Reptile & Amphibian Forums

This question has probably never been asked, so here goes.. One of my most prized boas is gravid and lives in a 36"long x 18"wide x 14" tall cage. She's been in this cage comfortably since she was 4 1/2 foot or so, she is now at least 6' to 6-1/2'. She has plenty of room to thermoregulate her body temps. The hot side being 90 to 93 degrees, cool side 78 to 82 degrees.. My concern is this, I don't want her to get stressed from not having anough room or feeling cramped! I have a Vision 400 model cage and would like to move her in there. I'm worried that by doing this I could cause anough possible stress on her to mess things up baby wise? Other than me being stressed about it, she seems to be doing fine as always, no nose rubbing or looking for a way out ect.ect..

I know it's kind of stupid of me to have had her in this cage, but she has always done just fine in it.. I would've have moved her but one day I decided to put her mate in just for the heck of it and like a rabbit he was all over her!! I didn't want to mess things up for the guy so I left him alone and 35 days later ovulation swells (both of them)and now the P.O.shed. He's also been trying to stay away from her too! All tell tale signs I believe or HOPE??

Another reason for asking this is earlier in the 08 breeding season I had 4 gravid females each housed in Vision 400 cages. I wanted the cage space for 4 other females I was raising up for this season. Well, I moved the 4 gravid females to my new Vision Boa rack system. I don't know if the move stressed them or what happened but 2 of the females completely slugged out, (my Guyana and Brazilian Amerali). The other two were my Peruvian and Hypo females, both gave birth but had large slug counts. I don't know if the transfer contributed to this problem or not, just an assumption..

I'd just assume leave my gravid female in the 3 foot cage unless someone can advise otherwise?

Any input or advise would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks in advance and Merry Christmas to everyone!!

Chaz Neely

if it aint broke, don't fix it.

Yes, she should be in a larger cage BUT, if she's OK where she is, I would not move her. Like you saw with two others, change is not always good. If her current environment is fine.......

just my $0.02
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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

I have had larger females become gravid, although they were in four foot freedom breeders, one tricked that I use is when they are close to their due date I put a lay tub in there. For the most part they deliver the babies in the tub and it keeps the babies safe from mom accidently crushing them.

Hope this helps.

ps.....I try to leave gravid females alone as much as possible.

Chris

how are those freedom breeders cages? are they easy to clean especially with that tray that comes out and have you ever thought about joining two of the four footers to make an eight foot cage?

I'd leave her where she is until after she drops, then she should probably be in a larger enclosure. I've had females virtually not leave the heat for almost the entire 4 months, with about the same temp gradient as you discribed (although I maintain them in 8' cages). Under similar conditions, others seem to like to move on and off the hot spot regularly. On average, it seems gravid females typically move around less than "non-gravid" ones, so if she has a spot she likes, she's probably OK.

Best of luck!

Mark
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uncommonboa.com

It helps to get others opinions, also nice to have some reasurance.. I felt kinda stupid for letting her get away with staying in that small cage (actually my fault)! She has a nice brand new cage waiting for her after she has her babies..

Thanks for the advice, really helps!

Chaz Neely