Reptile & Amphibian Forums

yeah im a newbie and stuff but ive always wondered...

Your female boa gives birth, how do you get the babie snakes out of the cage and sepeerate them all without getting the $#%#% bitten out of you?just crossed my mind today and thought id ask lol.

-adam

im talking about the female boa biting the crap out of you and attacking you,not the baby snakes.

I just use a python hook and pull the mom out...sometimes I get nipped, no big deal. Some people will throw a towel over the moms head before pulling her out or use a sheild to separate the mom from the babies and take the babies out first.

If the female is that aggressive right after birth, place a pre-killed rat/rabbit whatever she eats at the end of the cage where the babies are not at. Once the female grabs the prey item, start getting out babies. Generally speaking, females will take food rather quickly after giving birth. If the female shows no interest in food, then yeah, just pull her out first. I've never been tagged pulling out babies, or getting eggs out from UNDER a python. Just be careful and react to the situation that presents you at the time. Sometimes if you catch the birth you can simply get the babies out when the females done while she's "recovering". Once your in the situation, you'll see that it's not going to be that hard. Good luck getting there, it's one of the best things about keeping reptiles. One more thing to fuel the addiction-LOL! Take care!

Paul

last year was my first for breeding and when my female gave birth I was there to watch the whole thing. I was so excited I was picking them up and moving them to a rubbermaid tub while she was spitting them out. She did not seem to care that I was there until she was done, then she almost bit my face off! I'm not sure if she was in some sort of trance when she was giving birth or maybe she was just too busy.

That's interesting about you mentioning a trance.

I know that crocodilians and at least some turtles (not sure about all of them) go into a trance-like state when depositing their clutches. I always wondered if it was the same with snakes.

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alstiver@hotmail.com

Currently own:
1.0 '01 Hypo snow cornsnake (Tesla Coil)
0.1 '02 Ghost (pastel) cornsnake (Banshee)
1.1 '02 Bloodred cornsnakes (Desi and Luci Too)
0.0.2 Goldfish (Isamu, and Yuki; RIP Kabuki)
1.0 '99 American Eskimo mix (Rusty)

Next to be added:
0.1 '03 or '04 Hypo Nicaraguan boa
1.0 '04 or '05 Type II Anery Nicaraguan boa

nm

>>yeah im a newbie and stuff but ive always wondered...
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>>Your female boa gives birth, how do you get the babie snakes out of the cage and sepeerate them all without getting the $#%#% bitten out of you?just crossed my mind today and thought id ask lol.
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>>-adam

When one of my adults gave birth, I pretty much reached in and put a large box between me and her. Its also good to have someone else there to watch the mother while you are trying to pull all the babies out.

Use gloves if the babies bite, but I've never had babies bite me directly after being born. Yet.

Whatever you choose to do, do it quick!

-cat
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http://chaoscat.lowerground.net/herps/
My collection and herp photography

Hi Adam,

After quite a few collective years of keeping boas, last year was my first attempt at breeding. When Ms Muir gave birth, my Mom and I were privileged to be there and watch the whole thing. I had heard that some females can be quite aggressive afterward and I really didn't relish dealing with her like that. We watched her and from the very beginning, she also seemed to go into a "trance" sort of state. I had my small tubs ready for the babies and began taking them out as they were born. She never even seemed to notice us standing there at her door, talking softly, or me taking them out.

That said, I did feel sorry for her afterward because she spent a long time maneuvering her head and neck around like they do trying to desperse the babies.....and there were no babies there. This year, if I am lucky enough to have more babies AND I'm there, I think I will leave a few in with the female to be with and examine and move around. I can always take them out if they need rescuing. Maybe it's just the silly touchy-feely side of me trying to put a human spin on a boa, but I think by taking out all the babies, it caused her to miss something. I know it made me feel bad for having done it. What can I say? Motherhood is such a grand thing....I hear. I will never again deliberately deprive one of my girls of all of the experience

We have a lot better experience with our boa mothers by waiting a while before removing the young and cleaning up the cage.

If they have enough privacy Boa constrictor babies tend to like to lay quiet for a while, get breathing well and orient themselves to their surroundings. Boa moms watch over them during this period, many times tongueing and nudging each one, perhaps in an effort to make them move or burst their birth sacks.

For whatever reason, if they are allowed to go through this ritual and the babies left alone until they begin to disperse on their own there seems to be less stress and conflict. We have had mom and babies rest together for over a day before beginning to scatter. It looks like a big mess but they all come out clean with their umbilicals dropped and no exposed yolks.

Of course you have to watch for big moms who are restless after giving birth, they might hurt the babies. Boas kept on newsprint or some other featureless substrate cannot prepare a nest for the babies and may be more defensive and restless. Take these out on a hook and put them in an opaque container, like a trash-can. That calms them down. pour a bucket of tepid water over them before putting them back in their cage. It removes the smell of the recent birth.
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Gus
A. Rentfro
RioBravoReptiles.com

"Quality is not an accident. Perfectly healthy animals are a minimum requirement.. everything else is just salesmanship" gus