Reptile & Amphibian Forums

SAD

Like I said below in my thread "You win some, You lose some" There are typically more heartbreaks than triumphs and unfortunately you have had a heartbreak Sharon!! As far as WHO the sire was even if they had been born okay you woundn't really have known! It would be nice to see if the Kahl gene makes a Paradigm also!!! Big Mike might shed some light on the situation if anyone has had a succesful litter from Kahl albino to a Caramel or Het Caramel!!! Sorry for your loss, I lost a female last week due pregnancy complications!!

Al Brown/Brown's Boas
Chattanooga, TN

You said: "My carmel female had her babies early....to many infertile eggs in the mix. I had her with a Kahl albino for a couple of months,and they seemed to be breeding very frequently. Then 4 months and 2 days ago I put 2 sharp albino males with her. They immediately began breeding. Then this morning,,,, this. Any comments as to whose the daddy????and what they are ???...."

I am no boa buff, but a couple of factors come to mind here. I am assuming from what you have written that no babies survived.

First, in rodents there is something behaviorists refer to as the "Bruce effect." It is very well-documented in rodent species, and though I have not heard of it happening with other species, that doesn't mean it can't happen. The "Bruce effect" refers to pheromone interactions, specifically between a female mouse that was impregnated by male "A," male "A" is taken away, and replaced by male "B." The female will spontaneously abort the litter she is carrying because of the pheromone interactions between herself and male "B." In the case of rodents, this at least makes sense because if the female were to carry the litter to term, male "B" would be a danger to the babies because he did not sire them. He would try to eat them. I can't think of a reason such an interaction would occur in boas, but I think there are more than enough people who really do know boas who could maybe think this through some more.

Secondly, you said this was from breeding your caramel female to males from two different lines of albinos. As I said, I am not knowledgeable enough on boas and their morphs to know how well these morphs may or may not be compatible. I can tell you that in the world of Ball Pythons, Ralph Davis encountered complete losses when he bred albino and lavender albino lines to each other. It would not be impossible for caramel and albino morphs to be incompatible in boas, accounting for your total loss. Someone who knows these morphs in boas may again know this better than I would.

I have kept reptiles for nearly my entire life. I haven't kept boa constrictors before, but I have been interested in them for many years.

I wish you the best of luck in the future with your beautiful animals, and I extend my condolences for your losses now.

~Rebecca
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0.1 Dumeril's Boa '04 (Courtney)
1.2 Ball Pythons
[1.0 '05 Orange Hypo (Specter)]
[0.1 '05 Het Orange Hypo (Sylvia)]
[0.1 '03 Normal (Sue)]
0.2 American Pit Bull Terriers (40lb darling lap dogs:Brandy&Mara)