Is this a good start for a breeding project?

I've been building a collection, while still small, and I want to see what you guys think about a starting point for breeding. I've got the following boas.

06' normal 0.1
06' kahl albino's 0.2
06' het kahl albino 1.0
06' DH sunglow 1.0
08' kahl albino's 2.0
08' kahl albino 0.1

I originally bought the albino's to breed with albino's but I started hearing that doing so can cause issues like stillborns and other issues so I bought a few different males. I plan on pairing the DH sunglow male to an albino female. The het albino male to an albino female, and one of the albino males to my normal female. I didn't want to start buying tons of boas and then things not work out so I wanted to start with just a few. Is this a good plan to start out? I have no plans on making this my main source of income but more so because I really enjoy having these snakes and I think it would be great to produce some of my own. If anyone has suggestions they would be welcomed. Thanks a bunch.


Zach

If you like albinos, as you obviously do, it is a very good start. The normal does not seem to fit in with your albino plans unless you are going to try and outcross the albino gene by first making hets, but that obviously woud take a couple of generations for you to get albinos from that. Your 2006 females could be ready to breed either this fall or next fall, assuming they are big enough and heathy enough. So looks like you are off to a good start. Good luck!!

You will get stronger babies from breeding a visual to a het. It doesn't seem to matter in boas as far Kahl vs Sharp as both will produce one eyed or weak babies when visual x visual is bred. The albino gene itself is fairly weak and causes eye problems etc. When visual x visual is bred, the litter is subject to hard yolk syndrome ( yolk hardening in the belly ) severe eye problems, extremely weak babies.

Some prefer female hets over visual females. The reasoning they use is the het seems to absorb heat better than a visual but I've seen viable litters produced by visual females. I think its more along the lines of getting yearly breedings with a visual male compared to every other year with a visual female.

Your list don't look bad but I'd avoid breeding bino x bino if at all possible.

Originally Posted by BryonsBoas

You will get stronger babies from breeding a visual to a het. It doesn't seem to matter in boas as far Kahl vs Sharp as both will produce one eyed or weak babies when visual x visual is bred. The albino gene itself is fairly weak and causes eye problems etc. When visual x visual is bred, the litter is subject to hard yolk syndrome ( yolk hardening in the belly ) severe eye problems, extremely weak babies.

Some prefer female hets over visual females. The reasoning they use is the het seems to absorb heat better than a visual but I've seen viable litters produced by visual females. I think its more along the lines of getting yearly breedings with a visual male compared to every other year with a visual female.

Your list don't look bad but I'd avoid breeding bino x bino if at all possible.

I totally agree with Bryon about avoiding the albino x albino. As far as a het female being a better breeder than an albino, I have heard that as well, although I have had this one supposedly het Sunglow female that has not taken for like 3 years, has yet to produce anything. I have paired her with an Albino and also with another het, and its been a total no go with her. I guess you can get a bad breeder female, or male for that fact, with any kind of snake, visual morph or not.

Yeah I have no intention on putting two albino's together. I did until I did my research and discovered there can be issues. Their health and their babies health is far more important to me. I have two pairs that will be ready to go next fall and I'll have two more albino males ready for females so I'll probably keep my eyes open for some good looking females over the next year.

Sounds like a good start to me. I pretty much concur with all that's been said, except...I don't think I'd tag the Albino gene as a weak gene, as much as I'd lay the blame on weak breeding ethics.

When the Albino Boa were first hitting the market, these anomalies were pretty much unheard of. It wasn't until everyone had to start producing Albino Boa just as fast as they could, that the anomalies started to appear. People started breeding Albino sibling to Albino sibling to get full litters of visuals. People would buy a pair of the offspring, and perpetuate the problem, and the eye thing started to pop up more and more frequently. There has been a multitude of successful Albino x Albino pairings without any anomalies appearing in those litters, or in litters from the occurring offspring.

Weak breeding practices, not weak genes.

That being said, I still don't condone Albino x Albino pairings. With all the examples of poor results out there, it just ain't a smart thing to do. It would be smarter to just take your time getting your stock, making sure that your Albinos don't come from breeders that have had this problem in the past.

Sounds like you are off to a good start. Good luck!

Originally Posted by Boa4u

I totally agree with Bryon about avoiding the albino x albino. As far as a het female being a better breeder than an albino, I have heard that as well, although I have had this one supposedly het Sunglow female that has not taken for like 3 years, has yet to produce anything. I have paired her with an Albino and also with another het, and its been a total no go with her. I guess you can get a bad breeder female, or male for that fact, with any kind of snake, visual morph or not.

There used to be a rumor floating around a few years ago that 10 - 20% of Albinos were born sterile. Don't know how true it is. I have a female holdback from my very first litter ( pastel looking female ) that is just like her mom, difficult to breed. She'll go thru the motions but her mom had a funky trigger and took 3 years to find it. I'm betting she'll be the same.

Originally Posted by crotalusadamanteus

Sounds like a good start to me. I pretty much concur with all that's been said, except...I don't think I'd tag the Albino gene as a weak gene, as much as I'd lay the blame on weak breeding ethics.

When the Albino Boa were first hitting the market, these anomalies were pretty much unheard of. It wasn't until everyone had to start producing Albino Boa just as fast as they could, that the anomalies started to appear. People started breeding Albino sibling to Albino sibling to get full litters of visuals. People would buy a pair of the offspring, and perpetuate the problem, and the eye thing started to pop up more and more frequently. There has been a multitude of successful Albino x Albino pairings without any anomalies appearing in those litters, or in litters from the occurring offspring.

Weak breeding practices, not weak genes.

That being said, I still don't condone Albino x Albino pairings. With all the examples of poor results out there, it just ain't a smart thing to do. It would be smarter to just take your time getting your stock, making sure that your Albinos don't come from breeders that have had this problem in the past.

Sounds like you are off to a good start. Good luck!

It may not have started as a weak gene but for the most part, it is now.

Well so far the albino's I have came from people I trust. The two bigger females are from Jeff Ronne at the boaphile. The smaller male and female albino's I have are from Clay English. So I made sure to get these guys from reputable people. I'm glad you guys are helping me out I want to make sure I know all I can BEFORE I try to breed. I've got at least a year to read up and learn. Thanks guys.