CA BCI - Super Motley - must resist!

[bigsnakegirl785]

Originally Posted by Andy_G

It is very possible to breed nicaraguans in their 3rd year. They mature a bit quicker than larger or more normal sized localities, as do most dwarfs. Saying that...I don't see any reason why one should do so.

Super motleys die. Pretty much clear cut. Never pay very much for one if you want to purchase one.

I guess I didn't make it clear enough in my response, you can breed a 3 year old female, but they aren't mature and it isn't healthy to do so. And generally litters from underaged females results in very poor litters that are either preemies, generally undersized, or mostly/all slugs (same thing with overweight females but that's another matter).

You can breed them at 3 years old, but that doesn't mean a female is mature. You can breed Colombians at 3 years, too, if they're big enough, but generally with poor results (namely the slugging out I mentioned). Being able to breed =/= maturity. With boas, they can breed once they hit a certain size and weight, but females do not reach full maturity until a certain age (generally at 5-6 years of age). If you wait to breed them, they slug out a lot less and have bigger babies.

A 3 year old male on the other hand, is fully sexually mature.

Edit to add: even if a female isn't "up to size," if it's a mature age, it can still breed so long as it's at a healthy weight for incubating babies. Bigger females just tend to have more babies.

[Andy_G]

Originally Posted by bigsnakegirl785

I guess I didn't make it clear enough in my response, you can breed a 3 year old female, but they aren't mature and it isn't healthy to do so. And generally litters from underaged females results in very poor litters that are either preemies, generally undersized, or mostly/all slugs (same thing with overweight females but that's another matter).

You can breed them at 3 years old, but that doesn't mean a female is mature. You can breed Colombians at 3 years, too, if they're big enough, but generally with poor results (namely the slugging out I mentioned). Being able to breed =/= maturity. With boas, they can breed once they hit a certain size and weight, but females do not reach full maturity until a certain age (generally at 5-6 years of age). If you wait to breed them, they slug out a lot less and have bigger babies.

A 3 year old male on the other hand, is fully sexually mature.

Edit to add: even if a female isn't "up to size," if it's a mature age, it can still breed so long as it's at a healthy weight for incubating babies. Bigger females just tend to have more babies.

Just to be clear, at no point in my previous post did I state that the earlier mature age of certain localities has solely to do with smaller adult size. I am fully aware that maturity and reaching adult size are very different, but the fact remains that nics as well as certain other localities do mature at younger ages. Nicaraguans in particular are notorious for being able to breed quite successfully at a younger age quite consistently. No idea who told you to that the magic number is 5 years for mature female boas, but there is nothing wrong with it of course. Better than someone telling you to try them at 2! Lots of people do 4 years, some do 5, although the latter are normally breeding BCC. If the female has the mature muscle mass and has not been power fed and is of proper condition, then she's ready.

Also something to note and not for you in particular...males can breed as young as 18-24 months of age no matter the locality. I've bred males as young as 18 months with success, but I have never tried to breed a female before their 4th season. Never got many slugs but I have only bred boas in particular a handful of times. As well, a big female may have larger litters but will also generally recover slower. The best breeder females I've owned were nice solid 6'-6.5' 5+ year old. I also had one 8' het albino that I received at 6years of age, and she would only produce one out of every 3 years for me, but the litters were huge!

Aaron, I thought super motley centrals were just as plagued as colombians. I stand corrected and trust you 100%!

[bigsnakegirl785]

Originally Posted by Andy_G

Just to be clear, at no point in my previous post did I state that the earlier mature age of certain localities has solely to do with smaller adult size. I am fully aware that maturity and reaching adult size are very different, but the fact remains that nics as well as certain other localities do mature at younger ages. Nicaraguans in particular are notorious for being able to breed quite successfully at a younger age quite consistently. No idea who told you to that the magic number is 5 years for mature female boas, but there is nothing wrong with it of course. Better than someone telling you to try them at 2! Lots of people do 4 years, some do 5, although the latter are normally breeding BCC. If the female has the mature muscle mass and has not been power fed and is of proper condition, then she's ready.

Also something to note and not for you in particular...males can breed as young as 18-24 months of age no matter the locality. I've bred males as young as 18 months with success, but I have never tried to breed a female before their 4th season. Never got many slugs but I have only bred boas in particular a handful of times. As well, a big female may have larger litters but will also generally recover slower. The best breeder females I've owned were nice solid 6'-6.5' 5+ year old. I also had one 8' het albino that I received at 6years of age, and she would only produce one out of every 3 years for me, but the litters were huge!

Aaron, I thought super motley centrals were just as plagued as colombians. I stand corrected and trust you 100%!

Yes I realize males are sexually mature younger, hence why I said the males at least would be mature at 3 years old. I personally wouldn't breed an 18 month old, because I've heard of horror stories of ripped off hemipenes in ball python pairings, and even if it's not likely I would be paranoid. Besides, what's another year, year and a half? I'd like my male to be a good 3.5'-4' at minimum, and that's more the size of a 2-3 year old, 18 month old maybe but they don't always get that big that early. I hear big 6' males are problem breeders, but if a fit male is as eager as my 6.5' male is it may not be as much of a problem. The crazy snake tries to court me every time I take him out. -.- Poor guy doesn't know he's pet-only.

With the breeders who favor slow-growing their boas and waiting for the female to reach full sexual maturity, the youngest I've heard them breeding Colombians and BCC at least is 4.5 years, so I just rounded it up to 5 years.

I have heard even the dwarf locales mature about the same as the bigger ones, but maybe that's more due to caution on their part than anything, idk.