Live-in Couple?

[Missi]

I've had my male and female together since early-mid December last year. He does court her off and on, but I've never really seen them hook up. My question is if I can let them live together in the same cage all year round. The cage is huge and space isn't a problem. I made a post about it in the Caging section of the forums titled 'Current Caging' if anyone wants to look at it for reference to this post. I do have a spare 50 gallon breeder which I planned to move the male to in the event the female became gravid and started to show aggression towards the male. Otherwise that cage will only be used to hold the babies. I'm not worried at all about getting them to breed, if it happens then it happens, I'm in no way conditioning them to breed. I was just wondering if what I'm thinking is a silly idea. :P To be quite honest, I only have the room... or rather, my parents will only allow me the room for the one big cage. So it isn't like it'll be an easy task trying to tell them that I need another larger cage to house the male between breeding seasons. I'm just after a little information on the subject. Seems like everyone else here keeps the male and female apart until breeding, then splits them again. Please just keep in mind that my goal is to house a happy pair of boas... breeding is just a bonus should it ever happen.

[Linda]

WOW!!

I checked out that enclosure and it's AMAZING!!

Your boas are going to be among the most pampered.

As far as them living together.. In that space they would do just fine. Of course, you will need to have another cage handy should one of them get sick. I really don't see them getting sick though. You really seem to be on top of things.

I'm guessing you already feed them seperately. That's the biggest thing when boas are housed together.

It sounds like your enclosure is set up perfectly. I can see why you don't have the space for 2 of them.

As far as breeding goes. You really have the right attitude with breeding. Of course, I wouldn't be surprised if they do produce for you. That's such a natural set up that they'll think they're in the wild.
The first time I produce boas, over 20 years ago, I had them living together. Of course, they didn't have a nice habitat like you've got. They were in a large cage with a heating pad for warmth. They produced 2 years on a row.

I do think your female might be a little small to breed though. It's hard to tell from the pictures, but she did look small.

What are your boas ages and sizes?
If your female is close to 6 feet and "solid" she could breed this year. If she's 5 1/2 feet or less you might want to keep them seperate, until she's a bit larger. You wouldn't want her to become gravid/pregnant when she's too young or too small. At 6 feet and 3 years females are normally OK to breed. Since your male was trying earlier this year, I'm guess he's good to go.

The temps drop in your area in Sept. They might start breeding again at that time. If she's too small make sure you seperate them before then.

My boas start breeding near the end of Sept. I live in the same general area you do. That's why I mentioned the breeding in Sept part.

[Missi]

Sorry for the delayed post, real life called and I made the mistake of answering the phone. :P

My female was born March of '02 and back in June of this year we measured her to be 5'10" long. I took her to the vet about a year ago for a checkup and she was just shy of 9 pounds. To give you a size reference of her girth, I think she'd have to squeeze a little to fit through a 20oz water bottle. She has the age and a good girth for breeding, but I've never ever power fed her which is why she lacks a little in length. I'm assuming she gets all that girth from muscle tone from climbing up that tree branch all the time. I've been meaning to get some recent pics of her up since those in the Caging section are over a year old already.

The male was born August of '01 and is just barely shorter than the female, maybe only by 3 inches. When I had him shipped back in December of last year, the weight on the box was 7 pounds, but I'm not sure if that was total weight or just the weight of the snake, probably total weight. He's a monster now though, I'm sure he's pushing 8-9 pounds and closing in on the female. Must be something about these central Kansas rats? :)

The cage is very nice and I really really like it... not to brag. Not only does it look nice, but it functions perfectly for keeping boas. The temps always range 80- 85 in the cool end and max I've seen at the very top of the cage is 96 and that's with this horrible heat that we have going on right now which I think it hit 107 yesterday. The humidity is fairly consistent as well, usually staying between 60 and 70, 62 is the normal and it closes in on 70 when it rains. I've misted the cage and gave them warm water in the winter time and shot the humidity up to 95, so I know what to do should I need that high of humidity. I still do feed them together, but because the cage is so large I can generally feed them one at a time while they're at the ends of the cage. Although I will admit that the male is getting brave and getting an appetite, so many times he's watching me as I feed the female even if I've already fed him before hand. I'm sure I'll be pulling him out sooner than later to feed them separately.

Seeing as it's still scorching outside (105 today) I won't pay too much attention to them other than normal maintenance. Once it starts cooling down though and hopefully in September like you're saying, I'll bring out the camera and keep everyone posted should anything happen.

Let me know if you have any other questions. :)

[Linda]

Sounds GREAT! Hopefully they'll give you a nice litter.

I also don't know how important it is, but I think natural photoperiods are better for reproduction purposes. Since you keep them in your room, just don't keep the lights on too late at night. Boas do most of their breeding at night. At least, mine do. Mine tend to take a break when the lights are on. Unless the male is feeling expecially amorous. LOL.

Good Luck.

I look forward to updated pictures of your boas. :)

[Missi]

I have all the lights on timers. The daytime period is from 7am to 8pm right now. Then the night time lighting is from 8pm to 7am respectively. I try to keep the lights in cycle with when the sun rises and sets in real time. So I'm forever changing the timers lol.

I've also just been released from the doctor to go back to work, so once I have some spare cash I'll be sure to pick up a digital camera. I have the most patience a person could possibly have so I don't mind waiting for film to be developed, but when only half of my pictures come back and the company says the other half were unable to be developed as well as the ones that I got were blurry beyond belief, that sort of stuff tests my patience. Might be a month or two, but once I'm back on my feet and have some spending cash, everyone will get new pictures of my scaled babies. :)