breeding questions

At this point these questions are purely for informational purposes....


My wife and I have thinking about breeding our female Redtail boa. She has a rose tones in her coloring through out her body, unsure if she a morph per say, or just exceptionally pretty. We (my wife mostly) have a few questions before seriously considering this.

1. What makes a female snake snake (redtail in particular) worthy of being bred? As mentioned she is exceptionally pretty, the last show we were at, we brought her along and received several offers to purchase her.

2. Since adult size has so much variance, how can you tell that physically mature enough to be bred with out inhibiting their own health?

3. She can be a little snippy at times (she is after all a snake...lol) but what if any changes in personality can/should be expected in the gravid female?

4. What do you look for a male to breed to?

5. Last question, do redtails lay eggs or are they live bearers?

If we do decide to breed we will look for an experienced breeder to work with or a vet experienced in breeding snakes, but we just wanted some background info before making any plans. Thanks.

Hello Chris and welcome to Fauna. I'll try and answer your questions for you.

1. I look for different things when I pair up my normal boas. I factor in patterning, coloration, temperament, etc. Everybody likes something different in the boa world as well. Some like them light in color and others like them dark. Some folks like an abundance of speckling and others like them clean. Boas vary so much in color and pattern and to me they are all beautiful. The bottom line is if you think your boa is beautiful, so will others.

2. A female (Columbian) boa is sexually mature at around 6' in length. I think the important thing to take into consideration is her girth. You want your female to be hefty, but not fat. She may very well go off feed when she is gravid and she will lose a considerable amount of weight. Even if she will eat you should not feed her too much because it can have a negative bearing regarding the pregnancy.

Temperament varies with each boa. I mostly have not noticed much of a change in attitude with my boa while they are gravid, however sometimes near birth they can be a little fussy. They can also be protective over their young as well. They are all very hungry after the birth and I think that may have a lot to do with it as well.

4. I look for a male that compliments the female, but it really depends on the direction I am going. If you have a something that you don't care for with your female then choose a male that may overcompensate for that. For instance: If you don't like speckling on your female then be sure that you male is super clean. On the other end of that stick lets say you want to enhance that rose color in your female. Be sure that the male has nice similar coloration as well.

5. Boas are live bearers.

If you need help with anything let me know and I would be happy to shoot you my number so we can communicate easier. Good luck, Art

Chris,
Art did an excellent job answering your questions (btw - Happy Birthday Art)
I just have a couple things to add.

Regarding the size of the female. Size is as much a factor as age. I would not recommend breeding a female until she is at least 3 years old - 4 is better. Body weight is an important factor in breeding boas. Female boas will generally not ovulate unless there is a buildup of fatty tissue to some degree. You are not looking for obesity, but the presence of this fatty tissue somehow stimulates the hormones and allow the ovulation process to begin. The basis behind this is that if food is not plentiful, it is not practical to reproduce. It is best to err on the side of a little too much food for the females, then not enough. The complete opposite is true for the males. Fat males are rarely good breeders.

Hope this helps.

Female boas will generally not ovulate unless there is a buildup of fatty tissue to some degree. You are not looking for obesity, but the presence of this fatty tissue somehow stimulates the hormones and allow the ovulation process to begin.

I didn't know that, Mike. It makes perfect sense. Thanks!

Somewhere stuck in a file on my computer I have a more scientific definition of this process and it's relationship to ovulation. I'll see if I can dig it up.

ok first off thank you for the the very informative answers, but now at least one other question has come to mind and that is being that boas are live bearers do we immediately remove the offspring from her enclosure or do we let them stay together for a period of time also if we should leave them together how do we go about making sure she and her young eat properly (we do not feed in their enclosures they are bath tub bound when they are fed) thank you for the information in advance P.S. my wife is nuts when it comes to getting information she once killed about two hundred dollars worth of fish by reading to much lol

I recommend removing the offspring immediately.

This helps negate the possibility of them being accidentally crushed by mom.
Assuming that you discover the litter quickly, many of the babies may still be in the birth sacs. Set up a Sweaterbox size container (with a secure lid) and place some moist paper towels in the bottom. Gently place the babies in this box. You should also supply a small bowl for drinking water and moist sphagnum moss for hiding. Crawling through the sphagnum moss will also help to clean them up.

I normally keep all of the babies together for the first week, but that is strictly up to you.
They are not fed until after their first shed (usually about 7 to 10 days from birth).
The first meal should be small. A fuzzy mouse will work well. Once the first meal gets their metabolism going, you can increase the size a little. I normally start them on mouse hoppers. Of course, the babies need to be separated for feeding.

Give mom a day or two relax after the birthing and then offer her some food.

wow that reply was unexpectedly fast and leaves me with no additional questions right now thank you very much

I think this is a great tread and would like to ask about temps and the need to take your male out for rest breaks or keeping them together. I have read where it can take up to 1-5 months due to the female being hard to Cort. We have had great success with Ball Pythons and are wantting to place our coral albino with our salmon. This will be our first attempt with Boa's. I have done read 3 books and found them to be informative but not all telling. So If anyone who has had success, could you please share your formula for success. Thanks DAN my e-mail is dnamorphs@yahoo.com Thanks in advance...

Originally Posted by DNA Morphs

I think this is a great tread and would like to ask about temps and the need to take your male out for rest breaks or keeping them together. I have read where it can take up to 1-5 months due to the female being hard to Cort. We have had great success with Ball Pythons and are wantting to place our coral albino with our salmon. This will be our first attempt with Boa's. I have done read 3 books and found them to be informative but not all telling. So If anyone who has had success, could you please share your formula for success. Thanks DAN my e-mail is dnamorphs@yahoo.com Thanks in advance...

Hi Dan
I think most people make boa breeding way to difficult. As long as you have a healthy well fed pair you can get babies. I've talked about how OTHER people breed their boas before but I'm going to tell you here how I do it.
I introduce my males to my females That's really about it. I raise the humidity during the months I think they might breed however with a humidifier. At certain times of the year mature females will form follicles. The idea is catch them when they're forming these follicles. follicles release pheromones that will stimulate the males to court. Every three weeks I introduce a male to a female to see if she is producing follicles....if she is the male will start courting. If I see no courting I remove the male and try again three weeks later. Boas have a large window of opportunity so if you just introduce the male every few weeks you will eventually catch her when she's forming follicles. As long as your female has good fat reserves she will start producing follicles and breed at some point. Also, I believe in giving your males small energy meals during courting. There is no need to starve your boas.
That's it. I don't change their temps or stop feeding them. All I do it raise the humidity and introduce the males at the right time of year.