Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Just wondering if anyone can give me some tid bits on breeding suri's, ive got a monster 9.5ft female that is about 6-7 years of age and a male that is 4' and around 2.5 years, i had them in together 2 months ago and the male copulated 3 times, i had him in again 2 weeks ago and left him in there for a whole week which in the time frame, he did nothing (i have been cooling them down to 74F), is cooling necessary for succesful reproduction? what temps do you guys keep your BCC's when breeding?

You have to keep them together for alot longer than that.... I keep them together until I see the female ovulate.... As far as temps go... I don't do anything drastic... I change my night drop so it shuts off the heat at night.... and lower my daytime highs to 88 instead of 92(hot side)..... I think temps are just a small part of the recipe needed to stimulate breeding....

Photoperiod- I use the natural change in photo period by keeping windows in the snake room unobstructed... I also have all the flourescent lights in the snake rooms on a photosensor so they sut off with the outside lights... I don't turn on the lights in the breeder room at night...

Food availability - I offer more frequent meals in the spring and summer, and cut back late summer early fall...

humidity - I mist cages daily in the spring and summer.... in the fall and winter I only mist cages during shed cycles to help their shedding process.... Their natural habitat has distinct wet/ dry seasons... most species in these ecoregions have offspring during the wet season, because food availability is higher.....

Now this may all be overkill.... but this is the regimen I practice..... I know people that have a more drastic cooling period, but I personally don't want to risk their health... not to mention there is very little fluctuation of temps in their natural habitat.... with the exception of the Southern Suriname highlands......

I also subject my younger boas to this same schedule/ environment... I think it may be important to establish a rhythm...

There isnt any one recipe for a good breeding bcc program. I think your geographical region has something to do with it as well, so these parameters may need to be varied until you find something that works.... I live in Southern Louisiana, and we don't have 4 distinct seasons as far as weather goes..... I have noticed that copulation always seems to follow cold fronts/high pressure areas.....

Hope this helps.....
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Marc Duhon
Lafayette, Louisiana
SURINAMBOAS.COM
kaiyudsai@SURINAMBOAS.COM

PS: I forgot to add this.... For the most part, BCC breeders I know usually don't put their pairs together until December/ January. But I personally get them together in late October. This season 2 pairs of Surinames, 1 pair of Brazilian bcc, and 1 pair of Bolivians all started copulating on the same day.... following a strong cold front..... I crack my window in the breeder room at night unless the temps are very low
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Marc Duhon
Lafayette, Louisiana
SURINAMBOAS.COM
kaiyudsai@SURINAMBOAS.COM

Thank you very much, that was very informative and helpful!!