Reptile & Amphibian Forums

My 2003 male is half the size of the female and hasn't eaten in a month.
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1.1 Kenyan Sand Boa adults
1.1 Kenyan Sand Boa 2003
0.1 Rubber Boa
0.2 Eastern Hognose Snakes
2.2Western Hognose Snakes
1.1 Womas
1.0 African Hedgehog
1.0 Sulcata
1.1 Leopard tortoises
1 Pleco
2 Silver Dollars
3 Bosemian Rainbows
1 Cory Cat
1 Upside Down Catfish
2.0 Fire Guramis
1 silver arrowana
1 sentenal bichir

uhh... I think that is it.

In past winters my male has stopped eating for awhile. He did this during the age yours is. Right now he is still eating. In fact, he has been showing a stronger feeding response for some reason.
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1.1 Womas, 1.0 Australian Olive Python, 1.1 Cape York Spotted Pythons, 1.0 Australian Water Python, 1.0 Albino Green Burmese, 1.1 Loxocemus bicolor (New World "Pythons" ), 2.2 Peruvian Red-Tail Boas, 2.1 Hog Island Boas, 0.1 Belem Brazilian Red- Tail Boa, 0.0.1 North American Wood Turtle, 0.0.2 European Pond Turtles, 1.0 Leucistic Alligator Snapper, 0.0.1 FL Red Belly, 0.0.1 Concentric Diamondback Terrapin, 0.0.1 Marine Toad, 1.2 Crested Geckos, 1.0 Yellow Ackie, 1.0 Yellow Bearded Dragon

Mine started going off feed a couple months ago, and probably won't start again until after they're cooled, bred, and warm up next spring.

I've also had them go off feed for periods of up to several months at odd times of the year as juveniles - and start again for no apparent reason. I stopped worrying about it a long time ago, as long as they're body weight is ok.

Steve Reiners
BoaMorph
www.BoaMorph.com

Well, he is young and small for his age, but I decided "what the heck" and threw him in with the female. He immediately started trying to copulate. Is it possible, or harmful for him to be in there doing this?
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1.1 Kenyan Sand Boa adults
1.1 Kenyan Sand Boa 2003
0.1 Rubber Boa
0.2 Eastern Hognose Snakes
2.2Western Hognose Snakes
1.1 Womas
1.0 African Hedgehog
1.0 Sulcata
1.1 Leopard tortoises
1 Pleco
2 Silver Dollars
3 Bosemian Rainbows
1 Cory Cat
1 Upside Down Catfish
2.0 Fire Guramis
1 silver arrowana
1 sentenal bichir

uhh... I think that is it.

He may be too young to breed successfully, but who knows for sure? The activity won't hurt him, and I've sometimes had them start feeding again after being in with a potential mate. The key decision you need to make is this: Do you want to cool them this year and really try to breed them? The risk here is that if your male is not mature enough, he could still stimulate the female to produce/lay eggs that would be infertile - a big waste of energy/body weight for her, and more of a challenge to get her ready for next year when the male will almost certainly be sexually mature. If you don't cool them, they'll often copulate all year long but almost never will produce/lay eggs.

Whatever you decide to do, just keep an eye on his body weight - if he starts looking too thin and still has no interest in eating, a single tube-feeding can often stimulate their digestive system and appetite back into gear.

Steve Reiners
BoaMorph
www.BoaMorph.com