Reptile & Amphibian Forums

One question...with many answers I'm sure. How long do most of you give your females off from the prior breeding season?

DO you feed them all the way through (up until the last couple weeks)?

Do you entirely cut off there food supply until birth?

I'm going back & forth about pairing the same female this coming Sept. (same as last years time frame) with a different male, but don't want to push her.

Keep in mind..she looks very similar to what she did before being gravid. Her muscle tone is also good. I've also put her back on a weekly feeding cycle of 1-2 Large Rats to ensure her weight gain. I also fed her all the way up for her last 4 weeks or so before she gave birth (which is why she keep most of her weight up).

I plan on breeding her and 1 maybe 2 more females this coming fall, but want to keep her in the safe zone.

Any thoughts, suggestions?

Thanks!
Ryan DeCaro

Ryan,

I know we've tyalked about this before, and I think we both agree it comes down to muscle tone.

However, a lot has to come into play regardless of muscle tone or not there has to be a point at which the female won't be ready.

I know for example in rats a female won't be fertile again for 40 days after birth, the same I'm sure is true with Boa's as in nearly every animal. The timeframe is what I'm not sure of an hopefully others will post in response.

I myself feed weekly after birth lightly at first than for weight gain mid-summer. It is all based on the particular female. Some will naturally be ready others may need the season off, more so for late season births.

As for feeding during pregnancy, I do feed light meals on a half schedule meaning instead of every 7-10 days, I feed every 14-20 days a half meal. Again its all based on the individual female, the year before I had a female completely refuse meals, and while I didn't force it I did offer every week.

Its like a sailboat man you have to go with the wind....

Cheers
-----
Jeremy Payne
Owner
JB Reptile
www.jbreptile.com **Coming Soon**

"I am become death, the destroyer of worlds" July 16, 1945 Robert Oppenheimer

0.1 Motley Het Anery **In aquisition**
1.0 Snow "Khal" RTB
1.1 Double Het "Sharp" Snow RTB's
1.0 Ghost RTB **coming soon**
1.0 Hypomelenistic RTB
1.2 Pastel Hypo RTB's
0.1 Suriname RTB
0.1 Anerthrystic RTB
1.1 Cream Golden Retrieviers
1.0 Pomeriaian
0.3 Catus Terribilis
0.1 Spouse
1.0.1 Child

I would have to agree it's a case by case situation and all about the weight loss from pregnancy and how well they gain it back! I general feed my gravid girls one meal a month during gestation and no food the last four weeks. These meals are generally half the size they would normally get. I have good success breeding girls two seasons in a row as long as they have the weight. After having a litter like yours I would sure be trying to make sure she producede again for me next season.

Good Luck

Al Brown/Brown's Boas

You may also want to consider breeding her later in the year, or early the next year. For example, I had a female give birth in April 07. Like yours, she feed throughout while being gravid and retained most of her size/weight/mass etc. I tried breeding her from Nov 2007 - Feb 2008 and she ran (in a legless way, of course) from the males. The last week of April 2008 I noticed her "thicking up" as they do when follicles are maturing, so I paired her up with a male (whom she allowed to court immediately) and within a month (just over two weeks ago) she ovulated, and had her POS yesterday. So, keep in mind that you don't have to be married to the calendar as far as breeding goes (BCI in particular). I recommend reading Jeff Ronne's write-up about "widening the window of opportunity". I use the same philospohy, and I have had pairs that successfully bred in August of last year, others that successfully bred "on the seasonal schedule" and some others just now starting to court. IMHO, it really is about trying to recognize and understand what is happening with the individuals, in addition to general boa husbandry.

Just my $.02 (which is about .0103 Euro for our European freinds).

Mark
-----
uncommonboa.com

Thanks for all the info guys. I'll see how she is come fall, and make a decision.

Thanks again,
Ryan DeCaro

A bit OT, but rats go into to estrus the night that they give birth...I had females produce a litter every 21-23 days for 4 months before they slowed.

Maybe you were talking about rat snakes or something and I completely missed the point haha!
-----
Thanks,
Amy

My Boids

>>A bit OT, but rats go into to estrus the night that they give birth...I had females produce a litter every 21-23 days for 4 months before they slowed.
>>
>>Maybe you were talking about rat snakes or something and I completely missed the point haha!

I was refering to Rat's, it was sometime ago that I read the information. Perhaps it was a 40 day pregnancy. The point being certain animals have certain periods before theyt start another cycle.

Thanks for the correction.

Cheers
-----
Jeremy Payne
Owner
JB Reptile
www.jbreptile.com **Coming Soon**

"I am become death, the destroyer of worlds" July 16, 1945 Robert Oppenheimer

0.1 Motley Het Anery **In aquisition**
1.0 Snow "Khal" RTB
1.1 Double Het "Sharp" Snow RTB's
1.0 Ghost RTB **coming soon**
1.0 Hypomelenistic RTB
1.2 Pastel Hypo RTB's
0.1 Suriname RTB
0.1 Anerthrystic RTB
1.1 Cream Golden Retrieviers
1.0 Pomeriaian
0.3 Catus Terribilis
0.1 Spouse
1.0.1 Child

I would have to agree with you Amy!

You are absolutely correct. Rats, rodents, vermin, snake snacks whatever you want to call them, will go into heat within a day or two of giving birth, if they do not get inseminated at that time, then it will be another 30+ days before they go into heat again. That is why they can be so proliffic, raising a litter outside while gestating another inside. Right about the time the first litter weans, the next is born!!
-----
Thanks,

Dave Colling

www.rainbows-r-us-reptiles.com

0.1 Wife (WC and still very fiesty)
0.2 kids (CBB, a big part of our selective breeding program)

LOL, to many snakes to list, last count:
26.49 BRB
20.21 BCI
And those are only the breeders

lots.lots.lots feeder mice and rats