Dumerils Breeding Help!!!!

[boa_boy]

I have been keeping Dumerils Boas for 5 years, i have 2 pairs, but still have not successfully breed them.
2 years ago the eldest pair mated and the female began to show signs of being gravid. About 4 months later i went to turn on the light and the cage was covered in infertile slugs, twenty of them. Since then they have shown no signs of mating is there anything i can do to make them breed?

[Boabrat]

This is just second hand advice from what I can remember from speaking to Dumeril's breeders. Alot of people say they simply place them together and they breed fine without cycling the temperatures. But if you want to try that, for about 2 months in the winter drop the temperature at night to about 65 degrees Fahrenheit and the day temperature to about 80 degrees. Put the pair together the last 2 weeks of the cooling period, then gradually raise the temperatures to their normal levels. The female goes through a gestation period of six to eight months.

There are lots of factors that can cause slugs in boas, including but not limited to: Lack of available clean fresh water, improper temperatures, or the males attempt at fertilization never succeeded. Jeff's breeding video is more about Columbian Boas but it has alot of good slid information that might help you, I own it and recommend it to all.

Another thing to bare in mind is that Dumeril's Boas in captivity are often suffering from inbreeding genetic defects. Don't get me wrong, there are still many viable clean bloodlines out there, but they are growing thinner each and every year. Tongue deformities are the most common defect right now, but I fear more severe defects such as reproductive problems are going to start arising more and more often in them.

-John da BoaBrat

[Sqeezer]

Sorry, I don't have any breeding info for ya, but wanted say that I have become very interested in Dumeril's boas. I was at a recent herp show in Miami and wanted a beautiful baby Dumeril's (pic attached), but wanted to do some research before making an impulse buy. I have heard that Dumeril's are very hardy, eat well and are easier to care for than RTB's. However, Boabrat's post about inbread genetic defects has caused me some concern. How can one be sure they are not getting a genetically defective Dumeril's. I love the Dumeril's colors and plan on getting one soon. Sorry for rambling, but if any else here has a Dumeril's I would love to hear about their care issues (temps, humidity, feeding habits) and temperment. I have not found alot of info on the internet about them. Oh yea, and if you could post any pics of yours that would be great.

Thanks, Greg

[boa_boy]

Greg Dumeril's boa are kept in the same way as RTB, temperature warm end 88-92, cool end 80-84. They dont need high humidty all the time but i spray mine when in a slough, and they are extremly docile they very very rarely hiss and almost never strike.
I dont know much adout the genetic defects but i have heard that they are born with deformed tongues.
I have no pics at the moment i will post some later.

[Chris13160]

I have bred dumerill boas myself in 2002. I kept them the same as I keep my boa constrictors. They mated from august 2001 untill januari 2002. I got 9 perfect babies in september 2002. I didn't do anything special. I noticed moving them from one terrarium into an other stimulates mating just as it does with boa constrictors. We breed them by the hundreds in Holland. I never seen or heared of genetic defects but people tent to not talk about that. Very easy animals to keep.

Chris van Kalken
The Netherlands

[boa_boy]

My Dumerils started to mate on christmas day, it lasted for only 2 weeks, they have both sloughed since. The female has a small swell towards the rear of her body, it looks like a heavy meal could she be gravid? I have noticed that she stays at the cool end of the cage all the time, i have checked the temperature at the hot end and it is 30oC. Will the babies survive if she stays at the cooler end?

Nice looking Dumerils by the way Greg.

[Sqeezer]

Thanks for the info guys...

I think I have made up my mind and will be getting Dumeril's soon. Oh yea and another Boaphile as well..hehe

BoaBoy, I'd love to see the pics when you get some..

Greg

[boa_boy]

Sorry it took so long Greg but all my Dumerils are sloughing, this is a pic of small Dumerils male who sloughed this morning, he is 4 foot 6 inchs.

[boa_boy]

Here's another..

[Sqeezer]

Thanks Boa_Boy.

He is beautiful. I just love the Dumeril's colors and pattern...

Can't wait till I get mine...

[Boabrat]

Howdy folks,

Just a lil update, currently I own 6 Dumeril's Boas. Four of them are for future breeding the other two are either going to be pets or for sale, not sure yet. They both have the 'tongue defect' thing so I can not and will not breed them by any means. I have also found some good news for Dumeril lovers though, I know of at least two importers that are currently importing new wild caught bloodlines of both Dumeril's and Madagascar Ground boas. This does not mean the market will become flooded by WC boas from madagascar though as export is severely limited. As a matter of fact I doubt you will see any WC for sale anytime soon, if you do it will be a rare thing. I know of several breeders who are working hard to bring more quality captive bred babies available for people to purchase.

-John da BoaBrat

[boa_boy]

Hope you enjoy your Dumerils when you get it Bonecrusher..

Boabrat- i thought that Dumerils and the Madagascan ground Boa's were endangered and could not be imported. I have also wanted a Madagascan ground Boa but in the 14 years i have been keeping snakes i have only seen a pair of adults for sale and 2 babies and they were expensive.

[Boabrat]

I don't know the details, but I know there are some (very limited) imports coming in from Madagascar these days. The Mad. Ground Boas I have seen recently for around 600$, still expensive but not as bad as they were just a year ago. An educated guess would be that someone in Madagascar is breeding boas to release back into the wild, when there is a surplus of babies some make their way into the pet trade. So I would wager they are more like CB rather than WC... but still imported from their native country. They have done this in several areas of the world, it helps to prevent poaching to satisfy greedy exporters.