Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Was wondering how you guys cycle your kenyans.I was told they go late but cant find much on them.I like to keep my pairs seperate until pairing and have also been told to leave them together.You guys like a 1.1 or can boys do more.thanks in advance joe

Let them cool off in the winter down into the 70's at night, and they will breed in late Spring into the summer, with fall or winter babies.. .thats how I breed all mine.
Males can service several females.. Keeping them in groups however does pose the danger of accidental constrictions and really complicates feedings... Its best to keep them separately and just introduce them through spring and summer, between meals.

Some people do breed Kenyans simply by putting them together with no intentional cycling... They are pretty easy to breed and lots of people have success almost accidentally.
A regular annual cycle with a cool night period however will bring the most success over the long term.. I've actually been able to breed them every year in row for over 20 years... I doubt this would be possible without a planned annual cycle.

I agree with Roy, although I don't use a planned temperature cycle. The house temperature drops in the winter to as low as 68 degrees. (Any higher and I end up with $300 plus monthly heating bills) The hot side stays the same temperature year round, but the cold end of the cage fluctuates with the house temperature. This temp difference is enough to cause everyone to hop to it come spring.

Personally I think light cycles have some affect also. I kept a pair of kenyans in my bed room back when I was working night shift. The windows were blacked out so I could sleep during the day. In four years of housing together in that room (with seasonal temp shifts) they never bred. Went to day shift and ended up with 27 babies. Both the male and the female have gone on to give me quite a few babies since then.

The pic is the female in question. Big mama.

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Travis Rose
0.1 Normal Kenyan
2.3 High Orange Kenyans
0.2 High Orange Albino Kenyans
0.1 Anery Kenyan
1.2 High White Anery Kenyans
1.1 Yellow Snow Kenyan
0.1 Paradox Snow Kenyan
0.1 Paradox Albino Kenyan
2.3 Rough Scale Sand Boas
1.2 Indian sand boas
X.X Nervous Rats
X.X Paranoid Mice
0.3 Dogs
0.2 Cats
X.X Fish
0.1 Very understanding wife
2.0 Future Snake Lovers

Thanks guys i realy apreciate it.and i think that is by far the bigest kenyan i have ever laid eyes on.whats the weight on her and how many babies does she throw?again thanks joe

I don't know how much she weighs. I don't have a scale at home. She eats hopper rats usually. I think she measures a little over 33 inches, but haven't measured her in a while. A typical litter for her is the mid 20's. Largest she's ever given me is 27 live and a few slugs. She's 12 years old now, so she's in semi retirement. She's super gentle so I use her to educate people about snakes.

Check out Dave and Tracy Barker's website and you can see some even bigger than she is. I think the biggest I've ever heard of is 36 inches. The Barkers have a male that is 28 years old now I think. The largest litter I've ever heard of is 33.

The male I purchased with Big Mama is still one of my best breeders. Both were produced by BHB.
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Travis Rose
0.1 Normal Kenyan
2.3 High Orange Kenyans
0.2 High Orange Albino Kenyans
0.1 Anery Kenyan
1.2 High White Anery Kenyans
1.1 Yellow Snow Kenyan
0.1 Paradox Snow Kenyan
0.1 Paradox Albino Kenyan
2.3 Rough Scale Sand Boas
1.2 Indian sand boas
X.X Nervous Rats
X.X Paranoid Mice
0.3 Dogs
0.2 Cats
X.X Fish
0.1 Very understanding wife
2.0 Future Snake Lovers

I had a 34 inch female.. She just recently died... She was over 20 years old and produced babies every single year since she was three years old... thats a lot of babies.
They go into a slow decline when they start to die of old age.. It actually takes a few years.. the vertebrae start to fuse in the neck and they don't move very well, when they get old.. Eventually they just fade away, lose muscle tone and stop feeding

I was thinking about this female when I wrote about mine. I just couldn't remember who had her. I remember the picture. She is awesome.

Sorry for your loss. Its hard to lose a pet you had for 20 years.
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Travis Rose
0.1 Normal Kenyan
2.3 High Orange Kenyans
0.2 High Orange Albino Kenyans
0.1 Anery Kenyan
1.2 High White Anery Kenyans
1.1 Yellow Snow Kenyan
0.1 Paradox Snow Kenyan
0.1 Paradox Albino Kenyan
2.3 Rough Scale Sand Boas
1.2 Indian sand boas
X.X Nervous Rats
X.X Paranoid Mice
0.3 Dogs
0.2 Cats
X.X Fish
0.1 Very understanding wife
2.0 Future Snake Lovers