Calculating due date.....Help!

[Hogboa]

cwm2.gif help,help,help! I've posted this question before......but I'm still in the dark! I've cwm15.gif everything I can get my hands on & still clueless ???
After cycling my 1.1 boas,they breed from Nov 11-Nov 31st
female shed Dec. 5th. I missed ovulation! Today makes 145 days and my female is getting HUGE! I have NO idea when to expect babies!
She constantly stays on her heat source and every now & then will eat a small meal.
I realize this is not much info to go on. But, I figuered some of you more experienced breeders could give me some info or numbers to help me.ANY replies would be great ;D

[Hogboa]

here's a pic

[Hogboa]

Here's another pic of her. This is the way she stays.....on the heat. Sometimes she lays on the heat and "stacks" herself to make better use of the heat.....from what I've cwm15.gif in the boa manuel

[Linda]

OK, I'm not an expert. I don't know how to figure "due dates". I'm just taking a guess. I'd say to expect babies around the 20th of March. Could be as late as the 25th. If I'm right do I get a prize? LOL. Just kidding. I counted 105 days from the shed date. That's how I came up with the dates. She looks great though. When she does pop be sure to post lots of pics. ;D What size is she? I want to take a "guess" on how many babies too. Right now she looks about 6 feet to me and I'm guessing 26 to 30 babies. Do I get a prize if I'm right on the baby count? LOL. Kidding again. I think I'm having a "blonde moment". It happens when I look at awsome snakes. Especially gravid ones. ;D I hope I was a little helpful if I wasn't, I hope you got a good laugh from my "blonde moment". :D
Good Luck,
Linda :)

[Hogboa]

If your right I might just give you one! BUT, here's the real deal! I know some people HATE crosses but she's really HIGH orange.....so I breed her with a male hypo Col. Boa!...and she'd a Hog Island Boa.......what's your thought. Please......be kind cwm1.gif

[Minus_1]

8) Ok ok...If you're giving a baby to the one who picks the day, Im getting in on this....

I called cleo, and we confirmed that Im at a fork in my life, and to expect love...  possibly a blonde...  so I have my eyes open as far as that goes...

We also decided that the day your snake will drop is April 5th...  the baby count, being that its a hogg/colombian cross, I would guess will be on the small side, Im guessing around 14 babies...

Definatly get pics up when she blows.. and let me know if I win!..   (btw, you owe me $50 for the call to cleo)

[Minus_1]

8) Oh yea, something I forgot... you might want to hold off on feeding her. She looks like she has good enough weight to get her through until she drops. They get pretty filled up and dont have much space available for a rat or two.. I wouldnt want her dropping my baby early :P

[Hogboa]

O.K. I'll make it interesting ;D Whoever comes the closest to the date...............I'll give em a baby FREE! 8) but ya gotts pay for shipping cwm6.gif
Also, I want to know your alls opinions on me breeding a high orange Hog Isle boa to a Hypo col. boa cwm19.gif
I ONLY did it to see if I could produce a high,high orange snake ;) I know some people dislike crosses...............What do you think ??? Please be honest! After being married for years.....there's NOTHING you could say that would bother me cwm24.gif

[Linda]

OK, I'm not sure about the ethics of cross-breeding. I guess as long as you're not "mass producing" them and you let people know they're cross bred it should be alright. That way it would be up to the individual if they want a snake that's cross bred.
Now I think that breeding to a Hypo could have interesting results. I'm not an expert on Hypo's, but I've always thought Hogs were a "natural" hypo species. At least, I think they have a hypoish appearance. In fact, before I learned where hypo's came from I thought they were cross bred from hogs. Now I've seen hog/colombian crosses done with a normal Colombian and they looked "just like colombians". I think by breeding to a Hypo you should get some amazing looking babies. ;D Either way I want to see pictures.
Good luck,
Linda

[Minus_1]

8) To each his/her own..

I personally, am not too hot on cross breeding. I like the idea of keeping each locality as "pure" as possible. Just my opinion...

I WILL say tho, that I may become a hipocrite pretty soon, because Ive been eyeballing a few Suriname x Colombian, albinos... and they're drop dead gorgious. Maybe I'll try it, maybe I wont.. only time will tell..

Here's a pic of the albino cross... I wish I could call it mine, but Brian Sharp takes the credit for this one...

[dragons182]

I am saying that she will drop on 22 March. 2 days after spring.

[morti]

I say March 25. If I win, donate the boa to a local school. I know a biology teacher would love it!

-Mortisnake.

[Gib]

Well put me down for March 24!!!

[Hogboa]

Well guys & gals,today is March 23rd. Either someones gonna be right on the dot OR totally miss it! cwm14.gif
I personally have no idea considering the only shed she's had was back Dec 5, and today makes 151 since last copulation AND the way my luck has been,..............she's probably not gravid! cwm10.gif
My Indo Tree boa gave birth to 13..............1 lived
My best Spotted python,19 infertile eggs
My JCP is turning out NOT to be gravid after showing ALL the signs!
I'm bout ready to sell my entire collection and just quit! That's ALL cwm33.gif cwm33.gif more involved than just this years breeding. I can't even afford to buy new snakes and work 11- 13 days out of a 14 day pay period! I raise my own rats and have over 400 but have to drive 60 miles everyother day to feed em..............and I'm STILL not making any money! I just had to sell my Dumeril boa and a BEAUTIFUL JCP just to help with bills. My collection is gonna slowly dwendle away.........one by one
I get one off day every 8 days and have to spend the entire day cleaning cages! I love my snakes,don't get me wrong...........I'm just not getting any pleasure from breeding anymore. I guess due to ALL my time is for my snakes and nothing is producing,plus out of ALL my snakes,ALL I've breed for the last 3 years is spotted pythons! cwm33.gif I'm just feed up with it ALL !

[Minus_1]

8) No doubt, I dont know how some people do it..  I think most are either born rich, or made some kind of deal with the devil...  or maybe its luck/skill..  regardless my boas kick "hindquarters" so if I get hundreds of babies or none, the ones I have right now are priceless...

Just take a break and get back into the aspect of just caring for them, and let the original "spice" that drew you to them, sink back in... then try again  cwm1.gif

[Hogboa]

WELL..................unless something happens before 12 pm tonight................no one will guess right.
It's been 158 days today since last copulation. She could have become gravid back in early Nov.She eat a VERY small dead rat today and really hit it hard.........is this a bad thing?
I picked her up last night to clean her cage & she sure has put on the weight!
Now, anyone want to guess just for the fun of it?

[Linda]

I really thought she would have had them by now. OK, I'm going to try another way of guessing.I checked the weather in your area. It looks like you have some storms heading your way. Boas are suppose to give birth on rainy days. Maybe she's waiting for a pressure drop. I'm trying to be scientific about this. cwm15.gif  I think she'll have babies when the rain hits. If it's raining there now you could have babies by morning. I think taking a rat could be a good thing though. It could mean she know's it's almost time to give birth and she getting hungry. I don't know if snakes get hungry before giving birth, but some people do. ;D Anyway keep us posted. I'm dying to see what they look like.
                             Linda :D

[armyguy_71459]

im guessing april 1st. no reasoning behind it. its just the guess me and my better half came up with ::)

[Ritchie]

Dave I have a boa that feels really heavy and is big and she stays on her heat which she has never done before.....(I guess that male did her good)
my guess is she is gravid.
in the last month she has only taken one small live mouse....refuses everything else.

April 15 is your day

[roadrammer01]

April 16th will be the day!!!

[Linda]

Well, I guess she still hasn't given birth. I just know this must be extremely frustrating for you. I guess the calander method didn't work(counting the days) and the scientific method didn't work(going by weather). Now it's time to give luck a try. ;D I think she's going to give birth on April 7th. No reason I just like that day. I still think she's going to have 26 to 30 babies though. :D
Linda :)

[Linda]

I forgot one thing. Could you post a more current picture? Only if you can do it without disturbing her too much. :)
Thanks,
Linda

[Bill]

My guess is around the middle of June cwm1.gif. But no later than June 25th ;).

[The_Boaphile]

Perseverance Mr. Hog Boa. That's what it's all about. You can't give up. You can't quit. I have not had a single year go as well as I expected or I should say hoped it would. This year is no exception. I worked 80 + hours per week for fifteen years and know what working long and hard is like. I didn't give up an neither should you. I know it can be discouraging but then... there is always next year. Work a little more overtime. Pick up that side work. Whatever it takes to keep on going. Just don't give up. In the end the success you will have is well worth the effort that you put forth.

Good luck, even thought I don't believe in luck... good luck!

Jeff

[The_Boaphile]

Another point Mr. Hogg Boa...

This has happened more than once. It is very likely that your Boa's shed on December 5th was not the Post Ovulation Shed. Was there an additional shed date after that one? The way you describe her now tends to make me think she is in the middle of the gestation period and not the end. This is one of the things that I think makes people mistakenly think that Boas have a six month gestation period sometimes. You describe her as getting bigger and or that she is getting huge. Well gravid females are at their largest about one month BEFORE they give birth. They also are far more likely to visit the heat during the middle of the gestation period that the end. In fact the last two weeks or so they generally avoid the heat. The way you describe this female is how a female at the middle of a gestation period would act. Before she gives birth she will be thin down considerably. You will look at her and be ready to give up on whether or not you are going to get any babies. In fact looking at her you may wonder why you ever even thought she was gravid. Trust me I go thought this multiple times every year. and then one day... badda boom badda bang! Babies all over the place. The Hogg in the photo certainly looks very much gravid to me. I'd look for babies in another month and a half or so. I'd still count 105 days from the Post Ovulation Shed but I think this may have been the shed after the shed that occurred December 5th.

Keep us informed and GOOD LUCK!!!

Jeff

[Hogboa]

THANKS for all the replies & info. You guys & gals are the best! Also thanks for all the positive support ! Dave (hogboa)

[Ritchie]

okay Dave

My guess was April 15

They were born april 14
I will take that prize......I can even pay for shipping
as long as you send airborne express....

Shoot....you can pay for shipping AND send me the snake......he he he

[Ritchie]

let me offer my services to everyone....
no need for the boaphile 105 days....
no need to call ms. cleo for $50 per minute.
Just pay pal me $25 and I will give you a date....
For $50, I will give you all any date you want.... he hehe


call me now......da cards r waitin ( my best ms cleo accent)

[Minus_1]

8)lol...sick

I thought I got ripped off... afterall she didnt see the cops commin' did she..

Hogboa, to help me get over my pain of being ripped off by Ms Cleo, I'll gladly accept a nice fat baby boa... e-mail me for my info, JD@redtailboa.net ;D