Reptile & Amphibian Forums

i have a 2 questions about ovulations in boas ...

1) does the male have to breed the female right before she ovulates (within hours/minutes) or during her ovulation??? or does he just need to breed her a couple days or a week or more before ovulation and then he leaves her alone b/c she is ovulating??

2)does post ovulation shed occur approx. 2 weeks after ovulation????

THANKS!!!

This is an overall answer, but don't take anything to heart, because every snake is different and may react differently during breeding season.

Ovulation usually occurs after weeks/months of being bred by a male. When the male begins courting, it will usually send the female into whats called Pre-ovulation swell. He will continue to breed her while she is swelled because it may be some weeks. Usually the male will lose all interested and sit at the other end of the cage from the female a few days before ovulation. Signifying the job is done. However, I would not be in a hurry to pull him out just incase he's taking a break, he may go back to her.

After her actual ovulation, remember there may be 2 of them since the ovaries will ovulate seperately a lot of times, the female will usually go into shed within 5 days. However, don't count on this, because some females do not have a POS at all, mine didn't last year.

Really, if the suspense is killing you that bad, you can take the female into a vet for an ultrasound to find out, but my suggestion would be to leave her alone. You dont want to diturb her any more than possible. It sucks, but you're going to have to wait. We all feel your pain, believe me.

Good luck and keep us posted