Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi can someone help me. I have two Columbian Rainbow Boas in the same tank, my female gave birth and I did not know she was gravid. We had 11 babies all dead, we found them buried in the tank mostly joined to their egg sack. Can someone tell me what has happened I also had some egg sacks and no babies, this is the first snake I have bred so am a little confused. Please email me on wrightandtrim@aol.com. Many thanks

...Slugs and dead babies are fairly common in Rainbow Boas. I think that slugs are the problem. They are stickier and less pliable than live babies insdie their membranes. If the snake has difficulty delivering slugs she will struggl and break the membranes and the live babies drown beofre they get delivered. This is just a theory of mine based upon much higher numbers of stillborns in litters with slugs. A likely cause of the slugs was inappropriate temperatures at some poin in the reproductive process. Most boids need a period of cooling to produce viable egg and sperm cells and most gravid snakes need some extra heat and enough room in their cages to thermoregulate while they are gestating.
Jeff

>>Hi can someone help me. I have two Columbian Rainbow Boas in the same tank, my female gave birth and I did not know she was gravid. We had 11 babies all dead, we found them buried in the tank mostly joined to their egg sack. Can someone tell me what has happened I also had some egg sacks and no babies, this is the first snake I have bred so am a little confused. Please email me on wrightandtrim@aol.com. Many thanks