breeding ?

[second skin]

Whats a good recipe for breeding bloods?
I'd love to hear some stories:)

[ssscales]

I was going to try my hand this year at breeding my trio. But from what I am reading they may be too small. I have 1.2, the male is a little over 2FT long, females are about 2-1/2FT. I may have to wait till next year.

I was wondering what would a good healthy feeding routine be to get them ready for next year, if possible.

At 2FT long I feed them F/T med rats. I was wondering if every 7 days would be ok or every 10-14 days would be better?

[Bartman]

The more you feed them the faster they grow...but if you feed to forfully then they end up having a shorter life span, from what i understand. I feed my ball python every 7 days and hes growing nicely. I think once a week is a good regimen.

[ssscales]

That's what I am going to stick with. I have bred Dumeril's and BCI's before. Trying my hand at JCP's and Bloods now. My JCP's should be ready this season, bloods will have to wait.

[CHRISANDBOIDS14]

How old are your bloods? Yes, they are too small. You want to wait untill the females are at least 4 feet before you breed. The male should be at least three. Most people wait until they are 2 1/2 years old before they breed their bloods. My male is going to be breeding this winter. He will be 2 1/2 years old and 4 feet long. I am awaiting my(or my friends) puchase of an adult female blood, that will be 5ft long, and 3+ years old. If you feed every 5-7 days, there is a chance they might be breedable by december/04, but you may have to wait till december/05. My female is 2ft long, and is 9 months old. Good luck!

C.

[ssscales]

All the 3 Bloods are a little less than 1-1/2 years old. I'll probably give them till Dec 05 to be on the safe side. I'm in no rush and I don't want to push them. I'll feed the females every 7-10 days. Probably feed the male every 10-14 days.

My JCP's should be ready this December for sure.

[malaysianbloods]

the females should be about 3 to 4 years of age they can have serious problems if bred to young so check into it more before breeding thanks.

[ssscales]

By this December they would be about 2 years old, December 05 they would be 3 years old and hopefully at least 4-5FT. They feed well and are very healthy. I keep them know in Melamine 2X2 enclosures, but will move them to 4X2 when needed. Right now I keep them on Astroturf flooring, with a rubbermaid for water and one filled halfway with moss sphagnum moss. They love hidding under this stuff!

Is breeding Bloods similar to Boas? You know, stop feeding around Sept, drop temps Nov-Dec, add the male on and off, etc?

[malaysianbloods]

then they should be alright to breed if the females are at least 4-5 the male can be alot smaller. good luck with them all and you should post some pics of them.

[ssscales]

Thanks, I will post some recent pics as soon as I clean my cages this weekend. I posted some pics of my Dumerils last night.

[ssscales]

I do notice my Bloods are lighter in color than most bloods I see here. Not sure if that's a good thing, they are also quick to snap!
Compared to my Boas which don't even hiss. My JCP's hiss, but settle down once outside.

I try and handle the Bloods about twice a week on average and you'd think they would calm down? Nope! At least now they let me go in the enclosure to clean up and change the water!

[CHRISANDBOIDS14]

If they are wild caught, it might be harder to tame them down, and they may never tame down. By nature, this species is more agressive. With twice a week handling, they should calm down. How long have you had them? Some bloods are light in color, some are not. You might have some blond faze bloods. I have seen some with no orange or red pigmentation(all beige/yellowish), and some with almost all orange and red pigmentation. You can feed your male and females weekly. Its not pushing them, and its great, easy to maintain(set a designated feeding day for every week), and healthy as they eat regularly with no variation(such as one times its 8 days between feeding the next its 14 then 7), would be kind of odd. Good luck, and yes, definetly wait till December 05 before starting to breed them. Good luck!

C.

[ssscales]

Thanks for the advise.
They are CBB, at least that's what I was told by the seller/breader. I saw the parents and a few siblings which looked like them; so I am confident they are CB. I've had these for about 2 months and they are about 1-1/2 years old.

I didn't get them when they were babies and I know the previous owner did not spend too much time holding his snakes. I hope with time they calm down. I don't hold my snakes for too long, I try and at least try for 5-10 mintes 2-3 times a week.

As for the color they are light, almost a cream yellowish color with a almost a light pink. I'll post pics when I clean out their cages this weekend.

Fedding right now is 1 med F/T rat every 7 days. The male is always willing, the females are a little reluctant but haven't missed a meal when left over night.

Do you think the 1.2 ratio is good? Or do you think I should get another male? I wanted to buy 2.2 but the breeder already had the siblings sold. Not sure if I need another male thou.

[CHRISANDBOIDS14]

You do not need another male. Its sounds like he(previous owner) was not feeding them much. Yes they should calm down with time. If you keep that up, you should expect changes to start happening soon(within the next few months). Some snake will stay that way, and never calm down. Expect the possibility that they all stay the way they are for the rest of their life. Keep up the weekly feeding, with something the same size or a little bigger than their girth. This will ensure that by december 05, they will be of healthy breeding size and you should not have any worries about size. Sounds like you have blonde faze bloods. Do post some pics of them. Good luck!

C.

[ssscales]

Here are some pics of one of the females. The pics aren't very good. The male has a very nice tail pattern.

http://img78.photobucket.com/albums/v331/ssscales/DSC00064.jpg

http://img78.photobucket.com/albums/v331/ssscales/ssscales2/DSC00061.jpg

[ssscales]

The male isn't in these pics, these are of the same female. She just happened to be out. I'll take pics of the male latter on when I feed them.

[CHRISANDBOIDS14]

Looks good! From the pics, I guess they are not blonde faze bloods. They are just a paler/lighter normal faze. Nice female too!

C.

[ssscales]

Is that paler/lighter faze good or less appealing in Bloods? I thought they looked good, I still think they look good.

Hopefully I will get to keep a few of their babies, which hopefully will be more docile.

[CHRISANDBOIDS14]

Well, as far as how appealing they are, some people love them like that, some don't. Its all a matter of personal opinion. I know that myself and many others prefer the darker orange/reds that there are. I am one for deep, but strong bright red coloration, some people like the paller yellowers, and as I said, its personal opinion. I think the more red/orange color is more popular right now, but even bloods themselves are getting more popular. The babies probably will be more docile.

C.

[Jamie]

My opinion on this subject is don't always go by how old and how long they are....you don't want to rush anything so wait until your blood has some weight on her...my female was about 4.5' and 35lbs...and approx 4-5 years old. I just bought another 6 year old female who isn't as big as my first female and I won't breed her this year even though it would be close...it is better to error on the side that is safer for your snake...the new blood is 4.5-5 feet long and only about 15lbs and not doesn't have the girth bloods usually have. You guys seem like you are in a little bit of a hurry and there is no need to be but it is totally up to you guys....weight will give you a better guide as if she is ready to breed. Here is a link to what a healthy breedable blood looks like.

http://www.ssnakess.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=43634

Jamie

[operation_sssss]

Hey jamie,
Wow 35lb for a 4.5 feet blood seems massive lol i know its not unheard of but does sound real big, i know males are trimmer but my male is over 5 feet and only weighs 22lb feeds on guinea pigs and small rabbits and does not look at all skinny. I maybe wrong but i've heard its best to keep them kinda trim round mid 20's for breeding otherwise the risk of infertile eggs is high, i could however be wrong,
kind reguards cheers Will

[ssscales]

Wow, those are pretty big!
I'm not in a hurry to breed my Bloods, I can wait till 05 or even 06 if it will be safer for my Bloods. I don't want obese snakes either, I'm feeding my bloods once every 7 days and will stretch that to 14 days once they reach about 4ft. I was thinking of purchasing one more male, one with darker deeper red as well as a Borneo Blood Female.

[Jamie]

Well I don't think that blood is obese....is may look it but many female bloods are typically that stocky. I feed my bloods every 7 days no matter what age or size they are...I love the blood in that post.

Jamie

[CHRISANDBOIDS14]

I guess I jumped over the weight point. It is very true what Jamie says. Thanks for bringing that up Jamie!

C.

[Jamie]

well we all know that females are bigger than males, my big female after measuring her is approx 5.5-6. I have seen a few monster bloods in person (one from scales zoo which was massive). Bloods are a very heavily bodies snake and females are usually chunky....I am not saying go nuts and get them as big as possible but they do grow longer then fill out. You can have a 5-6 blood that is underweight and shouldn't be bred...so going by weight ranther then length might be a little better...breeding takes a lot out of any snake but with bloods not eating for a couple months and the amount and size of eggs they can have you want them to be in tip top shape before you want to breed them.

Jamie

[ssscales]

Have any of you bred Bloods successfully?
How many eggs do they usually have? What % of slugs? I know Boas have been fairly easy and straight forward, babies come out and eat readily after first shed. I've never had to deal with eggs before. Do you separate the eggs from the female, when?

[CHRISANDBOIDS14]

I think Jamie can answer that! (did she lay yet?)

C.