Breeding frequency

[hhmoore]

OK, everyone. I know my feelings on this matter, but I am curious about what you do. Do you breed your females yearly; every other year; or just give them random years on/off, depending on whatever factors (ie. their condition, how much time you have, how much space you have, how last years babies sold, etc). Also interested in seeing the habits as they relate to the different varieties of boa (dumerils, Boa c. ssp, rainbows, etc)

 

[Mike Greathouse]

Boas will not breed every year, but that determination is best left to the girls themselves.

Early on, I made the mistake of trying to give certain females a year off. Unfortunately, although my intentions were good, I ultimately made things harder for those females. Giving birth to a litter of infertile slugs appears to be harder on the female then giving birth to a litter of bouncing baby boas.

I now give the females the opportunity to breed every year. Whether they actually do or not is entirely up to them.

 

[hhmoore]

Thanks, Mike. Part of the reason I brought this up is that I have seen a couple of females bred that (too me) just didn't look like they had put enough weight back on by the time the season rolled around again. Now, for the other part of my reason: do you take the same approach with Dumeril's? considering the length of gestation and (commonly) late season births, do you still cool them and put them with males on schedule? This was my first year breeding these, and I have thinking about this for months.

 

[Mike Greathouse]

Harald,
You bring up an excellent point that I had not considered prior to my response. I make every effort to "beef up" the females immediately after birthing to get their weight back up to par. If you encounter a situation where the females just don't look healthy enough for breeding, I too would back off on breeding activity. However, due to the length of the breeding season, there is generally enough time to get their weight up and introduce a male. If you notice one of these thin boas ovulating, I would definitely arrange an introduction. Typically, a female boa will not breed if she is underweight.

Regarding the Dumerils, let me preface this with the following statement: I do not "cool" my boas. I allow for a slight seasonal drop in temperature, but for the most part, I maintain them through the winter in the mid eighties with a nightly drop into the high seventies.

I attempted cooling one year and was plagued with respiratory infections - never again. This tends to spark arguments among breeders with both sides equally adamant, but I have been pretty successful without cooling them.

With that said, I also take a somewhat different approach with the Dumerils.
I only maintain one adult pair (which have produced babies the last four years in a row). Contrary to my methods with the other boas, I leave the pair together year round. I'll remove the male when I feel birth is imminent, but other then that, they share an enclosure.

Good luck with your animals.

 

[hhmoore]

I definitely appreciate the input. While I admit that I have definitely found my self in the "sparked" condition, it is rarely on a subject like this. There are too many things that work for too many different people to say someone is "wrong". My conditions were very haphazard this past season. 1st time back to breeding on any scale, and with several species that I had never tried to breed before. I really wasn't prepared to do it properly, but I did my best, armed with the knowledge and experience I have aquired over the years. Looks like it went pretty well, a bunch of them were just coming of age and a few didn't go, but several did. It looks very much like I will have 2 litters of Dums. I have read a lot of debate on another forum about "pre-birth" sheds with Dums in particular...any input on this (one of mine is opaque now)

 

[Hoppy]

I have never been very successfull in breeding the same female year after year and have gone to the everyother year off breeding plan. However, I do have new females that become of age each year so the collection continues to grow rapidly.

 

[Mike Greathouse]

Hoppy,
Have you had any issues with the females ovulating and throwing slugs in the off years? That happened to me on more then one occasion and was what prompted me to allow the animals to mate if they wanted to.

 

[hhmoore]

I was just going for the same question, Mike

 

[Nate]

I breed my boas according to weight and condition. I’ve skipped a year or two between with out any occurrence of females throwing slugs. As far as Dums go putting weight back on has never been an issue since I find that they plump up in no time since they are less active than my other boas. I will say that I like to move around the country a lot and it seems that I have the best years breeding after switching everything up in the move. It leads me to believe that my occasional success is the result of a combination of temps, photoperiod and the shift of environments and introductions. I love Dumeril's so I can't resist the opportunity to post a pic of some of this year's babies.

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[hhmoore]

Nice looking babies, Nate, & thanks for the input. My plan had been to try for a 1-2 two years on/ 1 year off breeding cycle - figuring that would keep my supply steady, but also give my females a break from the stresses of the process (hey, this is supposed to be fun, right...too much of anything makes it work). In my ideal situation, I would control who breeds when. After reading of Mike's experience, I was prepared to shift the plan a bit; you see, I learned a long time ago that this isn't all about me. Anybody else have experiences/opinions to share?

 

[hupababy_83]

I know this is a very old thread, and I hope I don't get growled at for reviving it, but I found this very educational!!! I think more newbies such as myself should read this. I know a few newbs who think it's ok for a female to have a litter, cool her down and breed her again!! They need to read this!! Thank you for this educational thread!