Jamaican Boas Breeding

[cguarino30]

Did some cleaning out today, and some of the adults were looking particularly awesome due to some recent sheds, so I snapped a few shots. The first three are of the dam for last year's clutch, Alexandria. I'd say she's just about back to breeding condition, after about 6 months worth of heavy feeding. It goes to show how important it is to give them every other year off. She's got a lot more girth to her now that she's back up to weight. For size reference, those cages are 4 feet long. Gotta love that inky-black tail.

The last shot is of Lucia (yellow female) and Kingston (orange male), the pair I'm hoping to breed this year. They've been locking up on and off for weeks now, so I'm feeling optimistic for some more, unrelated babies in the Fall. They both shed last week and are back at it again, as you can see. Just love the color on these guys.

 

[Snakesitter]

I'd say another 35 little ones are in your future….give or take ten escapees. ;-)

 

[cguarino30]

I'd say another 35 little ones are in your future….give or take ten escapees. ;-)

Haha. Hopefully learned my lesson on the escapees. I won't be underestimating those little buggers the second time around. I'm planning on stopping up the gap between the sliding doors with foam or something.

 

[Helenthereef]

Great to see the adults, they look wonderful, and I totally agree about the year off.

 

[cguarino30]

Thanks, Helen. That female is probably my favorite adult, but she wasn't old enough to breed until this year. I'm excited to see what they produce.

Everyone was fed today in the normal fashion, with the following exceptions:

T1 was fed an anole with a pinkie head stuck in its mouth. Kind of a shot in the dark, here, but I had the extra pinkie head (my hatchling striped house snakes are too small for whole pinkies) and figured it was worth a shot.

N1 was fed a f/t pinkie COVERED in chick fuzz. I've noticed that when I'm using the scissors to prepare the chick thighs, they get covered in the fuzz, so I figured I'd put it to good use as a scenting method.

In the coming weeks, I'm going to try a more insistent attempt to get some of the N group onto pinkies. I'm thinking that their reticence is largely based on their lack of appetite, since they are mostly males, who are notorious for this. I'll keep everyone updated with results.

 

[cguarino30]

Well, this just feels strange to report, but everyone ate everything they were given. No exceptions. No half-feedings, nothing. haha. Can't remember ever writing that before in this thread.

There are a few big takeaways here:

E2 is reliably back on feed, which is nice. Just goes to show that even moderate inappetence is generally nothing to worry about.

N1 ate the chick fuzz covered pinkie. I am going to try to use this method on a few others to get them eating pinkies, and will gradually decrease the amount of fuzz until they are eating unscented.

T1 ate the anole w/ pinkie head. This is the first bit of pinkie ever eaten by T1. Not sure if I just tricked him into eating it, or if this will help to get him onto pinkies, but it's certainly the first step in the right direction. I will continue to do this over time, gradually increasing the pinkie ratio until, hopefully, we can get T1 onto pinkies as well.

 

[toddnbecka]

Awesome development!

 

[cguarino30]

Feeding day again yesterday, with some mixed results. Core holdbacks (E3, H2, H3, and H4) were fed two chick thighs each, pinkie eaters (P1, P2, and T3) were fed pinkies, T1 was fed an anole covered in pinkie brains and with a pinkie stuffed in its mouth, and everyone else was fed a chick thigh and a chick-scented pinkie.

E2, oddly enough, skipped the chick thigh and ate ONLY the pinkie. Never seen that before, but since this is E2's first attempt at pinkies, perhaps he just prefers them. H2 ate only one of the thighs, but skipped the other. H5 ate both the thigh and the pinkie, but H6 ate only the thigh.

None of the N group ate the pinkie, only the thigh. T1 somehow managed to remove the pinkie from the anole's mouth, but did eat the anole that was heavily scented with pinkie brains. T4 did not eat at all.

 

[Helenthereef]

T1 is showing character and initiative!

 

[Snakesitter]

T1 is a creative little thing!

 

[cguarino30]

T1 is showing character and initiative!

T1 is a creative little thing!

That's a very nice way of putting it. Haha. He'll come around eventually. Can't eat anoles forever.

 

[cguarino30]

Feeding Update:

All holdbacks (e3, H2, H3, H4, H5, and H6) were given 2 chick thighs. All but H4 ate them both. H4 only ate one. I'm not seeing any kind of pattern as to who eats both and who doesn't, so I'm assuming it's a largely situational/random issue.

T1 was fed a heavily pinkie-scented anole, and ate it. I'm going to keep gradually trying to move this one toward pinkies in this manner.

T3, P1, and P2 all ate their usual unscented pinkie.

E2 (who ate a scented pinkie last week) was also offered an unscented pinkie and declined. I will try another scented pinkie next week.

T4 and the N group were all fed pinkies scented with the innards of a chick. N2 and N4 ate the pinkie, T4, N1, N3, and N5 all declined. I am going to be getting more aggressive with switching these guys over to pinkies, so they will be offered only chick-scented pinkies for the next few weeks.

 

[Helenthereef]

Tough love! Hope it works.

 

[cguarino30]

Tough love! Hope it works.

Thanks. Me too. I'm thinking that the highly male ratio of the N group could indicate that they are only reluctant to eat pinkies out of a decreased appetite in general, as males tend to eat less than females. Limiting their options may help encourage the switch, as they won't be able to just wait a week for their more preferred food item. Plus, we have established pretty definitively that these guys can go some time without eating, with no real danger of harm, so there isn't much risk involved. I'll keep everyone posted.

 

[Snakesitter]

Good plan, and fingers crossed!

 

[cguarino30]

Feeding update:

All holdbacks ate 2 chick thighs.

T1 ate an anole.

P1, P2, T3 all ate unscented pinkies.

E2, T4, N1, N2, N3, N4, and N5 were all offered chick-scented pinkies. Only N2 ate. E2 and N4, who previously ate scented pinkies, did not eat this week. Not sure if this is a new refusal or simply sporadic appetite, but I will be continuing to offer scented pinkies and nothing else to this group for a long period. I know they can handle the fast, and I'm hoping pickiness will decrease as hunger increases.

 

[Snakesitter]

'm hoping pickiness will decrease as hunger increases.

I know it always works for me and vegetables. ;-)

Good report, and good luck!

 

[cguarino30]

I know it always works for me and vegetables. ;-)

Good report, and good luck!

Yeah, promising them ice cream afterwards wasn't working, so now I'm going with a more direct approach. Haha. Thanks.

 

[cguarino30]

H3 shed out last night. Here are some new pics. You can see the blacks are getting a lot more defined, and he's starting to develop a bit of that golden hue. Man, I love this guy. He's actually so calm that I can scoop him out of his tub bare-handed. It's amazing how much they've all calmed down since they were born in August. He sat through almost the entire photo session without showing the least bit of defensive behavior, though he clearly got sick of the camera toward the end and eventually took a snap at it.

 

[Snakesitter]

Gorgeous little guy there!