retirement age?

At what age do most of you retire your breeders, both male and female?

I'm just wondering what the breeding lifespan of a boa is?

Thanks

Erin,
I don't have hard data to refer to here as I have yet to have had to retire a breeder. But in my opinion, this would be a relative thing and unique to each animal. With that said, I don't think it would be unreasonable to expect a healthy female boa to produce young into her teens.

One of my oldest females is coming up on 10 years old and is gravid as we speak. She has shown no signs of slowing down. The signs to watch for with your older females will be that of diminished breeding activity and sequentially smaller litters.

i was reading the other day about a female ball python that dropped a viable clutch of 8 eggs at age 30 . i dont know if this would apply to boas but i do know that most animals will be productive almost their entire lives . as far as when to actually retire them i would think it is more a matter of personal preference .

Originally Posted by markface

i was reading the other day about a female ball python that dropped a viable clutch of 8 eggs at age 30 . i dont know if this would apply to boas but i do know that most animals will be productive almost their entire lives . as far as when to actually retire them i would think it is more a matter of personal preference .

I'm sure it's POSSIBLE for an animal to be productive for most of their lives, but for me the question is how long would it be healthy for them to be productive? As the animal ages, I'm sure birth would take a larger and larger toll on the female, putting her health at risk. I don't know what kind (of any) of data is available on this, but I believe there is an increased chance of birth defects, etc in the young when produced by females over a certain age as well. Males, I imagine, would produce lower sperm counts, though I'm sure they would still be willing to breed (aren't they all? )

I'd be very curious to see some actual hard data on this, I'm speaking more from my own experience in mammals on this......but I can't imagine it being any different in herps, though of course their longer life span generally speaking would have to be taken into consideration.

sorry , i should have been more specific . yes i believe that most animals are capable of breeding for the largest part of their lives , but i wouldnt do that myself . i have bred many types of rodents in the past and almost always retired breeders fairly young . rats as an example live on average 2 to 3 years , but i wouldnt breed them past 14 or 15 months . i would think breeding boas till they are in their mid teens would be ok but thats just my opinion . i havent any hard data to back it up .

mark,dont underestimate the breeding potential of a female bci.i recieved a couple of huge females,about 10 - 12 footers that came from the staten island zoo.they were estimated to be in thier late twenties when i first recieved them,they bred sporaticly for me for about 6 years.when they did drop a clutch it would be in the range of 45-62 babies,huge babies at that.as far as i know they are still alive and producing.

thanks ed , thats good to know :scatter: