Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I WAS WONDERING, TO BREED BOAS I AM GOING TO NEED A BIGGER CAGE SO I AM GOING TO HAVE TO MAKE IT ON A SIDE OF MY ROOM, I WAS WONDERING IF THEY WILL STILL BREED IF THERE IS ALOT OF PEOPLE GOING IN AND OUT OF MY ROOM... ALSO IF THERE IS LIKE WEEKLY SWEEPING AND MUSIC GOING EVERY ONCE IN A WHILE AND A LITTLE NOISE. IF I KEEP THE TEMPS AND LIGHTING RIGHT, WILL THEY BE OKAY WITH THE PEOPLE GOING IN AND OUT AND NOISE AND ALL OR WILL THEY NEED TO BE IN A CLOSED OFF PLACE WITH NO TRAFFIC OR NOISES BOTHERING THEM TO BREED? ALSO... ARE COLOMBIAN BOAS, BRAZILIAN RAINBOW BOAS AND HET ALBINO BOAS ALL GOING TO BREED JUST AS EASY AND NEED THE SAME CARE? IS THERE ANY BOA THAT IS EASIER OR ARE THEY ALL ABOUT THE SAME? AND DURRING BREEDING SEASON, AND IF YOU ARE TRYING TO BREED BOAS, IS IT GOOD TO HOLD THEM DAILY OR IS IT BETTER TO LEAVE THEM ALONE? SHOULD YOU HOLD THEM IN OFF SEASON AND NOT HOLD IN BREEDING SEASON OR WHAT?

It sounds like you've got a lot to learn about boas in general before you should even think about breeding them. I mean...trying to breed them outside in 40 degree winters?!?! Sheesh! I suggested in one of your earlier posts that you pick up a book about the general care of boas or at least do some searching on the Internet. But I guess I'll throw you a bone and tell you that - No, you can't keep boas outside during the winter, period - and No, you probably shouldn't house them in a high traffic area of the house where there's music playing, lights on all night, etc. These are wild, cold-blooded animals with pretty specific housing requirements, not house cats.

ALRIGHT THOUGHT SO... OKAY WELL WHAT ARE SOME GOOD BOOKS ABOUT BREEDING AND HOUSING BOAS? IS THERE ANY SINGLE ONE THAT WILL GIVE ME ALL I NEED TO KNOW? OR EVEN BETTER, DO YOU KNOW ANY WEBSITES THAT COVER IT ALL? THANKS

"The Boa Constrictor Manual" can be found at Petsmart.
www.theboaphile.com has some good breeding info
www.riobravoreptiles.com has good breeding info
just to name a few
or just do a search on google for "breeding boa contstrictors"

I read the entire book and it never mentioned what acceptable humidity requirements were. If it was there I must have missed it, but since i read the whole thing I don't know how.

Linda

so does everyone think this book is not a good book?? or is it good?

I think it is the best single book about boas on the market. Because the other available boa books range from awful to fair. I'm still waiting for a book about boa constrictors that could be rated excellent.

Paul Hollander

so do you think that is the only book worth spending my money on?? is there any videos worth spending money on? or should i just get that book and do searchs on the internet?

more than twice. It's a great beginner book. I was just expecting it would mention acceptable humidity ranges. I even went back again, and it's not in that book.

In a post a few days ago I suggested that you read every single post on this board having to do with breeding (I now recommend every single post on any subject); and someone else recommended reading a book on boa care/breeding. It would have taken me a week at least to do those things, yet here you are asking basic questions that would have been answered if you had done what we suggested. You thanked us for our advice, too.
You are NOT ready to breed boas, yet. Take our advice, it was given from the heart, with the health and happiness of both you and the boas in mind.
EDUCATE yourself!! We are happy to help, but you need to do part of it by reading and getting an idea of it all first.

,

first i bought SEVERAL snake books. both breeding and general husbandry...the following site has some good books;

http://www.bigappleherp.com/Reptile_Supplies/Catalog/Snake_Books_13.html

and yes, i HIGHLY recomend the boa constrictor manuel. you will get a general idea of what breeding conditions should be like from all those books.

i then went to the breeder/dealer section in kingsnake...i clicked on everyones link, one after the other. many of those sites have breeding info. i then weeded through the info untill i took a little from this site and a little from that site. if certain info repeats itself in all these books and sites...then chances are it works.

somtimes information gathered from misc books and sites will contradict themselves. thats cause there is no 100% RIGHT way to breed boas. the authors gather info, either from thier own experiences or through the experiences of other breeders they interviewed. and opinions and experiences do vary.

you must also remember...that we breeders, for the most part, do not dictate when the breeding season is and when the off-season is...the boas "clock" does that. ask yourself why it does that...then do research on the weather conditions in the area your species of boas are from, during the general breeding season (sept-feb, give or take). then try to logically figure out why these times and conditions are optimal for the boas to breed. maybee they breed in the colder months so the babies are born in the warmer months to increase survival?!?! maybee the mothers prefer to give birth during some rain as to have the water wash away the blood and juices from the babies as not to give smells out for preditors to follow?!?!?! etc... just throw your own questions out there and then try to answer them, that helps alot when getting started.

on the other hand some of these males are typical males...horny like a maaaaa. just put them in and they do thier job. too bad its not that easy though...its the females, on the most part, that you have to stimulate by mimicking certain conditions.

just learn the basics (from books, sites, and posts)...then break down the breeding process into steps, and anytime u reach a new step then refer to your books or post here to get some opinions on how to continue, and we'll help you out.

i wish you the best of luck man...this whole boa game is fun as hell. it also makes you feel like a legitamet scientist (herpetologist) when u sucesfully produce offspring

good luck, Nick
B.B.G.

It is very obvious that you do not have the drive to learn the proper needs of your snakes. You are here trying to get someone to spoon feed you the needed information instead of finding it and learning about it yourself.
My suggestion to you would be to not keep herps at all. In fact, I would suggest for you not to keep animals at all, furthermore unless you ever decide to put forth any effort at all in anything I would even suggest that you personally never have children, pets, or even a gold Fish! Unless you get your act together and do some of your own work and but forth some sort of effort to learn, I would pity the creature that has to depend on you for survival.
Your questions show that you don’t even have the slightest idea of what you are doing or the basic knowledge needed for caring for your snakes. You have gotten a ton of advice from the others on this forum and you still come back with some of the most outrageous questions possible. You are either just trying to yank chains here or you are next years candidate for the top reason why New York state is banning exotic animals.
There is more information available then ever before, unless you find some poor schmuck who is willing to feed you this information step by step so you may possible have some sort of chance to learn, I would again suggest to you to sell your animals and give them a fighting chance at survival somewhere else!~
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Jim Hopkins "Hoppy"
Hopkins Holesale Herps
Hopfam1@aol.com

I have actually decided this guy must be joking and gave up even reading his posts, if he gets a couple books, reads them, and comes back with reasonable questions, I think everyone would be happy to help. However, these questions are just plain silly. Craig

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Thanks and take care - Joe Rollo
'Tis not the stongest of the species that will eventually survive, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change' Charles Darwin