A couple of questions

Well here is Marys issue,
Freda and Scar were together ehh around 2 months 1 1/2 months they were copulating vigorously, now they "I believe are done" and want nothing to do with each other, She has not shed since around the time Mary put them together and Freda is going blue.
The thing is she seems to be getting slightly thinner and not appearing to gain any weight.
I am thinking the breeding may have failed but my thoughts have been wrong before so what is your experience do they thin slightly before showing if gravid or do you think this will not be Mary's year again?
Last year we tried to breed Igor and Scar = FAIL Scar turned out to be a male :faint:
My question is on Velvet!
He is a 2010' slow grown poss het blood pos het patternless 100% verifiable El Salvador, from Ron St Pierre imported parents.
I know they are considered more dwarfish in general size.
He last night left what appeared to be a sperm plug in his water bowel, "looks just the same as my 2 mature males"
I was under the impression he would not be mature enough to breed until next year! "he will still not be bred until next year but this just came as a surprise!!"
.
Just look how small he is still is it possible he is actually leaving plugs and mature enough for that or should I bring him to a vet due to something I am missing??

Hi Scott
I had my first litters last year and 1 of the females never shed for me during the breeding or after.She actually gave me a shed a couple weeks before birthing.Weird to me after all the readings on line.
They say you cant count on the shed to determine if she is gravid.
My females didnt lose any noticeable weight at all.
My sunglow is very small and bred last year at about 3' maybe a bit more and gave a great litter.He looked very funny on top of a het albino female sitting at 6.5'.It looked as if he was her baby.I dont think with males that size is the major factor,and yours being a dwarf variety will look even smaller.He was just at 19 months old and did his thing.
This of course is just my slight experience and others will have better and more info.
I hope she is good to go.

Yeah the one Pair we have going this year are good as far as action just not sure 100%
I have bred a lot of animals in the past but never boas.
The one thing I know that is a constant is there are no constants in nature,
I hope the breeding of the big ones took this year as they are actually my wife's and this will be her 1st ever breeding the big girl is over 6' and he is around 5 1/2'

The El Salvador has me confused being A) so small and B) so young to find plugs both of our big males did not leave plugs until this year they are both 08's
It may be a good sign maybe he is just that eager and will be more and ready to do his duty next year when I pair them up 8)

Hopefully the breeding goes well for you! I have a little experience breeding, but not a whole lot. Just make sure you leave the male in there until you're absolutely sure!! I've pulled a male out too early and got a litter of slugs. I think I mistook the pre-ovulation for the actual ovulation.

As far as the sperm plugs, I believe I've read that 50% of males reach sexual maturity at 18 months. I'm guessing it was most likely sperm plugs and he's a healthy little guy.

Good luck!

Good call on holding him off till next year, although I'd bet that those were sperm plugs. For male boas, breeding is not just about being able to produce sperm plugs. I've found that breeding younger, smaller males is extremely risky because of the physical stress put upon male boas during courtship. They just don't have the fat reserves and muscle structure of an older boa.

I bred a male boa at around 18 months and he developed a respiratory infection shortly afterwards. He developed chronic resp infections and about 3 yrs later I had to put him down. I have heard similar stories from quite a few other breeders. I have stopped attempting to breed males until around 30 months now, chasing the cash just isn't worth it. They aren't going anywhere, and they will breed when I think it's time for them to. At least that's the plan, lol.

Chris

Thanks guys ready or not I have all ready planned on waiting until next year,
As it is Scar is breeding his 1st time this year and Igor will be next year along with Velvet.
I learned a long time back that mature animals do better at breeding and my big guys are both slow grown and around 4 years old before I bred them Velvet being a 2010 will be 3 years old before hid 1st breeding.
I have heard of breeding at 18 months but from my experience with other reptiles maturity plays a big role in fertility continued health of the breeders and stronger healthier babies.
Me and Mary are not trying to rush and not trying to pump out babies to make money. "I wont lie it will be nice to make a few bucks after all the expenses LOL " But we are not pressed to breed anything until they are fully ready and at full health.
We do have a lot of future projects in the works with the majority not doing anything but eating and growing for the next 3 to 4 years

We are only trying to do things in the best way to minimize the impact on our animals.
We may get nervous at times "being 1st time with boas" but as with the panther Chameleons I used to breed back in the 80's and 90' we will eventually get our system down and know the signs our charges show us as things progress

I am glad to hear it appears Velvet is just a normal little guy and with luck this will be a sign of what will come next year

Good to know about males not being up to the task of breeding at a young age. I've only had one successful litter so far and at the time the male was about 2.5 years old and the female was about 4.5 years old. They gave me a healthy litter of 24 babies and no slugs.

Definitely a learning process, gaining more knowledge every year. Hopefully everyone has a successful breeding season!

I wish i knew more about the age thing.My sunglow was only about that age and he was ok after the breeding.He never got sick or really lost much weight.My older dh male has lost little weight so far and is now on a second female.He was the champ last year with 2 litters.
Are there any books on the subject of breeding that have good info.
I have read so many different stories. Some have happened to others and some not,like my sunglow breeding at 18-19 months and never had any problems,yet James has had a boa get sick from breeding at 18 months and go on to having to put down.
Who or what info do we follow with so many breeders doing things different?

I never said it was a certainty that a younger male was going to experience severe issues, Rich. I do believe that's why I used the term "extremely risky". The fact is that males do die from stress brought on by breeding, especially younger, smaller males. If you believe that making the quick buck is worth risking your animals, by all means, do it. It will in all likelihood come back to bite you in the ass though.

Chris

I'm not out for a quick $ James! Never am!!
I was just saying i already did it on the words of the "pro's" and it went fine.Not saying your not a pro,i dont know if you are.Its NOT only about $$.I want my boa's for long term and want them as healthy as can be.I have alot of time into these as others do too.
My last statement said i would like to know more.I'm not going to take the word of 1 guy.
I did what alot of the reading says and maybe its wrong and maybe not.I listen to alot of what people say and still many different opinions.
Theres hundreds of photos of these little males sitting on the backs of big females.They look to be very young also.So who does a person listen too?
I want to know more and more.
I'm here to learn!! With your words i might not use the young boa males at 18 months now.But,i might too,it depends on what i learn this year up to next season when i have several males that will be of age.If my young males are breeding and dont get sick or stroke out,why would i not use them? If they show me that 18 months is too young i will not use no matter what.I have had only 1 18 month old to breed last year and he gave me a great healthy litter and only 1 slug.
Just so much info from SO MANY,who to listen too??
Part will be from my own experience.