Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi

We have a male and 2 female red-tails who are currently housed together and whom we do NOT want to breed. However the male has very actively been copulating with at least one of the females (I accidently broke them up two days ago). Temperature in the room has been 80-87 with a hot area 90-97, which is to say, without the temperature drop I thought was required for the snakes to ovulate. And their "day" usually begins around 6 am until their "night" around 10 pm.

1) Is there a high likelihood that we are going to be expecting babies in a few months as a result of these recent breedings?

2) Do female boas store sperm? My vet said that she had read that some reptiled do, but wasn't sure about red-tails. If they do, for how long?

We're still trying to work out the logistics of separating the male from the females again.

Thanks,

Antigone

This is an odd time of year for them to be breeding. I've only bred boas once, and thus am refering you to the boa forum to get specifics on the visual ovulation, and female behavior ect. In the future, while it's not always necessary, you might have better success if you seperate the sexes except for planned breeding during the season.

Ian

how old and what size are your boas
typically females need to be at least 3yrs old and 5' in length
males to reproduce need to be at least 18 mos and 4'or so i've read, i am new to breeding boas so i hope my info is correct

I am glad you are thinking about separating the boas. It would be best to give them all their won cages, but if you can only do the male that will work for now until they get larger I would assume. This will make it easier to keep records/watch the boas in case of health issues. They won't transmit disease as easily and if they get sick you will know exactly which one it is.
Next...
From what I know, boas are apt to be possible breeders at any time of the year. Most are early on, but there are some later bloomers so to say.
Depending on how long they have been "breeding" together sense you noticed can also play a large role. Often times boas need to be left together for many weeks before they have bred successfully.

BTW, I am certainly not an expert so none of this is written in stone. It is simply my opinion
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Randa "Rai" Hallock
r.hallock@yahoo.com
Columbian Boa Constrictors