Good sign I hope

Been pairing up my Hondurans since about last may. 3 weeks on, 1 week off for feed, then reintroduce. All except Aug and Sept I've followed this routine.

Anyway, after introducing El Fuego he quickly got down to business, and kept at it through a shed.



And kept getting down to business



Still going through Jan 2011




In all those months, I never saw copulation. Never even saw him get her tail lifted. But I did find his "joy" in places other then where it should have been.

Just a little over a week ago, I saw a small lump in TAZ's midsection. This is a full 10 days after eating too, so the rat she had was gone already. Not quite what I'd call an ovulation, but maybe. Usually they are a bit lower down.

Removed El Fuego yesterday so I could feed today, and she didn't want anything to do with that rat. She backed away, and split for the shelf area. Didn't even offer a hiss. Neither refusing, nor passing up having a go at the camera is normal for her.

Which reminds me. It would be nice if just one of my girls would continue to eat while cycling and gestating. I've yet to experience that.

Heading for the shelf



A couple close ups of her deciding whether she wanted to eat the camera or not. Thankfully she was pretty mellow.




Well, hopefully it's a sign of neat things to come. I'll put El Fuego back in with her next Thursday before I go to Cali for a week. See if he's still interested. Maybe her swell was a pre-ovulation swell. I've seen females do this as much as a month before ovulating.

Fingers crossed!
Thanks for looking!
Rick

Originally Posted by crotalusadamanteus

But I did find his "joy" in places other then where it should have been.

Well, that's one way to put it

He certainly seems to be persistant

Best of luck Rick!

Yeah, he gets kinda nasty when breeding season is around. He'll wallow in his urates if I don't catch it fast enough, spluges on himself, gets under the paper and mates with the temp probes...yeah, he's got issues.

Nice. Looks like a good sign. Funny male!!!!!!!

I'll keep my fingers crossed for you, Rick.

As far as him not getting her tail up...you know my history with breeding boa types - more failed breedings than successful litters over the years - but I have noticed that with my BCI pairings, the act usually isn't as showy as with most of the other snakes I've bred. I think I only witnessed one or two episodes with serious wrapping and getting under the females tail. Usually it's more like what you've got in that first pic (the second one looks hopeful, but my eye says he's too far down her tail - not at the cloaca)...that's all I saw last year with the two that produced, and the year before with the girl that threw slugs.

Yeah Harald, that last pic of them ain't showing much promise, but he was just climbing on board for another round I think. Usually you see a better "wrap" then that with them, just haven't witnessed any copulation since it started months ago. But he's been pretty much non stop with the courtship since I started.

We'll just have to see what happens when I put him back in there.

Thanks for the luck everyone!

Originally Posted by crotalusadamanteus

gets under the paper and mates with the temp probes....

Last year for the very first time I saw copulation after 3+ months of courting and the results.. absolutely nothing. gotta love 'em though, they really keep us on our toes! Hope you have better luck that I did!

I decided not to pair up anything this season.

I started these guys back in May. Not because I was in a rush for babies or anything. More like gathering info. I was told that Hondurans go later, like around this time of year is when they pick it up a notch, and that you can't get them to breed earlier.

Naturally, I had to test that theory for myself. I did start this to learn some things after all.

That's awesome Rick. And she is gorgeous!! Best of luck!!!

Fingers crossed for you, for them...and for those temp probes....