Introducing Helia

[BillyCostume]

Female sunglow 100% het anery. Picked her up at an expo today and snapped a few pics before getting her settled in.http://i.imgur.com/85bXqLa.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/Ks6o3Vg.jpg

[SWDK]

Congrats. She's a pretty little thing.

[richardhind]

Nice little sunglow you picked up there

[BillyCostume]

Thanks :) I'm in love haha I think I have a sever case of boa fever

[EL Ziggy]

Congrats on the pretty new addition BC.

[bigsnakegirl785]

Congrats on the new addition! She's got some nice pale red saddles.

[BillyCostume]

Thanks :) she's the sweetest thing. She's settling in quite nicely. I'm considering breeding her in a few years. Any suggestions on a mate for her? I'd like to produce some moonglows :D

[bigsnakegirl785]

Thanks :) she's the sweetest thing. She's settling in quite nicely. I'm considering breeding her in a few years. Any suggestions on a mate for her? I'd like to produce some moonglows :D

I would advise against breeding until you have adequate experience with the species, have done plenty of research on breeding, are fully aware of what it takes to breed, and you know you have the means to breed. Breeding just because you can saturates the market and brings down the overall quality of the animals available.

Keep in mind that boas have on average 10-30 babies, and can have up to 60-70 babies in extreme cases with large females. You need to be able to take care of all or a majority of those babies for up to their first 1-2 years if not their entire lives. Otherwise, you might have to end up wholesaling them for basically nothing. Some of the multigenes may be easier to sell, but any normals or single genes can be difficult to find homes for. You could also sell your whole litter easily, but you would have to be ready just in case you end up holding onto all/most of them.

You also have to keep in mind breeding is extremely dangerous for both the male and the female. Males can get crushed by the female, a particularly hungry female may view a male as her next meal and not a mate, males can bust their hemipenes, females can get stuck ovaries that go septic and kill her, maybe she wasn't fit enough to carry and dies, the entire litter could be stillborn, you could get babies severely deformed or with a very short life expectancy.

If you aren't careful how you go about it, you go into breeding with thousands of dollars and be lucky to so much as break even. It takes thought and planning to make any sort of money back, so unless you have money just sitting around it's not going to be good on your wallet.

These are animals, so their best interests should be at heart. If you cannot fully provide for a mating pair and all their babies, don't breed. If you don't think you could handle losing your animals or having to potentially euthanize babies that won't live long, don't breed. Basically, give this a few years, own boas for awhile, and sit on the thought of breeding. If you find in a few years you still want to breed, then certainly go for it (be sure you're also researching breeding in the meantime).

Your female has a good 3-4+ years to go before she can be safely bred, depending on how old she is, so you've got time.

[Scubadiver59]

I'm over 50 and I'm still waiting for more experience! But how do you get experience if you don't breed? Catch-22!!


I would advise against breeding until you have adequate experience...

[Scubadiver59]

Oops..posted again cuz I didn't think the first one took!

[BillyCostume]

I don't believe I asked for a lecture on why I shouldn't breed. Your post is full of assumptions about both my devotion and care of my animals and oddly enough my financial status. I'm more than capable for caring for my snakes and their offspring. Thanks for the encouraging words.

[afsgr88]

I don't mean to interject here...but someone should monitor some posts from some particular people here lately... This is an informative and educational forum, but sometimes if I put myself in the shoes of other OP's, I would honestly be afraid to post. A simple shared wish/experience/idea easily turns into a negative discussion. People need to take it easy and stop trying to force their opinions down others' throats.

Just my two cents.

Billy, do your thing ;)

[Andy_G]

As previously mentioned, it takes a female at least 3 or 4 years to mature properly, so you have plenty of time to figure out the workings and ins and outs of breeding and lots of time to make the right decision. I would suggest pairing her with a moonglow, another sunglow het anery, or a hypo het snow (moonglow) to get the most out of the pairings. No harm in shopping around now.

To ALL members: Please take everyone's opinions with a grain of salt. Sometimes when things are read by someone as scolding, the person posting was actually intending to simply inform (whether invited or not). Unfortunately with the written word sometimes the right tone is not conveyed to those reading. Please do not be afraid to ask questions here as it is very much a place for learning as well as constructive feedback. Be sure to keep these things in mind when posting questions as well as replying. We can all be a bit overzealous sometimes. :)

[BillyCostume]

Cool thanks for the help. I'll probably be picking up a male in the near future. I'm fond of the idea of raising them both and breeding them in the future.

[bigsnakegirl785]

I'm over 50 and I'm still waiting for more experience! But how do you get experience if you don't breed? Catch-22!!

The experience thing is because this appears to be OP's first boa, and boas are one of the harder species to breed, even for experienced snake breeders. You do not need to ever breed a snake to gain experience, simply keeping the species will gain you experience. Although I understand the appeal of breeding (I plan on doing so soon), breeding doesn't have to be the end game for snake keeping. I think people put too much stock in breeding because of the presence of breeders in the hobby, but breeding is definitely not something you absolutely have to do to become an experienced keeper.

Having some experience keeping the species will give you firsthand experience on how to read your boas and potentially help you in your breeding endeavors.

I don't believe I asked for a lecture on why I shouldn't breed. Your post is full of assumptions about both my devotion and care of my animals and oddly enough my financial status. I'm more than capable for caring for my snakes and their offspring. Thanks for the encouraging words.

I'm sorry if it came off that way, I was not trying to assume anything, just giving my usual rundown when someone who appears to be new to the hobby and boas shows interest in breeding. Not many people realize just how much it takes to breed, so I try to point that out since I know nothing about someone's financial situation. Realizing it might be expensive can help someone determine for themselves if they're financially ready.

It can take a lot of money to make sure you're breeding legally, setting up a business account/taxes, properly provide for all your animals, and buying the animals themselves. I've spent over $3,000 on my breeding group alone, and cages for everyone as adults are going to be double or triple that. Food for a single litter of 20-26 babies is going to be $200-300 every 2-3 months. Plus, if you keep any/all of the babies, cages for adults are expensive. Boas get too big and are semi-arboreal, so cannot realistically be housed in racks their entire lives without sacrificing the animals' health, which can add costs to the housing. If you do everything right, it won't take quite as big a hit as nearly everything is tax deductible, but few keepers take that into account so I feel it's worth mentioning. If you're already prepared for that, then great. Just keep in mind this is my generic response when a seemingly new keeper says they may be interested in keeping and is not a personal slight against you or an assumption of your situation.

"These are animals, so their best interests should be at heart. If you cannot fully provide for a mating pair and all their babies, don't breed." Was said with the intent of making sure you're doing this while being prepared, because, again. I know nothing about your situation, statements such as this are designed for you to think and make sure what you're doing is in the best interest of the animals. I cannot decide that for you.

[Aaron_S]

Let's just enjoy the cool pics of a beautiful new snake and not see this devolve into "should one breed or not?".

[Elliemay61]

Congratulations she's beautiful.

[BillyCostume]

Thanks everyone :)

[BillyCostume]

She's growing up nicely. Here are a few updates pics I snapped of her today. She's definitely my favourite...don't tell the others ;)http://i.imgur.com/vQkGLsK.jpghttp://i.imgur.com/kdPFnZL.jpghttp://i.imgur.com/VmEpuyx.jpg

[richardhind]

She is definitely filling out well billy,loving the peaches around her saddles

[dave himself]

Beautiful pickup Billy congratulations:)

[dave himself]

Oops I'm a bit late to the party :rolleyes: