Quote:
Originally Posted by Aaron_S
All of them are not as easy to breed as everyone thinks.
Boelens I believe actually have a difficult time just surviving in captivity. I haven't done much research in years but I have kept an eye on them for years.
Still nice to see them though. No complaints there.
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From what I understand, aside from imported Adults, Boelen's thrive quite well in captivity. The problem is not survival, rather reproduction. No one is having success finding the trigger for their reproduction...even those making regular trips to Papua are continuing to struggle with success. Failing to thrive for this species is an old myth that continues to hang around. Plenty of people are keeping these animals alive with very little difference in care than a carpet python or scrub python might need.
As for Black Heads, as fellow member Derek Roddy will tell you, their reproductive failure is due to an increase in unnecessary fat consumption in the form of captive rats. They are reptile consumers in the wild, so to be eating large volumes of obese/breeder age rodents, we are cutting their life spans short, as well as compromising their reproductive systems. There is a direct tie between obesity and failure to develop follicles, so for a blackhead that shouldn't be getting any more fat than would appear on a bearded dragon or elapid on a regular basis, it's safe to say most of the reproductive issues we see with them are more on the basis of pushing them to breed before they are ready, (ie. feeding them more rats than they should to "get them to size") than actually trying to keep/breed them properly (ie. on a low fat diet). He knows way more than I, but thats the general summary.
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