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boa breeding question
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by Venomjunkie on January 14, 2007
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hey guys i know this doesnt pertain to hots but i thought id ask it anyway. i was wondering if a female boa could breed at around 2.5 years of age as long as she was physically ready (6'+ and good body mass). the reason i ask is my female is around 1 year and 8 months old now and about 5'8" and if its possible i would like to breed her and have the babies born in the early summer of '08. i would like the babies to be born in the early summer so that i can properly care for them without having to worry about any schoolwork or studying. so, that being said, would it be possible for her to breed at around 2.5 years and give birth at ~3 years of age (i dont know the exact length of the gestation period so can someone tell me that?)? i dont want to jeopardize the health or wellbeing of my female in any way so if 2.5 years is too young i will wait but if its possible without harming her id like to do it. thanks in advance for any replies!
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RE: boa breeding question
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by Cro on January 15, 2007
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Dylan, the boa will be borderline large / old enough to successfuly breed. If we consider that she will keep growing in length and body mass up to and after breeding time, it probably will not hurt to try. If it is successful, she most likely would produce a small litter of young her first few years. If she is too young still, then she will just not produce young, and you can try again when she is older and larger.
One thing to keep in mind is that if you "push" snakes to breeding size to fast, by warm temperatures and very frequent feedings, you will most likely shorten the life span of the snake.
Hope this helps.
Best Regards JohnZ
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RE: boa breeding question
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by Venomjunkie on January 15, 2007
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thanks for the reply John. im well aware of the fact that "power feeding" a snake will most likely decrease its life span. however my boa has never been fed more frequently than once every 7 days and never more than 2 appropriately sized prey items every 7 days. so i dont think shes being powerfed, i think she just has an amazing growth rate lol. she still growing as quickly as ever so i think its safe to say she would be around 6.5' at the time of the breeding and certainly have enough body mass (especially after a slightly heavier feeding schedule to bulk her up before breeding).
and to tell you the truth, as long as it doesnt harm her healthwise, id rather she has a smaller litter instead than a large one the first couple of years because im only in high school and i dont want to be housing 40+ babies if i dont have to lol. so a litter size of 15-20 would probably be more ideal at the time.
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RE: boa breeding question
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by petra on January 15, 2007
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Dylan, at 6.5ft your boa will most likely produce around 10 babies. However I have heard of 3ft boa producing young (bred accidentally) and even though it had only 2 babies the mom and offspring were just fine.
The gestation period is about 118 to 128 days if you're counting from the ovulation.
Their breeding season is from September to February so you should put them together now.
As far as scheduling when the babies will be born - it's not as easy as you think. Even if your snakes mate, you have to wait until your girl ovulates. Sometimes she may take a little while.
Not sure if you need any other info. If so you can email me.
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RE: boa breeding question
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by Venomjunkie on January 15, 2007
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thanks a lot for the reply Petra. i dont need to know the exact date of birth for the babies but id like it to be somewhere between like june 8th and the middle of july at the latest. that way i can be sure im giving the babies the proper care without having to worry about schoolwork getting in the way. i understand its hard to judge but can anyone give me an estimate on when to put them together in order to have the female give birth in that window of time?
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RE: boa breeding question
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by petra on January 16, 2007
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As I said your best bet is to put them together now. Their breeding season is going to be over soon if you don't play with their photo period and the night lows you are not going to have much luck getting them to mate at any time of the year.
If the gestation takes about 123 days and you also have to wait for them to actually mate and for her to ovulate you are not going to have babies any sooner than summer. However if you are going back to school in fall and you are worried if you can take proper care of them maybe you shouldn't breed them until you are completely done with school.
Petra
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RE: boa breeding question
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by Venomjunkie on January 16, 2007
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well right now the female is still way too young. shes only about 1 year and 8 months old and around 5' 8". im guessing you didnt see that in my original post or i dont think you would be telling me to put them together now lol. however if you think now is a good time to put them together to have the female give birth within that window of time (june 8th-mid july), i will put them together at this time NEXT year.
and i dont think school will interfere that much its just that it would be nice to be able to focus on the babies for at least their first couple weeks of life. either way im sure it will work out fine.
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RE: boa breeding question
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by petra on January 16, 2007
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Dylan, your female should be fine as far as her length. However I'm not sure how fat she is. Some females will completely stop feeding while gravid. They all loose a lot of weight. Females should be fed quite heavily before attempting to breed them. So it is up to you to decide if she is ready or not. I wouldn't worry about the size too much with live-bearing snake. Egg-laying snakes may retain eggs if they are too small.
I'm not sure why are you feeding your female every week. It's healthier to feed snakes at this size once every 3 weeks. I have to agree with John - snakes that are fed more sparingly live longer.
However if you keep her more for the breeding purposes than just a pet than heavy feeding is necessary before breeding.
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RE: boa breeding question
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by Venomjunkie on January 16, 2007
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wow i never thought of feeding a snake once a week as shortening their lifespan but i certainly could be wrong.
i keep my snakes mainly for "pet" (i dont really like the word when describing snakes) purposes i guess because i dont plan to make a living breeding them but i would like to breed some of them for enjoyment purposes. i guess what im trying to say is i DONT see them as disposable unlike a lot of other breeders but i do want to breed some of them lol.
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RE: boa breeding question
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by Cro on January 16, 2007
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Dylan, many reptiles are opportunistic feeders. They will feed if there is food available. If a corn or king snake finds a mouse or bird nest, it will usually eat all the young mice or birds to the point of being stuffed.
There was this movie with Chief Dan George and Clint Eastwood, and Dan George said something like "An Indian Eats When There Is Food - For He Does Not Know Where His Next Meal Is Coming From."
What you need to do is find a balance in how much to feed a snake. You do not want to power feed, as the snake will have a shortened life. You do not want to make the snake "fat." You are looking at producing a snake with good muscle tone that is growing at a good rate and healthy, but not over weight or under weight.
It can be difficult to tell at times how much to feed a snake. Sometimes this means that it will take another year before a snake reaches breeding size.
Try to observe the snakes behavior as to if it acts hungry or not. Is it roaming around the cage looking for food? If it is, it is probably hungry and could be fed. If it is just sitting there though, and not very active, it might be better to not feed it, even though it would probably eat if you offered food.
Best Regards JohnZ
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