Boa May be preggers?? Gestation questions.

[wildbillstoner]

I have these two redtail boas that live together. And one stopped eating, and is getting really fat, and alls she does is sit on the heating pads. I think she's pregnant. Does anybody know how long before she'll have these babies?

[infernalis]

The gestation period of the Boa Constrictor is 4-8 months. As mating occurs over a period of time it can be difficult to state precisely when the fertilization took place. Temperature of the gravid female also seems to play some part in the equation so putting exact times on is difficult. Boas give birth to live young, and litter sizes vary from 6-65, the young are independent from birth and should be separated from the mother as soon as possible, Boas are not usually cannibalistic, but the young can be crushed by the bulk of the female. The young have been known to fight as well. Keep the young in small, separate containers, on paper towels with a supply of water. Change the paper whenever it gets soiled and keep a record of the birth date, sex if known, shed details and feeding record on a piece of paper taped to the top of each container. The young will shed, usually within 10 days or so of birth and will normally eat without any problem after the 1st shed.

[Kmef07]

Damn!!!! you just gave a whole book of knowledge paraphrased

[Feebo]

Can you give any information on the correct breeding size of the female "common" Boa Wayne? :)

[Will0W783]

I know the general accepted rule is that female boas (colombians at least) should be 3-4 years old and 6 feet long and at least 10 pounds in weight. You want her to be thick and well-muscled- a little extra fat reserves will help. There's evidence that female snakes cannot develop viable follicles without adequate fat reserves and will often reabsorb them before ovulation in those cases. Unlike mammals, snakes do not have all the ova present and in storage in the ovaries before birth. Each time a female snake is cycled and bred, she has to develop follicles and ova from scratch, so the process is very metabolically taxing and requires a lot of energy expenditure. Having your females a bit pudgier than normal (without being obese- that leads to a whole other slew of problems) is often beneficial to them, so they don't end up looking like little skeletons after dropping a clutch or litter.

[Feebo]

Cheers Williow :) Ten pounds eh, I weighed my big Jungle jaguar Carpet the other day and he was nine pounds... As with everything snake related, I`ve heard differing recommendations about feeding regimins with Boas. I give mine one large rat each every two weeks (both are about five and a half feet) I`m tempted to offer them a double now and again now actually, but what do you think about food sizes for adult Boas? I think once you start feeding rabbits you end up with an obese snake. I think two large rats is the most any Boa should ever be given in one go, what do you think about that?

[infernalis]

sounds like Kim already answered you ;)

[Feebo]

Not really... lol :D I`ll go and start my own thread shall I.....

[shaunyboy]

you said you keep your boas together mate.might be a good idea to split them up until your females had her young.
cheers shaun

[Will0W783]

Carpet weights are different for breeding, since they do not get as large as RTBs. Here is a thread that lists good weights for carpets:
http://www.ssnakess.com/forums/morelia-spilota/73299-breeding-size-carpets.html