Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I've got a couple questions for any experienced boa breeders in the forum. This is my second time, the first was largely an accident.

I have an '06 male coral albino, approx. 5-5 1/2 lbs, and an '06 female anery, approx. 11 lbs. What can I expect from this pairing, as far as the offspring go?

I'm currently keeping them in seperate enclosures, and the room they're kept in, (my bedroom) is kept between 82-88, (night/day) all the time.

What do I do from here? I've heard so many variations, I don't know what to believe. Anyone have some tips or tricks? I'll appreciate any advice I can get.

With those animals albino x anery you would make dh snows.

What are your boas being kept at now temp wise?
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Brandon Nixon

I maintain room temp & air temp in the enclosures as close to 85-88 degrees as I can. At night and early mornings I've seen it (accidently) dip as low as 77-82 degrees, and on the high end it's hit 90. But again, those were short term fluctuations. It's pretty much always 82-88.

how about you share with us what you know (or based on your first post, what you believe you've read that makes the most sense), and we'll fill in the gaps for you.

To design a breeding program from scratch for you will take HOURS of typing.

jb
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What's written above is purely my opinion. In fact, MOST of what you read on the internet is someone's opinion. Don't take it too seriously

Jonathan Brady
DeviantConstrictors.com
Deviant Constrictors picturetrail

I understand that brumation is necessary.
Give two weeks to empty their digestive systems, then lower nighty temps, shorter daylight photoperiods, etc. No food during this period, which runs from halloween to new years eve.

In early january, introduce the female into the male's enclosure, (although from what I understand, this is under debate, or doesn't matter) and watch for mating behavior, followed by the female's ovulation swelling and ovulation shed. Then it's something like 5 months for the gestation period.

When I had a litter of boas previously, I didn't brumate them, and only knew it had happened when the female's shed cycle was throw out of whack, she quit feeding, and kept gaining weight. It was pretty much totally an accident.

Some other things for consideration. The only light my boas get is natural sunlight, from large windows in my room and the regular, overhead light in the room. So photoperiod is natural, for the most part, unless I'm in the room.

I intended to sit down and type out a lot of info for you, but I'm finding myself short on time.

What I'd recommend is checking out riobravoreptiles.com and look under "care & how to" for info on raising and breeding boas. Honestly, that is pretty much what I follow save for a few minor tweaks for my personal collection. There's no such thing as a boa breeding bible, but that site is pretty darn close.

After reading it a couple of times, if you have some other questions, please ask. Hopefully I won't be under the same time pressures at that time and I can help out a little more.

jb
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What's written above is purely my opinion. In fact, MOST of what you read on the internet is someone's opinion. Don't take it too seriously

Jonathan Brady
DeviantConstrictors.com
Deviant Constrictors picturetrail

If they are both healthy and physically mature, I would start by just putting them together for a week or so and see what happens. I've read so many different ideas of what to do with temps that it seems no one specific way is required. I've only had about a half dozen litters during the past three years, but I have had half of those litters born during spring and early summer and the other half during late fall and winter.

The first year I had an obvious cooling cycle and had one litter (I also had a few boas develop RI). The next year I had one female that just had that look - like she was just ready - this was during the summer and I had done no cooling, but when I put a male with her, they took to the task almost immediately.

my personal theroy at this point is that it's just about keeping really healthy boas and give them many options of when to breed. now, once I decide on a specific pairing, I just let them hang out together every few weeks for a day or two and see what happens. If they don't seem interested in each other, I separate and try to feed and then reintroduce again in a few weeks.

Right now I have two females that appear to be gravid. but I'm really just starting to go into the fall cycle - the temps in my snake room are dropping just a few degrees due to the cooler temps outside. I also use natural light from a large window - so the day light cycle has started changing as well just due to the season. I'm anticipating that a few more pairs may start breeding soon, but if not, then I'll just keep trying until they seem to be in the mood.

those are my thoughts. main thing for me is to consider this as a hobby where you have to experiment a little and just observe everything you can about your boas's behaviour. pay attention to what works and what doesn't work - and accept is as a learning process.

good luck!