Reptile & Amphibian Forums

My female boas, when pregnant, have illustrated the typical behaviors, ie. going off feed. I have a pair of albino het BCIs, and I am 90% certain the female is carrying, except she is not displaying what I thought to be "typical" boa behavior.

She has never refused a meal. Can anyone else share their experiences on pregnant female boa behavior including shedding, etc.?

Thanks!

-Jason

I've been breeding boas for about 10 years, and typically they'll coil up on top of themselves to conserve heat. They'll usually lose their appetite during this time. You'll want to offer smaller meals less frequent, and stop food for the last month. That's the typical gravid boa. I've had snakes not eat for 3 months, and I've had them always wanting a meal. I've seen them stay coiled up most of the time in the cool end of the cage (82 degrees), and I had one stay stretched out in a branch (display cage)sitting directly under the ceramic heat bulb most of the time, where it got to 100 degrees. In the ten years of breeding, with all kinds of different behaviors, I've never had a boa that's 6ft or more have less than 20 babies, or more than 2 slugs. So give them a cage that's 80-82 degrees in the cool end,and 88-92 degrees in the other end , and offer smaller meals every 2-3weeks (none in the last month), and they'll do what's comfortable to them. This is only my experiences, and may not be agreed upon by some. Here's my last gravid one.

This is My second year for boas and my female has eaten everytime I have fed her threw both pregnancies. I have also heard of others boas doing so.