Boa Breeding question

[susquahannavalleysnakes]

Can anyone give me step by step on how and when to breed my redtails please?

[alexhue]

make sure they're old enough and large enough...males 18-22 months old/2-3 feet. Females 28-32 months old / 4-5 feet.

Start dropping the ambient temps in october down to 78-82 degrees during the nights. Put the male in with the female or vice versa...keep them together all the way through February or when the male stops to court/breed. With any luck...the female will ovulate and give birth by April/May.

Female boas will get HUGE during ovulation, look for it. They will also stop to feed or at least slow down when pregnant.

[debz]

so Alex..the weight of a boa is not a big factor in breeding? It's more of how old they are and how long they are? Or is still a factor..?

[alexhue]

Debz,
Combination of age and length, most boas will not grow to 4-5 feet the first 2 1/2 - 3 years unless you're feeding it extremely well (females). males tend to be at breeding age pretty darn quick. I've had males at 18 months old and 2 feet breed successfully.

[Mike Bair]

I have never bred any Boas before, but I wouldnt think the general rules are much different than any other snake. Size would play a big role on how well it will breed, mostly for females that is. Take for example, Green tree pythons the general rule of thumb is 1k grams and 4 years of age for a female. Males are ready at a much earlier age, and are usually much smaller than the female. Small females might not ovulate and if they do, they might produce only a few eggs (for pythons) or few live babies. Also you would want decent fat reserves on a snake that you are getting ready to breed. The size of the female should play a role in how many babies are produced. If im wrong, please correct me.

[RTBoas]

Fat reserves are very important like Mike said, like if your feeding 1 jumbo rat to a 6 foot female every 2 weeks and plan to breed her, it wont work all that great. I just bought a female 6 foot and thats how he feed her, and sad how skinny the thing is :(. She ate like a beast when I got her, wow!!! She mowed like 4 jumbos no problem and was waiting for more, she will breed this season :P