Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi, I held a rubber at an expo and have fallen in love with these guys. They feel so much different then your normal snake. I need a little help though. Does anyone have some pics of their cages? Do you use a humid box? Also I somewhat understand braining a pinkie, but could some go through it more thoroughly?

I am also wondering why their are so few breeders of these animals? So are so hard to find for sale why? Are they that hard to breed? Thanks
Taylor

Taylor,
I suggest you go to my son Ryan's Rubber Boa web site at www.rubberboas.com

The species is not as easy to maintain satisfactorily as most popular species of snakes. They are a secretive species and thus remain hidden and also lack the color and patterns that are more attractive to many individuals that maintain snakes. It all boils down to the fact that the general demand for the species is considerable lower than some of the other native and exotic species.

They are relatively easy to breed in captivity.

Richard F. Hoyer

Well thanks for the advice. I went to your sons website. It was great! The only problem is most of the pics don't work. Anyways about breeding, what is the weight a male and female should be before breeding? Thanks

SavsRule48,
I don't check this site but once in a great while so did not see your question until just now.

Weight is not a big factor with adult males. As for females, there are two size morph of the species with a dwarf form occurring in S. Calif. and the larger morph occurring from about Tulare Co. on north and east throughout the rest of the species' distribution. Dwarf may become adult at below 16 inches although the smallest such female that produce a litter I believe was 17 7/8". The largest females of the dwarf form are close to 22 inches. Small adults of the large morph may be as small as around 20 inches or perhaps even smaller for some populations. Larger females of the large morph go up to and over 30 inches.

In order for females of this species to undergo a reproductive event, they generally need to be a reasonable robust condition. And of course, weight will vary with length.. Smaller adult females of the dwarf form can carry a litter and be as low as around 45 -50 grams. Larger female of the dwarf form may be as heavy as 90 grams or thereabouts. The smaller reproductive females of the large morph may be gravid at around 70 - 80 grams whereas large gravid females of the large morph can go well over 200 grams.

These figures are just off the top of my head so are just general ball park estimates.

Richard F. Hoyer

Ok so let me ask you this. At what age do they usually mature. Then I could maybe tell if the boa is an adult dwarf etc.

Taylor,
If all boa populations are similar in all respects to the population here in northwestern Oregon, then males can reach maturity at around 4 years of age and female at around 6 years at the earliest. The mean or average age at which males and females become adults is probably about 6 - 7 years for males and 8 - 9 years for females.

Locally (large morph) males reach maturity at near 18 inches and females at or above 22 inches. For other large morph populations, I suspect that males can be come mature at around 16 1/2 to 17 inches and females at around 20 1/2 to 21 inches although I an not certain I have found a gravid female below 21 inches.

Dwarf morph males may become mature at as small as about 13 1/2 inches and females possibly as small as around 17 or slightly below. The smallest gravid female of the dwarf form that produced a litter was 17 7/8 inches.

The above information was obtained by recording the smallest males that exhibit courtship behavior and smallest females that produced litters. So it seems to be a combination of age and length (perhaps weight as well at least in the case of females) that determines when the species becomes mature.

The only way of knowing whether any particular specimen belongs to the dwarf or large morph is to know where it was captured or the origin or if captive bred, the origin of the parent stock. That there are two reasonable distinct size morphs of the Rubber Boa is a recent discovery and not generally known (or accepted) by the professional herpetological community. Only through my posting of such information are some individuals in the amateur herp community aware of this situation.

Richard F. Hoyer

Ok very interesting. Thanks for all your help. I am surprised how long it take these animal to mature. Thanks for all your help, good luck with your rubber boas.

Taylor,
E-mail me, I could help you in your search.

-Dell