Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi Doug, I was curious how your Mussurana project is coming along. How large are yours now? How are the breeding trials coming along? Thanks for sharing, Vic

The mussurana breeding attempts have been fruitless, but also not as dangerous as I was concerned that they might be.

There was "posturing" by the female and "marking" by the male, but neither was really very interested in breeding yet, or at least neither one knew what to do. The best thing about it was there was no aggression.

The male weighs in at 1370 grams and the female at 1250. I'm thinking they could stand another year of growth anyway. They might just not care much for each other. Who knows.

Keeping fingers crossed.

Doug T

>>Hi Doug, I was curious how your Mussurana project is coming along. How large are yours now? How are the breeding trials coming along? Thanks for sharing, Vic

I was putting the Mu's together today after I weighed them. Since I had seen no mating or courtship, there wasn't much expectation for them to start today.

I put them together, sprayed a little water on them, and BAM they went at it.

So Vic, thanks for asking about them because it reminded me to put them together today

Pic's soon.

Doug T

Mating completed in a couple of hours.
Doug T

Doug Taylor Reptiles

Just got done reading your website. Great info on there.

Good luck with all your breedings.

There are several species known as 'Mussurana', correct?
Clelia clelia, Clelia rustica, Clelia occipitolutea etc.

The species I'm working with is Boiruna maculata which was formally known as Clelia occiputolutea. You can check out my page on them at the link below.

Doug Taylor Reptiles

He's the only one I know of who has bred Mu's, although maybe there are others.
Nice website - impressive collection. Do you know if the other Clelia species are now reclassified as Borunia as well?

Mark

The trio of breeders in Texas, my pair and the lone animal belonging to John Gunn in AZ, were bred in Argentina by another herp nut. David Fabius supplied us here in the USA with several different lines this past year. So the captive keeping of Mu's here is off to a good start.

I'm pretty sure that the only Boiruna is the maculata. Honestly I don't understand why they are so different as to deserve species level reclassification. Who knows, maybe someday they'll become Clelia again. Taxonomists are an interesting group.

As a side note, David has some Clelia rustica and Clelia bilineata.

Doug T

>>He's the only one I know of who has bred Mu's, although maybe there are others.
>>Nice website - impressive collection. Do you know if the other Clelia species are now reclassified as Borunia as well?
>>
>>Mark

n/p

Very cool.

Glad you got 'em going.
Thanes Place

-----
Thane

That's fantastic-maybe a first in the USA? I have always wanted to work with them, maybe after a few more generations here. Good Luck, we hope they have a good ol'time! The world needs more Mu's...Vic

Not a first. A guy in Texas who purchased some siblings to my adults produced some babies this year. So being patient got me scooped

It's all good though. There's only been a few clutches produced worldwide in captivity so there's plenty of work left to do.

Doug T

>>That's fantastic-maybe a first in the USA? I have always wanted to work with them, maybe after a few more generations here. Good Luck, we hope they have a good ol'time! The world needs more Mu's...Vic

Doug,

AWESOME Achievement! Leave it to Doug Taylor to go down the road Less Traveled. Its nice to see somebody that's in this hobby , not for commerical gain, but because they really like the animals themselves. Best of luck to you.

Your friend,

Fred Albury

That financial gain is definately part of my decision making process on what I work with. Although it's usually the 4th factor on my list.

1-THE MOST IMPORTANT is Do I find it interesting
2-Can I properly provide for it
3-Is it bred commonly (if so, work with it later)
4-If I get it to breed, will babies sell easily at a decent price.
5-Can I get it at all (Think Roughscale Pythons)

My feelings on #3 above are opposite what many keepers feel, but having a touch of Uncertainty with a species is very appealing to me. Hopefully in a few more years, more folks wanting to work with Mu's will have a bigger pool to work with.

Doug T

>>AWESOME Achievement! Leave it to Doug Taylor to go down the road Less Traveled. Its nice to see somebody that's in this hobby , not for commerical gain, but because they really like the animals themselves. Best of luck to you.
>>
>>
>>Your friend,
>>
>>Fred Albury

That's funny Doug!
Your feeling #3 are my second. First of all, i need to like what i'm working with but my second is the challenge. If it's easy, i'm loosing interest most of the time

Good job!!!
i'd love to work with mussuranas, I hope to get a pair in the future.
Good luck
ciao
nazzza