Second Breeding Attempt

There is never a time my head isn't full of numerous deadlines, chores, homework issues, etc. My life is rather chaotic, as one might expect from the situation. I'm a university student which comes with loads of stress and deadlines, my wife is a university student, and both of our children are also in school. There are reptile breeding concerns, bills that are astronomical (bare necessities run in excess of 60.000 per year when tuition and books are considered), and to cover the expenses inherent in all of this neither of us has been employed for 3 years. We paid for everything by selling off silver bullion and collectible coins I had invested in prior to returning to school.

So yes, my head is always full of numerous things. That's simply the life I have. However, though I do again apologize for my reaction, it is true that your initial posts were rather unhelpful. If things were as simple as just putting snakes together and leaving them there, I would have had baby boas years ago. Ambrosius has been housed with a few females, once for a full year. He's definitely a male, based on probing, veterinary analyses, and the few fertilized ova produced in my first breeding attempt, but he seems to be rather picky about how he breeds (unlike many of us guys out there ). I do contend that being a bit more specific about which particular aspects of my plan are unnecessarily complicated would have been more helpful, but that ship has sailed and the point in now moot.

I just discovered that there is a sort of testing area forum where I can post things like this and organize my thoughts before submitting it into the actual forum. Kinda wish I'd known about that, but live and learn. I probably should have looked for something like that before making my post anyhow, lol.

So I will be going over to the testing area and figuring out how to create this thread in a more coherent manner. I still intend to keep a record of everything that happens, and I still intend to post a specific outline of my plan. I also intend to look for feedback and ask questions from people who respond in my post. I do this to learn. I'm an academic, studying and learning is actually what I do for fun, lol. I will gain hands-on experience through my breeding attempts in the coming years, and I fully intend to chronicle every single one of those experiences (though perhaps not on this forum) so that my experiences are there for me to review when I have questions or encounter issues. Perhaps, someday, my chronicles may even help someone else in a similar situation.

Anyhow, I won't be using this thread anymore. I'll figure out a way to post this same basic thing in a more coherent and reader-friendly format. Thank you to all the people who read and responded. There will be a better version coming soon, lol.

The "Testing" Forum is just like this one,its all "open public forum"
No need to run off

If I were to guess,by your explanation of your first attempt,luck wasnt on your side.
You can beat the variables to dust and it wont change anything.
Understanding that many thousands of boa have been reproduced by humans with minimal intrusion to(following set rules)extreme deficiencies of patience are proven far more detrimental then ignorance,much less "luck".

You really can take two mature boa,put them in a box and produce viable litters of baby boa without all the cycling and assorted "human" manipulations some choose to follow.

Ive done it,you can too

Oh I'm not doubting that it's possible. I've heard numerous accounts of females producing young when pregnancy wasn't expected or even desired. It seems that my Ambrosius isn't just willing to breed on a whim. It's because of his apparent quirkiness that I'm trying all of this. Perhaps some males will breed without manipulation of any parameters, but my boy doesn't seem to be one of those males. The only time he actually bred anyone (the Kalypso story) DID involve a period of fasting and cooling, with reduced photoperiod. I just didn't leave him in there long enough, apparently, and probably cooled him off a bit too much. Then, following that, I didn't control temperatures very well for my pregnant female.

I'm sure many boas breed just fine without manipulating these parameters. Ambrosius, however, seems to desire a period of cycling in some way. I simply want to be better prepared and better informed this time, so that I can cycle him safely and take better care of pregnant females.

Tyrel, I mentioned earlier that I myself have yet attempted to breed my boas so speak with lack of any personal experience but one of the reason I haven't attempted to proceed is because of my own future plans. I'm confident I know what actions I want to take to pursue the success of my boa's breeding but don't know if I'm as stable as them. I currently am looking to purchase a new home, where hopefully I will have more space that I can dedicate to my current critters & a expanding collection. Until I get that space I consider only fair to them that any breeding plans are on put on hold.

I know you have a lot going on & hate to give you an additional thing to consider but hopefully maybe it will save you a bigger headache in the future. I know you have a plan to proceed with the boas breeding but are you yourself ready if it's successful. I can only imagine the cost & proper care of a bunch babies being a big responsibility. Either way, if possible try to keep me posted. Thanks

Ah, see that's exactly why I decided to jump into it recently. I've been dealing with boas for almost a decade, and I've only actually bred them once with almost no success. I tried putting Ambrosius with other females and just leaving them to it, but he never bred. Since then I became absorbed in reading new articles, buying new books, planning and mapping things out, but since that one attempt I hadn't done a thing with my boas until recently. I was so absorbed in the research and trying to make sure everything was perfect that I even stopped handling my boas regularly. It was all conceptual and biological, and no practical application.

I used to go to schools and do educational shows, and talk excitedly about my boas. I walked around pet stores with them wrapped around me, intentionally took them to places with other people to show them that boas can be sweet and docile. Not everyone who likes snakes wants other people to be freaked out by them, though unfortunately there seem to be lots of them running around, and I wanted to help show people how beautiful they could be. Perhaps, thought I, I can bring some of this beauty to the attention of a few other people.

Here I have one of the most gorgeous snakes I have ever laid eyes on, in my personal opinion, and I had begun to neglect him. When I offhandedly mentioned my old breeding plans to my wife, she asked how they were coming. I realized it had been over 3 years and all I had done was read stuff! I hadn’t bought any new pets, I hadn’t even handled the ones I have more than feeding and cleaning required. My poor little Motley isn’t sure if I’m going to handle him or feed him, and acts like he wants to strike when I reach in there. That’s my fault, for neglecting the proper care of my snakes.

I realized that, to reignite my passion for boas and help me take better care of them, this particular dimension needs to be practical in my case. I can’t just keep researching it and do nothing, or it stays a plan aimed at some distant and undefined point in the future. If I’m ever going to do it, I need to begin now.

That was when I bought my new female anery het snow (pics of her in the albums on my profile; she’s gorgeous!). I figured she wouldn’t be ready to breed for a year or two, which would give me time to build a hatchling rack for the babies and create a practical plan. When I mentioned my new female to my friend, he mentioned that he had 2 females of breeding age and no males to put them with. He asked if I’d be willing to breed them to Ambrosius, and I thought it would provide an opportunity for me to try out breeding with his females to gain a bit more experience before trying with my own female. Once he agreed to let me have first pick from both litters, if they produce, I was sold. Although I am concerned about Ambrosius, that’s likely just me being the over-protective parent that my wife talks about so much.

Sorry for the long post, though I do realize that I make long posts more often than short posts. I liked your question and the honest emotion it seems to convey, and wanted to provide a complete answer. My life isn’t as stable at present as I would like it to be, with college and children and all. But as I said before, I’m an academic. I love to read and research, and if I’m always reading and researching for plans in the future, I’ll never actually put them into action. Things will remain the way they have been for the past 3 years; all study and no time for actually doing anything. I’m sure that’s not the case with everyone. I’m just an odd duck I suppose.

Wow, did that entire ordeal with Metachrosis happen simply because I didn't explain that Ambrosius is finicky...? Geeze what a genius I am. Instead of explaining that I have a picky boa, let's all just jump off the deep end eh?

Ready? One... Two... Wait, I forgot my phone.

Ok, now we're ready. One... Two... Wait who's counting...?

Ah, I see. Ok seriously here we go. One... Two... Wait is it on three or after three?

Ok ok, we're all set. One... Two... Oh look, something shiny!

My bad. Really need to work on organizing my thoughts into a more coherent pattern it seems. Must have been a pretty bad day for that... I don't ordinarily take offense even when it's intended, lol.

Alright, I'm probably going to be away for a day or two. I have midterms this week (first one is tomorrow actually) and I haven't studied for them at all. Once again, I've been busy researching boas instead of doing my homework... Some pretty interesting stuff out there if you know where to look though. Parthenogenesis, of course, delayed fertilization of ova, interesting theories on why the right lung tends to remain relatively larger and the left lung is the one that seems to be reduced (though still functional which is somewhat unusual)...

Oh look, I'm getting distracted again. Need to study...

Alright, all that fun stuff aside, today is feeding day for my other boas. I'll offer him food also, since he refused last time. If he takes it, I'll continue as planned. If he doesn't, I'll stop feeding and begin his cycle in another week. The extra week, of course, is to ensure that he's passed all of his food before any lowering of temperatures. He won't be going down far in temperature; a grand total of 2 degrees (F) during the day, 4 degrees at night, and 3 degrees in the basking area. I'll be lowering only 1 degree per week.

Hopefully that cycle will help trigger the breeding response in him without dropping temperatures too low at all. We'll see how it goes, and I'll certainly let you all know.

Aaack! just put a good splash of Old Spice or Hai Karate on him and pitch him in with her

I can't, lol. The 2 females he'll be breeding belong to a friend of mine. He'll be coming down in a month or two and bringing them with. But as I mentioned, I'll get pics up as soon as I can.

Estimated date of arrival on those females is December 21. Depending on whether Ambrosius eats (it's been about 3 weeks at this point, since he was in the shed earlier and then refused), and how the girls are doing, it may be as soon as November 24. We'll have to see how that goes, but I'll be sure to keep everyone informed.