Breeding size

[Bushbaby]

Hi there,

Okay, so I have a question... what's the smallest BCI you've ever seen produce young and what was her age??

I have a young BCI whom I had housed with a male for a short time (about 1 month) as I had to shuffle some of my snakes around to accomodate my boyfriends snakes. She then decided that it was time to mate with the male. As they were both fairly young and small, I didn't think there would be a problem.

Just for the record when I got the female she was kinda small for her age, and never really grew as much as she should. She is probably around 1.5 meters long at the moment. I cannot be sure of her age, as I got her at around 80cm or so and she was supposedly a year and a half old.

Anyways, I now have noticed a HUGE swelling in her mid section. So I guess they weren't just playing "doctor doctor" but were actually doing the deed.

I know her growth has obviously been stunted, prior to this and defenitly because of this. I just want to know your opinions if she would actually carry live young, and would she make it through the "pregnancy"? The last being the most important.

[Ranger]

bear in mind that the huge swelling is most likely ovulation, not gravidity. if the male is removed during the ovulation, there might not be a fertilization of ova.

[Bushbaby]

I seriously doubt it is ovulation as the male was removed about 2 months ago. I'll check it out though. Maybe I'm still in luck!!!

[Randy_T.]

My personal experience with a small female is my Hypo was just over 5' when she was bred and produced. She was right around 4 years old at the time.

[2ND_ALARM]

I have a freind from Crazy Fools Reptiles who breed a het albino female at 18 months and produce some albinos. She was about 4' 1/2 to 5' at the time. And now she is a huge girl around.

[cameron15]

I have a freind from Crazy Fools Reptiles who breed a het albino female at 18 months and produce some albinos. She was about 4' 1/2 to 5' at the time. And now she is a huge girl around.

Wow im 18 months old are barely hitting 3ft! did he power feed?

[Sunbino]

I was told by a breeder atleast three years old. Does anyone disagree? Or could i breed sooner? depends on the size and all that right? Thanks Aaron

[Linda]

Not everyone does it the same way.

It's better for the females, in my opinion, to wait until they're 3 years or older. I'm not sure, but I think that's the age that most/many go by. I also like mine to be, at least, 6 feet long and well muscled. Most, but not all females, can reach 6 feet, in 3 years, on a moderate feeding schedule. Some females grow very slowly and can take 5 years to reach 6 feet.


For males, size isn't as important as maturity. Males will breed as soon as they're ready, even if they're very small. BTW I consider 3 feet very small. Some will breed at 18 months and others won't. The best way to tell if a male is ready is to put him in with a mature female. If he's ready, he'll breed. If he's not, he won't.


There aren't any rules that are set in stone as far as breeding boas goes. You just have to decide what's best for your boas and breed them, if that's what you choose to do, when they're ready. Just keep in mind that a young boa that grows quickly might "look mature" on the outside, but might not be on the inside. They still might produce a litter, but it could cause problems later or even shorten her life. I think that 3 years or older is best for females.

[Sunbino]

thank you very much for that information. It was very helpfull. BTW i agree.