#snake replies

I do breed longis. I had a Denton line litter this year (a repeat of Jasmine x Oolong), but they won't be ready until spring. I’m not sure what will be available at the moment as I’m doing a couple trades this season.

It happens when blood pools in the hemipene due to injury or blockage, and is more or less an excessively long, painful erection. In snakes the opening where the hemipene everts is very tiny and extended swelling will cut blood supply to the organ, causing it to die/dry out and become necrotic (which very quickly leads to infection and left untreated, death). In BB’s case there was no blockage, no twisting or injury, and the organ was structurally sound. The vet thinks Sas was just a bit rough with him. I’d guess she probably pulled away when he was trying to lock up with her since it looked like she was ready to ovulate. 

Thanks much! It’s difficult to make any definitive statements on the Southies, if I recall right the port of origin did not match where they were initially collected and no one seems to really know exactly *where* that collection occurred. Some of the early scale counts suggest they may be closer to (or are) Brazil BC, but the range of amarali extends quite a bit into southern Brazil - moreso than it does into Bolivia or Paraguay - and there appears to be ample opportunity for intergradation. Personally, I’d guess the Southies are intergrades.  

I don’t think Lemke/King/Belknap intentionally crossed their South Brazils with North Brazils, but we are seeing those crosses now from breeders in Europe (Southie x North, Southie x Bolivian). I assume the founders of those lines did a fair amount of selective breeding just within the animals they had, much like how Joe Terry developed the Silverback line of Bolivians. 

There’s some truth to that, but you don’t need the latest and greatest in morphs or morph combos to breed. What you should be looking for in whatever you purchase for breeding, is quality. Keep what you enjoy first and foremost, and if you have any inclination towards breeding it, make sure your animals are stellar examples of whatever morph or locale they represent, because quality begets quality. 

The market is carrying a number of ‘high end’ multi-gene animals that are relatively low quality animals, because people buy just to have and produce those genes without taking the time to thoughtfully consider the impact of good selective breeding. It also carries a number of low end, low quality animals - it spans the range. So again, keep what you like, but be real choosy about it. And if you’re considering pairing, you need to be watching what the market is doing. Know what’s popular, become familiar with prices, projects, etc so you know how best to plan your project(s) and what to expect as far as you being able to move out babies. Many people underestimate the amount of time it takes to move a litter of boas. 

To address the last point - yes, you should not breed an animal you are willing to lose because complications *can* happen. Gravid females drop dead, they slug out and die, they can be slug bound/ retain slugs and suffer sepsis, they can intentionally or intentionally kill your male, etc. Stuff happens when you work with live animals, basically. That said, I do believe when more people start screening their collections for arenavirus the boa hobby as a whole will see less breeding season deaths.