After giving birth?

[jjnnbns]

I am planning on breeding next season and I am trying to find out as much as possible beforehand. I am curious about live births with boas. A couple questions:

1. As soon as the mother is finished delivering, do you take the babies, or leave them in for an hour/day/week?
I would assume that as soon as you find them you take them as they do not need their mother for milk, etc.

2. If a baby is stuck inside the 'birth sack?' (that clear membrane that they're in) do you sometimes have to break it open for them?
I don't know if it is even possible for one to get stuck!
3. With all of the mess, should you soak the babies to get the blood and birthing fluid off of them?
In nature they probably don't, but when CB maybe a little cleaner?

4. BEFORE they're born, can it harm them to handle the mother gently? Cage cleaning etc... or how does that work?

Thanks to those who apply!
-Brent Strande

[Jeff_Favelle]

1. As soon as the mother is finished delivering, do you take the babies, or leave them in for an hour/day/week?

Not only do you have to take the babies out of the cage, but also the mother, the cage substrate, the decorations, etc etc. The AFTERBIRTH is HUGE. Nothing can live in that cage until its cleaned. So yeah, you take the babies. You take everything though.

2) You can help them out. The mom does this too.

3) I don't soak them, but considering they immediately go into a shed cycle, I put them on damp newspaper anyways. Kills 2 birds with one stone....

4) Don't handle, don't clean (unless its the other side of the cage) and just leave her alone. She shouldn't be making much a mess anyways, as you're not feeding a gravid snake. No food = no poop.

[jjnnbns]

Ok, thats what I figured, I didn't think that the cage would get too dirty, and thanks for the quick reply! I can imagine how much cleaning might follow the birth!

They shed immediately?!? Wow, I thought that it would be a week or so at the very least.

[Jeff_Favelle]

They don't shed immediately. LOL! Not what I said.

I don't soak them, but considering they immediately go into a shed cycle,

Meaning: They enter a shed cycle by turning opaque and not being very active, don't eat, etc etc etc. They actually SHED 8-12 days later. Being in a shed CYCLE and actually sloughing off the skin are two different things.

[Piers]

dumerils pretty much shed right after birth. some snakes will take up to a month. Common boas I wash (uptight I guess) but its not needed.
I leave the mother with her "birth mess", for a while(up to a day) I figure she is stressed and tired,never had a problem!
guppyranch