Kofiau Isle locale Candoia carinata

[Tula_Montage]

Ity bity tree boas! They don't tolerate being handled, so I leave them to it. But they are ridiculously pretty wee things. I have missed out shots of Wolfie the other male as he is in shed.

This bunch must be around the 10 year mark. Or older. They were WC as adults, were with someone else for 3 years and I have had them for almost 4. They still look fantastic!

Lyra

Lunar Dawn (Proven mumma with me twice)

Obsydian Fire, creamy velvety boy!

 

[Kokopelli]

Did you successfully breed them?
I recall one attempt that wasn't successful.

 

[Tula_Montage]

Now this is a sore spot. Yep, successfully bred them again. Failed to keep the babies alive. I could never get them to feed. The last one passed away after 8 months. They stress so easily to force or assist feeding should be a last resort. That would make them keel over quicker than the starvation. Shots taken after the babies died

 

[RobbiesCornField]

They're such pretty wee boas.

The babies are such a sad story... I'm almost wondering if they would do better kept in some sort of an enclosure with live frogs or something of the like so they can start feeding at their leisure, and aren't really stressed out by anything, other than the occasional tank misting/spot clean. Don't even separate them. Just leave them together and see what happens; let nature take it's course, you could say.

 

[Tula_Montage]

They're such pretty wee boas.

The babies are such a sad story... I'm almost wondering if they would do better kept in some sort of an enclosure with live frogs or something of the like so they can start feeding at their leisure, and aren't really stressed out by anything, other than the occasional tank misting/spot clean. Don't even separate them. Just leave them together and see what happens; let nature take it's course, you could say.

The huge downfall of this is the availability of frogs factor and the stress factor. If I started them this way, I would need to keep them this way for a long time, perhaps always. I don't know where I would successfully get that amount of frogs from and then I need to consider the constant treatment for internal parasites that would be inevitable. Frogs also require very high humidity, these don't. I would not cohabit these as babies, they stress at the slightest of things and have heart attacks on the spot. I had to keep mine completely in the dark as even exposure to light could cause them to keel over (proven by someone rather successful in keeping candoia sp babies alive). They CAN be established. But with only 2 babies to work on it was very difficult to provide experimental environments that different to see which did best and which didn't. The baby died before I had the chance to try some methods known to work. It's a very slow process not being able to disturb them more than once a week, preferably less.

 

[RobbiesCornField]

Hmmm... Well then there goes my theory! I just wish you better luck should you choose to try again.

 

[Tula_Montage]

Lol sorry to shoot you down Robbie They are also absolutely tiny. 2 grams tiny...

 

[Kokopelli]

Oi I am sorry for raising that issue...
They look great... really.
You know, back here, people who breed L.Mexicana kings, they too have issues feeding the wee guys(and they are even smaller than baby Boas as hatchlings).

Usually, they find a gecko, kill it, and open it up... they dip f/t pinkies into the blood and rub it around... kind of eww, I know, but it actually gets the job done... within 3-4 meals they accept f/t without any need to resort to the lizard rubbing thing.

The gecko can be reused- simply frozen and thawed out again when needed... the flesh is not consumed, only the smell is used.

You probably thought about this already, but I thought I'd mention it again.

 

[diamondlil]

What excellent funny faces they have!
At 2 grams, trying to get those babies feeding without stressing them is a hell of a task. Is it known what they eat in the wild? As they are tree boas, would zebra finch hatchlings be an idea, or would they still be too big?

 

[Weda737]

I love those funky faces, just can't get enough of those pics.

 

[Tula_Montage]

Oi I am sorry for raising that issue...
They look great... really.
You know, back here, people who breed L.Mexicana kings, they too have issues feeding the wee guys(and they are even smaller than baby Boas as hatchlings).

Usually, they find a gecko, kill it, and open it up... they dip f/t pinkies into the blood and rub it around... kind of eww, I know, but it actually gets the job done... within 3-4 meals they accept f/t without any need to resort to the lizard rubbing thing.

The gecko can be reused- simply frozen and thawed out again when needed... the flesh is not consumed, only the smell is used.

You probably thought about this already, but I thought I'd mention it again.

I tired everything gecko/lizard scented in many different forms with no luck. I couldn't source ANY live babies that were small enough either I think if I were to breed next time I would set up an established breeding colony of anoles or mourning geckos to ensure there was something live available if needed.

What excellent funny faces they have!
At 2 grams, trying to get those babies feeding without stressing them is a hell of a task. Is it known what they eat in the wild? As they are tree boas, would zebra finch hatchlings be an idea, or would they still be too big?

Funnily enough J9 for tree boas they don't spend much of their time in trees. The mothers actually dig down deep into the forest floor to give birth, so the babies are born in almost complete darkness. I obviously recreated this and tried feeding on things like worms, waxies etc with no luck. It is known that exposure to light at such a young age is a heart attack waiting to happen...

 

[diamondlil]

Ok, this sounds a bit odd even to me.......how about night vision goggles and syringe feeding the little buggers in the dark?

 

[Tula_Montage]

Thats pretty much what I did J9!