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Courting???? pics inside

joker122104 Oct 17, 2007 06:57 AM

i have been cooling these to for about 2 months and the female shed so i thought it might be good to put them together. they have been together for 3days and i havent seen much interest just took these pics now. before i opened up the encloser he had his tail wraped around her body but i startled him but i dont think it is courting and help would be buch apreciated this is my first ever pairing and im hoping that they lock up so any good ways or tips you can give me for a succsesful breeding please let me know thanks.

Replies (5)

diggy415 Oct 17, 2007 09:28 AM

im also a new breeder, it's personally hard to tell in that pic, i would say, just cuddeling, but could go either way. My male is also shy but i got some nice pic's and one of which i placed in a below thread. I lower the temps at night and raise in the morning before work, mist once a day and cover half the cage with a towel. the last scan that was done on her to check her folicles were 1cm in size and on the bottom, they have been together for 6months and he was alot smaller then and now i believe has ripened enough to figure things out. Good luck and it's always exciting to see the twist of love
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1.4 various boas(Flicka,Felony,Nova,Alias,Alibi)
0.1 BRB Abalone; ABBI
1.0 Rott X (OSO)
2.0 cats (Simba, Morris)
fish & feeders
~:~~~~~~~ ~:~~~~~~~~

LSD Oct 17, 2007 10:05 AM

When boas are courting, there's not much that disturbs them. Once they start, they'll be no doubt as to what they're doing. They only have one thing on their minds and that's what they do. My boas breed more aggressively at night. I'm not sure how people cool their boas, so I really don't know what you mean by "cooling". Giving them a natural photo period, daylight and night time, is about all I do. I continue to feed, clean, change water daily, and check temps regularly. My boas have been breeding for about 6 weeks now. I never cooled or stopped offering food. If my boas stop eating, and they do eventually, it's their choice and not mine.

I keep a constant hot spot for my boas that's 92 degrees. I don't heat the room their in, so I guess the air temps cool slightly, but not much. My males started producing sperm in late August. I know this because they were leaving it all over their cages and in the water bowls. On Sept 4th I paired up my boas. They've been going at it like weasels ever since. Shortly after introduction most of them started shed cycle. There were a few that didn't, but they shed shortly before I put them together. They slowed down on breeding a bit, when they were in shed, but they never stopped. As soon as they shed, they started breeding more aggressively.I clean my cages about twice a week. I have those brown liners, so I have to remove my boas from the cages to clean. I have to wait for them to take a break from breeding, which they do shortly after the light go on. About an hour after the lights go on they're right back to breeding, so I have to clean any cages that need it quickly. They resume breeding immediately when I return them to their cages. It might take 3 minutes, but the males go right back to it. I don't stop feeding my boas, but I only offer half what they usually get. My female boas are only fed every 2 weeks. They only get 2 large rats for a normal feeding, so it's only 1 large rat, every 2 weeks, during breeding season. The females normally stop eating after the ovulations. Sometimes they'll take 1 meal after the POS. During breeding season I change their water daily. Normally I don't do it 2 or 3 times a week. I change it daily during breeding season to encourage them to drink more water, which they do. They drink a lot and pass urates, so I have to clean more often. It would probably be better if they had fresh water daily all year long. I just get busy after the babies are born and I normally go back to 2 or 3 times a week.

Here's a picture of one of my females. SHe's got a swelling, but I don't think it's an ovulation. I guess it could be a pre-ov swelling, but I'm not sure. Her last meal was in late Sept, because we were gone for a while and I wouldn't be there to clean. I didn't want them to poop, when I wasn't there to clean it up.

LSD Oct 17, 2007 10:43 AM

I put, "Normally I don't do it 2 or 3 times a week"

That should say, "Normally I don't do it daily, I do it 2 or 3 times a week".

This was about the watering part. Sorry.

NCBoas Oct 17, 2007 01:42 PM

Awesome post! You couldn't have said it better.. When boas are determined, nothing will stop them.. I hate seeing filthy cages with the excuse of breeding or not wanting to disturb a gravid female.. Gravid females can be moved... Cages can be cleaned... Awesome husbandry on your part!

NCBoas Oct 17, 2007 01:39 PM

It's a little rough to tell from the picture.. From what I've come to know, courting does not only consist of attempted copulation and spurring, it consists of lots of tongue flicking and exploration of each other, it can also just be them "cuddling" together as they are in your picture.. Boas that are not breeding will also "cuddle" so if they aren't doing any of the other things I listed, I'd say it's safe to say they are just cuddling.. Give it time be patient.. Some boas "go at it" immediately upon introduction, some take time to get acquainted and some have to be "tricked" into breeding..

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