to observe swelling, nothing significant noticeable. It's rare to see her in heat conservation positions so consistantly like this, so I am thinking...hoping... she's gravid. Male is staying in regardless.
Here's an older shot of the male:
The next pair is a really nice 1999 normal female and the 2003 K-Grade possible super salmon male that bred the first female pictured in this thread. I feed the breeding boas every 2-3 weeks to keep their energy up and I gave the male a 2 week break inbetween females so I believe he is fine to get the job done on this last girl. They have been going at it strong for 3 weeks or so now. Is that swelling I see? Not sure.
That's it for this breeding season. I've got one more very special pairing up my sleeve for next season that I am really looking forward to. For now I'm just crossing my fingers and hoping that this season doesnt turn into a repeat of the last (no babies). Wish me luck!
-----
Take Care,
-Ryan Homsey
www.topnotchboas.com
