Introduced boas in P. Rico; virgin boa birth

[bronxzoofrank]

Introduced boas a concern in Puerto Rico; ownership banned Wildlife Extra News - Boa Constrictors now a major pest in Puerto Rico (http://bitly.com/SS6FII;) Virgin boa reproduces Snake Surprise - ?Virgin? Female Boa Constrictor Gives Birth That Reptile Blog (http://bitly.com/SVIeeF)

[Will0W783]

Very interesting; I remember reading about this when it happened back in 2010. However, that female boa was not a virgin...she had been bred to males in previous seasons and produced normal young, but then went on in the next few seasons to produce the clone babies. Sperm retention has been noted in snakes; some of the crotalids are capable of retaining sperm for years, so I gues it's not all that surprising that other interesting forms of reproduction are possible as well. I suspect that in this snake's case, the previous matings had primed her for reproduction, perhaps even some sperm had been retained, thus sparking ovulation, but for whatever reason her body didn't incorporate the sperm into the embryos. We may never know.

[bronxzoofrank]

Very interesting; I remember reading about this when it happened back in 2010. However, that female boa was not a virgin...she had been bred to males in previous seasons and produced normal young, but then went on in the next few seasons to produce the clone babies. Sperm retention has been noted in snakes; some of the crotalids are capable of retaining sperm for years, so I gues it's not all that surprising that other interesting forms of reproduction are possible as well. I suspect that in this snake's case, the previous matings had primed her for reproduction, perhaps even some sperm had been retained, thus sparking ovulation, but for whatever reason her body didn't incorporate the sperm into the embryos. We may never know.

Thanks, lot of amazing new info; impressive sperm retention abilities in some species. Komodo dragons were especially surprising, as they were captive and had never had male contact; Brahminy blind snakes seem to reproduce w/o males as well, haven't checked most recent work on this, best, Frank

[Will0W783]

My mentor's female Cryptelytrops insularis was bred in 2011 and had a litter, which my girl came from. The same dam was not bred again in 2012 but produced another litter.