Reptile & Amphibian Forums

This ha been a bit of a weird breeding year. Weather was whacky and really affected some but not all of the breeding. All my BCI were late and many of my BRB pairings were as well. I still have BRB mating going on which means litters well into November???

So far I have....

12 females gravid with clear mating, POS and due dates.
2 more females I believe are gravid with no mating seen but look gravid with shed and due date.

Those 14 females have due dates that are fairly evenly spread across a 2 1/2 month period. Averaging one litter every 5 days (2 - 9 days on the due dates) Phew, going to be a crazy ride!!!

On top of those I have another 5 females with recent mating that have not yet had their POS's so eventual due dates of late October / November.

2 more with single mating event but not clear if they took

and lastly 5 females with no signs at all. Still another month or so before all settles down and get final due dates on the rest.

And for those that watch her, Savannah will be LATE this year, maybe even my LAST litter. She and Phoenix are STILL mating.

Savannah and Phoenix on the 17th and have seen more mating as recently as the 23rd....

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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 (02/01/2010):
42.61 BRB
27.40 BCI
And those are only the breeders

lots.lots.lots feeder mice and rats

Just fed the breeding group last night, or at least offered food. The males, some of which had been refusing for months, all ate with gusto. (read as watch out for your fingers).

The females on the other hand are starting to shut down for feeding. Throughout the breeding season I've been feeding them once a month-ish and already had a few refuse food. Only 15/24 ate last night. IMO a good sign and while some of those not eating are the obviously gravid ones, a few are the ones I'm not sure about - even better as I take that as a sign they may in fact be gravid.

Almost time to pull the plug on mating. I do have several males identified as done, their female(s) are clearly gravid, had a POS, hugging the heat and in some cases refusing food. Those will stay in their individual enclosures. I also have a few that are not clearly done and will let those males have another round of cohabitation after a couple days of digestion.

Historically I have about two weeks left in my POS season but I'm thinking it will go longer than ever before with the odd weather I had this year, will have to wait and see.....

I know - y'all want some fat girl pics, will be working on those soon.
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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 (02/01/2010):
42.61 BRB
27.40 BCI
And those are only the breeders

lots.lots.lots feeder mice and rats

Sounds good, Dave. Statistics are always interesting to mull over.

Maybe your reptile room could use a game clock to count down the next 2 weeks... you know, a constant reminder to your males that now's the time for any last-minute hail marys. =P

-Dustin

Thanks Dustin,

When I started this there was no data available, no mating care sheets, nobody sharing info on how to reproduce them, nothing at all. As the internet grew it was clear that either nobody knew the exact details or those that did were not sharing. For many years all I knew was to cool them some in winter, warm them back up and put them together in spring and babies would mysteriously appear sometime late summer.

Then several years ago Mike Lockwood and I were talking it over and figured out the basic timing had to be something like what had been recorded for Boa constrictors. Just needed some good data to figure it out. Once I dug through my existing records a blurry picture emerged. When I began keeping better, more detailed breeding records the basic timing became clear and I was able to come up with a due date that is pretty close to when the babies come.

Even now it's not always clear as it's happening. By the end of mating season I usually have enough details to paint a pretty good picture.
-----
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 (02/01/2010):
42.61 BRB
27.40 BCI
And those are only the breeders

lots.lots.lots feeder mice and rats

Sheesh Dave! That is a LOT of gravid females!! Where are you going to put all those slimy biteys??
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Aubrey Ross

©
www.SlipstreamSerpents.com

I got lotsa drawers!!!
-----
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 (02/01/2010):
42.61 BRB
27.40 BCI
And those are only the breeders

lots.lots.lots feeder mice and rats