Reptile & Amphibian Forums

okay for the most part im good to go... for now. but im planning on getting my breeding pairs asap so i need to know what temp to keep them at for now (i have a while till breeding time). so would 80-84 degrees be good to keep the temp at year round (if not cycling)? and what is "too small" or "too big" of a cage for breeding? and i still never found when to put the male in with the female. do you suggest changing temp? alot of people seem to not change temp ever. are they saying they just dont cycle or do they keep it the same day and night and all year round? and when should i stop feeding the male and female? i have herd alot of different responses what do you all do? and last of all when should i start feeding my female extra to fatten her up? is 2 months before good enough? thanks for answering everything for me!

okay for the most part im good to go... for now. but im planning on getting my breeding pairs asap so i need to know what temp to keep them at for now (i have a while till breeding time). so would 80-84 degrees be good to keep the temp at year round (if not cycling)?

I keep my ambients at approximately 85 degrees.

and what is "too small" or "too big" of a cage for breeding?

I have a few females in 4x2x1 enclosures and 1 female in a 6x2x2, base it more on what the female will be comfortable in rather then what size to breed them in (mine usually stay right on top of one another most of the time when paired so an enlarged enclosure for breeding imo is not required)

and i still never found when to put the male in with the female. do you suggest changing temp? alot of people seem to not change temp ever. are they saying they just dont cycle or do they keep it the same day and night and all year round?

You can pair them up at different times based on when you feel comfortable doing so. Many people breed earlier in the season while many others later, and then some others breed year round depending on age and maturity of their animals. You will need to figure this one out yourself.
I change the ambient temps for my boas to 80-82 degrees for breeding attempts. When ever temps would rise above 85 ambient the male would quit breeding so I have not tried leaving temps at there normal level.

and when should i stop feeding the male and female? i have herd alot of different responses what do you all do? and last of all when should i start feeding my female extra to fatten her up? is 2 months before good enough? thanks for answering everything for me!

The Boa Constrictor Manual will give you suggestions on how to prepare them feeding cycle wise for breeding.
For the female you do not want to "fatten" her up, a fat snake is less likely to produce as healthy a litter as a thinner muscular one. (not too thin of course, just not the super fat 40+ pounders you see that look like miniature burms rather then boas)

Good luck.
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Randall L Turner Jr.
www.aircapitalconstrictors.com

OKAY THANKS! thats the kind of answers i like :-D thanks

when do you stop feeding the male and female before you put the male with the female? and for the people that change the temp's do you do it before or after you put them together? and what does everyone use for heating? people were saying space heaters are not good, so what is something reliable?

"im planning on getting my breeding pairs asap"

.....the best suggestion yet: Be very careful when buying your breeding pairs. Someone might take advantage of you.

Keep learning...you'll only gain knowledge.

okay just got done reading that 11 page article that someone posted for me to read. i have some questions about some things i was reading in it. should i put a stick in at all every (before or while breeding at all during the year)? should i put a hide box? i was told not to so im thinking maybe just a piece of crumpled newspaper to hide his face under? and i was also reading about some shelfs that people had. i dont get the point of this other than it would be easy to clean the cage without them getting disturbed (clean the bottom when they are on the shelf part and the shelf when they are on the bottom). i dont plan on making a shelf in the cages im going to make so what do you all do keep from disturbing them while in the breeding months? im building cages out of pvc sheets about 1/8" thick and am planning on 4' long, 2' deep and 2' tall, what do you think of that? can i keep the male in something a little smaller and in a plastic clear container while not breeding? thanks for reading over this all and helping me out!

Hi, I'm reading your questions, and you seem (and have stated)that your anxious to get started on breeding. Well if anything, breeding Boas, and raising them for that matter, requires nothing but plenty of patients. I owned an adult trio of boas, and it took 3 years before I got them to breed. One of those never bred for me in 8 years, then I gave him to a friend, and he bred the following season. I know of others who are major Boa breeders, who've had Boas for ten years, and still haven't gotten them to breed.
I'm not trying to be a kill-joy, but if you buy yourself a breeding pair, and expect them to jump right onto each other as soon as they're together - well it may happen, but you'd be a very lucky guy. The reality is that you'll probably be very frustrated - Boas have a way of doing that to people.
My honest suggestion would be to find a pair that you want,buy them as sub-adults, or younger, raise them up for a year or two as you are continuing to learn more and more. And then when they're ready, you are also ready. General care and husbandry should be learned before attempting to start a breeding colony.
A good way to learn more is right here on the Forum. There's a button to let you search the forum archives, allowing you to read on all the past topics. That's how I learned about heating, light cycling, temps, terminology, feeding "do's and don'ts", housing, hets, Dbl hets, recessive, co-dom, dominant, and the pair of green lawn chairs mating. I truly believe that you can learn everything ever needed to know about this hobby, by reading the archives. There's always more one can learn, but all of the basics needed are here already. -------------------- Good luck,be patient, and take care, David
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--aka DMOG68

but to try to help you realize that two adult Boas, even in primo conditions won't always get you the results that you're hoping for. Every year, I have more adults who don't breed, than ones that do. Rats are good breeders, so are rabbits - it's different with Boas. Research research research
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--aka DMOG68

Snakeman, Morgan has a point. I kept boas for seven years before my first litter of boas(just happened). There is much to learn and observe. Start slow like morgan suggested and buy a pair of babies. Once you have all of your husbandry under control then worry about breeding.

Chris Canada-Smith