Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hey all, how come we can't seem to get answers on breeding questions...but others ask feeding and general husbandry questions and we have lists of answers??? Then everyone posts countless pics of their litters and so we know you are all very knowledgable breeders... Please help us newbies. Honestly needing and wanting your help, Thanks Andy Federico

Hang around long enough and you`ll find this to be the norm.
Breeding secrets and tricks arent easy to come by,outside of a generalized generic caresheet format.There are a limited few that extend their experience on certain issues outside of casual comment and photo op,but its rare.Wave some money around and they`ll beat your door down trying to infuse you with their alledged knowledge.
Thats just the nature of the beast here on KS.If your not in one of the clitche`s your pretty much SOL.
Bummer I know ......

T/

>>Hey all, how come we can't seem to get answers on breeding questions...but others ask feeding and general husbandry questions and we have lists of answers??? Then everyone posts countless pics of their litters and so we know you are all very knowledgable breeders... Please help us newbies. Honestly needing and wanting your help, Thanks Andy Federico
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T/
Snakes Train You To Suit its Needs!

It seems you have the grasp on this whole reptile community, or so you assume, so let's hear YOUR "alledged knowledge". I do agree that particular detailed breeding info is relatively rare within forums, sometimes just take it for what it's worth. If nobody answers, that is probably your answer. They don't know! Is there anything wrong if nobody can answer your question? Would people rather every question be followed up with 10,000...I DON'T KNOW responses? Sometimes an answer could be solved with pics to look at for a more detailed grasp of a particular question. The "marbles" could be assumed to be many things in peoples minds...large marbles, small marbles, spread out, tightly bound in one area, soft to the touch, hard to the touch, mental pictures lend a hand to the imagination, not realization. If I was forced to give an OPINION, I'd guess it might be follicles developing, but I've never noticed "marbles" under the skin. Maybe it's fat deposits and due to swelling from follicles developing or ovulation they were pushed outwardly causing a "marble" appearance. Many people can drive a car, relatively few can explain in detail how it works. Just because someone produces boas, doesn't mean they know every detail of what's going on. I would venture to guess NOBODY has all the answers. I know I sure don't. To the original poster, I hope your breeding goes great, and sorry I personally can not give you a definite answer on what is going on with your animal. Hopefully someone has seen this before and will know exactly what your talking about. For the post I'm responding too...if you don't know the answer, don't start throwing stones at other people for not knowing either. Take care!

Paul

Well, I do agree some what with the above post. But I got to thinking more about it for some weird reason.

I don't think theres a secret about breeding boas. I know a lot of breeders who use different methods to go about to breed successfully. What works for John may not work for Joe etc. There are many different opinions on breeding.

James W. Arnold

Andy i'm not saying you do this, but I know many others do..

when they post 'a question', they actually start by making the thread titled READ THIS NOW!!!!
no one likes being told what to do

another BIGGER pain, is when they write what seems like a book, with no spaces no punctuation, run on sentencesand switching subjects and asking a dozen questions and talking about every single detail of every single thing they own, color size, location angle, positionand temperment and space, length, etc., etc., etc., etc., etc., etc., etc., etc., etc., etc., etc., etc., etc., etc., etc., etc., etc., etc., etc., etc., etc., etc., etc., etc., etc., etc., etc., etc., etc., .. see what I mean?

It goes ON AND ON AND ON AND ON AND ON and seems like it never ends!!!

I would suggest to actually ask ONE question, and see where it takes you!
again, this is not directed towards you. I am not in the best mood today, but am NOT taking this out on you at all.

I would ask something like
'What is the best time to introduce my pair and how should I go about it/what do I look for?'
Very simple, short and sweet!

I think many people will answer that because it is simple and one question. Even if they have little time, it takes a second to read and a minute to respond to at most.

They would then probably direct you to care sheets and web sites for more help!

When these people write a whole page like I mentioned above, just looking at it makes me dizzy! NOONE wants to read that!

I actually have MUCH more time than these big breeders do.. they don't even have the time to READ those huge endless posts!

I do, but choose not to, because of how nonsenical they seem, or atleast just be looking at them this is the impression I get.

I would suggest ASKING a question, not talking about everything you know and waiting for someone to spend time conversing back with you. This is not that kind of place, from my own experiences.
There are many other forums where that is all they do! Lots of people converse about issues back and forth, and it is great, and welcomed!

I would suggest going to the Boaphile site, and going to the 'ThinkTank' . Look under breeding, or any other section, and SEARCH first, before you may post the same questions that others spent time answering and maybe won't do again. You'll be amazed at the wealth of information available.
Then you can start your own threads asking for advise, or making suggestions.... but not demanding someone stops what they're doing to read your thread. Encourage friendly discussions and you will make lots of friends there too.

I also suggest going to RioBravoReptiles site for care sheets.
Then after you have read all this info, then ask what you still don't know.

People don't like spending their time to answer questions that are easily available anywhere else.. they did it, they looked it up and read it, why can't others? See what I mean?

Hope this helps.

Thanks much, Joe
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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

but feeding and husbandry questions are usually pretty direct answers IMO. There's a number of different feeding schedules, and people will often offer their personal preferences. Husbandry is pretty black & white...there are specific requirements to be met - temperature ranges, humidity levels, providing hides, etc. Specific answers for specific questons/needs. Breeding is a bit different. I've bred my boas three times and produced two litters. How did I do it? I put my boas together in September and left them alone until February or so when the female quit letting the male breed her, interupting only to feed them or clean the cages. I've never witnessed ovulation for sure, though I *think* I saw it last year. I don't cool my boas or do anything special other than put them in the same cage. I'm a hobbyist and my boas are my pets first and foremost. They're well fed and well cared for, and provided with the right environment. That's why I think they produce, not because of anything I do.

As for the whole 'clique' thing...yeah, there's people here that know each other personally and are friends - just like anywhere else in life. It isn't about money or reputation, it's about the animals. I've been coming here since 1999 and while I don't post a lot and have only met a handful of people from the forum, that doesn't stop me from posting to ask questions or share information and even pictures from time to time. Not every post gets answered or commented on - regardless of who you are. Sometimes it's simply looked over or lost in the other messages. Sometimes people don't know the answer. And yeah, sometimes it is a question that has been asked a thousand times and the person just needs to read a care sheet or two and do their own research rather than have someone here just 'hand' them the information. And I also know for myself - a personal pet peeve here - that any post written in the "chat room lingo" with all the cutesy abbreviations (i.e. NE1 for anyone, RU for Are you, etc.) won't get answered by me. If you can't take the time to write complete words and do so reasonably intelligently, I just simply don't feel a need to waste my time replying to the post. Nothing personal to the person posting those, but I simply don't take them seriously since they are apparantly unable to write seriously.

My .03 - pretty sure I went over .02 here! LOL
Raven