Reptile & Amphibian Forums

How do you make a Boa Constrictor NOT ovulate?

Bet you never heard that one eh? But I'm pretty serious, is there a way?

Let me explain.........
In October of '04 Aurora developed follicles, followed by an ovulation early December resulting in 22 slugs at end of March '05. No male had ever even been close to her at the time.
November '05 the infamous breeding loan, and a litter in April '06.
'06/07 season, at the start of the abscess thing, She ovulated, and slugged out anyway in April '07.
This year, she developed follicles, so I bred her to Sammy, and here we are waiting on that. Blah Blah Blah.

My dilemma......
I DO NOT want her to cycle again next season. Each time she does it, she goes into gestation mode, and quits eating for 4 months. That's 4 months of not feeding, each year since '04. I'd like for her to have a FULL year or two of meals, on her regular schedule. I'm not really comfortable with giving her more food than I already do. That's 2 Jumbo Rats, every couple weeks BTW.

Sooo, any of you more experienced, or knowledgeable people have a trick? I change absolutely nothing, EVER. I feed the same, the heat stays the same, all the time. Only thing I can think of is light. But what kind of cycle would I use, to prevent ovulation? Or would that even work?

I guess it's really up to her apparently. LOL

Thanks for any help.
Rick
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Richard Carew
Sunset BCI
You laugh at me cuz I'm different! I laugh at you cuz you're all the same.
Stop Inhumane and Illegal Practices

Hey Rick,
I think you hit the nail on the head at the end of your post when you said "I guess it's really up to her apparently. LOL"
It is! A friend of mine once said to me when I was worried about a gravid female, "these animals have been doing this for millenia, I'm more worried about you, than her".
If she's ovulating every year, great! Take advantage of that and throw a male in there.
Now, if she's looking unhealthy and you're worried about her, you might want to double check your ambient temperatures because unless you've insulated your snake room, they're probably dipping whether your cage heat source is changing or not. You may also want to keep an eye on humidity as it is theorized that they respond to barometric pressure drops (which you'll have a VERY hard time controling).
Also keep in mind that most keepers in captivity feed more to their animals than they would EVER get in the wild so your perception of her needing to eat for a 1.5 or 2.5 years straight is probably unneccesary.
In closing I'd say that if you're just trying to go a year and a half to two and a half years of no ovulations just to feed her consistently and she's not agreeing, listen to her. She knows what she needs better than we, or even you do.
Have a good one!
jb
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Jonathan Brady
"Sarcasm is angers ugly cousin" -Dr. Buddy Rydell (Jack Nicholson) in "Anger Management".

Well, it's not that she's unhealthy, or under weight it's just the length to weight ratio I guess you could say, ain't there. She keeps growing in length, but each year before she cycles, she's only at the weight of the previous years cycle. She was 26 lbs when I bred her in '05/06. Should be some extra weight to go with the foot+ of length she's grown since, but she's only gotten back up to 25 lbs since...make better sense?

So what I'm hoping for is to get her to a better ratio so to speak. If she quits eating, and cycles, I don't accomplish that.

As for breeding her, that's what I did this year. I was going to give it off, but she started rubbing to get out, put a knot on her nose. (Her usual first sign of cycling) As soon as I gave her a male, she calmed down, and developed follicles, etc. So I went with it.

But I feel they are going to use less reserves incubating a bunch of infertile ovum, rather then a litter of babies. So I'll pass on the take advantage of it part. At least not every year.

Thanks for the responce.
Rick
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Richard Carew
Sunset BCI
You laugh at me cuz I'm different! I laugh at you cuz you're all the same.
Stop Inhumane and Illegal Practices

How long is she?
jb
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Jonathan Brady
"Sarcasm is angers ugly cousin" -Dr. Buddy Rydell (Jack Nicholson) in "Anger Management".

>>How long is she?
>>jb
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A tad over 8 ft I reckon. I know I got an 8 ft measurememnt last time using the snake measurer.

She's been grown slow and easy.
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Richard Carew
Sunset BCI
You laugh at me cuz I'm different! I laugh at you cuz you're all the same.
Stop Inhumane and Illegal Practices

Try some 1.5-2.5 lb rabbits, one each feeding (every 14-18 days) and I think you'll see some substantial gains in weight. Go on the larger end after defecation and on the smaller end if waiting for defecation.
I consider myself a conservative feeder and that's what I gave my 8' female.
Just remember that you want muscle, not fat. Don't let her get obese.
If you need a recommendation for a source for rabbits, send me a message.
Good luck!
jb
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Jonathan Brady
"Sarcasm is angers ugly cousin" -Dr. Buddy Rydell (Jack Nicholson) in "Anger Management".

Don't know, but how about try over feeding her. Overfed snakes usually make poor breeders. If she does ovulate, she'll have the reserves.
jsc
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"As hard as I've tried, just can't NOT do this"
John Crickmer

Rabbits for a while could work. I just don't like them as a full time food item. I'll try that when the time comes though. Thanks.
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Richard Carew
Sunset BCI
You laugh at me cuz I'm different! I laugh at you cuz you're all the same.
Stop Inhumane and Illegal Practices