Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I just traded and sold most all of my balls to get into boas. I have a few questions for some of you seasoned pros....

1. what is the ideal wieght of a female boa for breeding purposes.

2. what age.

3. are there any good websites with breeding records and tips?

thanks a ton

paul
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R.I.P Steve "croc hunter" Erwin Sept 2006

I think boa's are the best
Here is what i'm looking for.

1. what is the ideal wieght of a female boa for breeding purposes.

10pounds

2. what age.

minimum 3year off age

3. are there any good websites with breeding records and tips?

Here are some super guy's on the forum, just wait and the will help you with all off this

Gr Erwin
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I just need more boa's !

Belgiumboa
E-mail: belgiumboa@gmail.com

Yes, Boas are much more interesting. That live birthing thing is absolutely addictive. Quite the expecting/proud parent happening.
The myriad of possible morph possibilities and combinations is in it's infancy. The genetic diversity is so large.
There's a huge future market of new Boa fans out there. Not to mention the ex-Ball fans, to add to the growing culture.
You won't be disappointed.
jsc
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"As hard as I've tried, just can't NOT do this"
John Crickmer

Welcome to the light side! mwaaahahahaha! lol

I'm not sure how many animals you're intending to keep, or what subspecies or localities. But with all of the possibilities, I'd HIGHLY recommend starting with a focus. Essentially, your options are:
a) non-locality normals
b) non-locality morphs
c) locality normals
d) locality morphs
e) locality X non-locality normals
f) locality X non-locality morphs

These are the most common groups of animals. The answers to your 3 questions will vary upon which group or groups above you decide to focus on. Your times and weights vill vary SUBSTANTIALLY based on those decisions, and of course for males vs. females. For females, RECOMMENDED times to breed will vary anywhere from 3 years to 6 years and recommended weights will vary anywhere from a few pounds to 10 pounds for the first breeding. Frequency of breeding will be anywhere between almost yearly (yearly or on 2 off 1) to every other year. Litter sizes will vary from a few to upwards of 70 on the VERY high end.

For males, RECOMMENDED times to breed will vary anywhere from as early as 16 months to 4+ years based on locality. Also, your idea of male to female ratios will need to be adjusted. So will your knowledge and practice of feeding as well as your SOURCE FOR FEEDERS!!!!

Adults vs. babies. In general, and in my opinion, this segment of the hobby is focused HIGHLY on baby boas. But, unlike balls, boas will change DRASTICALLY from the day they're born until they're sub-adults and then as adults, older adults, and breeders. An important component to consider when purchasing your animals. Are you looking to produce good looking babies to sell, or AMAZING looking adults to keep for yourself?

Lots to think about and research. Question, are you in this for the money? The love of boas? Or a combination of both? I think as long as your animals are healthy and well maintained, there is no wrong answer to that question, but it's a question that needs to be answered so you can tailor your collection appropriately and your plans appropriately.

My recommendation for sites to learn as much as possible are:

This site will give you a HUGE head start on identifying whether or not you want to work with locality boas of any subspecies (BCI, BCC, BCL, BCA, BCO) and it will give you an EXCELLENT framework to design breeding trials around. Every sentence on this website has a nugget of information to it. Actually, I hope that one day, Gus decides to publish an encyclopedia (yes, I said an encyclopedia because in my opinion, a book is not enough as I consider him to be the one person with the most knowledge regarding diversity of boas in the world) detailing his knowledge of boas because if Gus makes the decision not to share it with the general public, it would be a travesty and a HUGE loss to our community. BTW Gus, no rush, just make sure it happens one day!!!
www.riobravoreptiles.com/
The Boa List. This is a list of the majority of the options you have. This is not a "for sale" list, rather just a fantastic attempt to illustrate the diversity and the options we have in boas.
www.boalist.com/
The boaphile's site. From the main page, click "information" and then "boa breeding ?'s" and read that article. VERY informative and detailed. One thing you'll want to keep in mind when reading the article, boas CAN be VERY sensitive to changes in temperature, humidity, barometric pressure, daylight exposure (duration), etc... and what works for Jeff up in Minnesota MAY not work for you, wherever you are. The majority of this info is also based on his observation of Colombian BCI so that should be taken into consideration as well.
www.theboaphile.com/

Those three sites are EXCELLENT resources to get you started. You have a lot of decisions to make! And a lot of info to read. As with anything, there's NEVER a problem changing your mind later, but I think the more info you get now, the better prepared you'll be for the future.

Here is, in my VERY biased opinion, one of the best looking locality boas in the world.
Her as a baby:

Her bordering on sub-adult/adult, prior to breeding.

Like I said.. they change a LOT!

This is another project for me.
ONE of the strains of albino

A hypo jungle (two co-dominant traits in one animal)

Best of luck and I hope this info was helpful!
jb
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Jonathan Brady
"Sarcasm is angers ugly cousin" -Dr. Buddy Rydell (Jack Nicholson) in "Anger Management".

I have a male albino and yearling normal female and will be adding a couple het albinos.

I am not looking to have tons of snakes I just want my children to get to expierence the snakes live birth!!!!

Thanks again!

paul
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R.I.P Steve "croc hunter" Erwin Sept 2006

Give yourself kudo's also Jonothan for the way your share info.

Extremely well said Jonathan.