Jamaican Boas Breeding

Feeding update:

E3, H3, H5 and H6 were all fed quail chicks and ate them.

H2 and H4 were each fed three chick thighs. H2 ate two of them, H4 declined.

E2 ate an unscented pinkie. T3 declined, but also shed last night, so I'm assuming that's why.

T4 was fed two chick thighs and ate both of them, so she's back on feed.

N1 and N3 were each given two chick thighs and ate them.

N2 was fed a thigh/pinkie combo and only ate the thigh.

N4 was fed an unscented pinky and ate it.

I'm noticing that as these guys get older, they're more prone to skipping a meal or two, but they're consistently coming back on feed with little to no adjustments being made. Presumably, this is due to the increased size and less of a dire need for food.

Another update on Lucia:

She has broken a consistant basking streak of several months and is now curled up inside her lay box. Hopefully, we will have babies within a week or two. Fingers crossed.

Woot! I'm playing the same waiting game with one of my (rainbow) girls.

Feeding update:

All holdbacks were fed quail chicks. H2 and H4 were fed quail chicks with a chick knee in the mouth. Everyone ate except for H3, H4, and H6. H3 appears to be skipping here and there whenever he feels like it, which is not unusual for a male. H4 is still being stubborn about the quail chicks, and H6 appears to have attempted to consume his from the leg and given up after being unable to finish it.

E2, T3, and N4 were all fed unscented pinkies and ate.

N1, N2, and N3 were each fed 2 chick thighs and ate.

Some bad news. Unfortunately, H4 died. She hadn't been eating well these last few weeks, and wasn't one of the strongest to begin with, so it's not super surprising, but still a shame. I wonder if pushing for quail chicks might have been too aggressive. It would probably be best going forward to adopt a less aggressive strategy for individuals who aren't ready for the step up, especially when they're a little smaller.

Feeding update:

All holdbacks were fed quail chicks. H2 declined. I will try the quail/knee combo again next week.

All pinkie eaters were fed pinkies. Only n4 ate.

All others were fed 2 thighs. N2 only ate one. The others are both.

Hello All,

I'd like to throw a quick update about my 2.1 trio that I picked up from Chris in April when I still lived in Philly, PA. As Chris has mentioned this species is a bit skittish and especially unsure of new things. It took them a while to get comfortable in my care but Chris' care sheet was immensely helpful in making sure the cage setup was correct (so as not to stress them EVEN MORE). After about a month or so, they had all settled and where taking chick thighs (what they had been feeding on prior to coming to me). Once I got about a month of meals into them I started trying to switch them over to chick scented pinkies. I would thaw the chick thighs and 1 pinkie for each snake in the same small container with water. Two of the three took the pinkie in addition to the thigh within a couple of weeks. The third held out for a bit but then I missed a feeding because my schedule got REALLY busy and that small fast brought the third one around too. By the way, my scenting method is to thaw a, now legless, chick in water and put the pinkies in there. The legless chick is relished by my bullsnake and it is enough scent to keep the Jamaicans interested.

Fast forward until the end of July, I started a new job in Indiana and would have to move cross country. Needless to say I was VERY worried that the move would stress them out too much. I have been here in IN for just over 3 weeks now and the boas are all back on 2 scented pinkies every week (one held out a week longer than the others but nothing too bad). If you do move, make sure you give them TONS of security. I put them into their old type containers with the same piece of fake plant and toilet paper tube roll and then put a semi transparent sheet over the entire stack to make them feel a bit more secure and I only move their cages to feed and check to see if they ate.

Anyway, just wanted to put up the quick version of the "moving with Jamaican boas story."

Cheers,

Kyle

Thanks for the update, Kyle. That is very helpful. Best of luck going forward. Don't hesitate to reach out if you have any future questions or concerns.

Feeding update:

Holdbacks were given quail chicks, with H2's having a chick knee in its mouth.

Pinkie eaters were given pinkies.

Non-pinkie eaters were given two chick thighs each.

All but N3 ate.

Wow, great report -- good progress!