Silver-back Bolivian Boas are here! Our pair of Silver-back Bolivian Boas produced a litter back in September 2015. This was the first time producing Bolivians here, and it was really exciting to so this project come to fruition.
Since the early 90’s when Bolivian Boas were all the rage I’ve been wanting to work with these annals. Back then, Bolivians were not very common in Canada, and at the time I had other projects that occupied most of my time.
This pair had been breeding since early December (2014) and the female had me baffled. At first I thought she had ovulated and everything was coming along well. She ovulated, turned dark on me and shed a few weeks later. However, after she shed she regained her lighter background color and was feeding as normal.
In the past most of my gravid Boas (Boa imperator) have continued to feed while gravid, but they will thermoregulate and change in demeanor. However, this female in particular acted as she would throughout the year, and didn’t show the lateral body swelling/thinning of the dorsum as one would expect.
In the end, the birthing took place day 114 after post-shed where she produced 9 viable and 19 infertile. I believe it was the large number of infertile ovum that led to me questioning her gravid state.
- Sire: 2012 Silver-back Male, 1,400 grams
- Dame: 2008 Silver-back female, 14 lbs
- DOB: September 15th 2015
- Gestation: 118 days
- Litter: 9 live, 19 infertile
- Average weight of neonates: 46 grams