# True Olive*House, Boaedon Olivaceus



## pants125 (Jan 30, 2009)

I'm thinking bout breeding my olive house snake sometime next year does anyone know the recommended weight for breeding female


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## Twiglet (May 6, 2009)

I dont keep olivacious but do keep several other species. Personally I'd want to.wait until shes st least two and a half years old and solid. If shes older than this but still growing fast then I'd wait longer. I wouldn't stress about breeding weights, just make sure she's mature enough and solid.


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## bloodpython22 (Feb 19, 2010)

pants125 said:


> I'm thinking bout breeding my olive house snake sometime next year does anyone know the recommended weight for breeding female


Would.nt worry to much about weight if she looks right go for it I'm waiting on eggs from my true olives at minute


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## pants125 (Jan 30, 2009)

Cheers for replys she is just under 2 yrs so gonna breed her towards end of nxt yr she is a good size at the min which is y I wanted to see if anyone had a idea of weight as a guide line


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## bloodpython22 (Feb 19, 2010)

pants125 said:


> Cheers for replys she is just under 2 yrs so gonna breed her towards end of nxt yr she is a good size at the min which is y I wanted to see if anyone had a idea of weight as a guide line


My female olive is nearly 3ft and male 2ft.....female is in prelay shed now so expecting eggs in next 10-14days


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## Tim Hallam (Aug 17, 2010)

I'm interested to know how many "true olives" are actually "true olives" because I have my doubts. 
so to be blunt get your sub-caudals out!:2thumb:

seriously folks I'm genuinely intrigued cheers Tim.


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## Tim Hallam (Aug 17, 2010)

*olive pics*

here's a few I produced recently 

regards Tim


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## pants125 (Jan 30, 2009)

I would say that's bout size of my olives 3ft female and my male is a short ass at 2 ft (and a fuzzy eater ) 
Tim I have 3 olives from 3 different people/suppliers what should I be looking for at the sub caudals 
Do you think alot mite have been cross bred with cape house snakes


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## bloodpython22 (Feb 19, 2010)

pants125 said:


> I would say that's bout size of my olives 3ft female and my male is a short ass at 2 ft (and a fuzzy eater )
> Tim I have 3 olives from 3 different people/suppliers what should I be looking for at the sub caudals
> Do you think alot mite have been cross bred with cape house snakes


yes there is alot that have been crossed and then sold as olives


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## Tim Hallam (Aug 17, 2010)

*sub -caudals*

Hi,
true Olive House snakes _Boaedon olivaceus _should have un-divided sub-caudals that is to say they should have single caudal scales and not paired scales running from the cloaca to the tip of the tail. Olives are the only species of house snake to exhibit this, I have yet to see a true Olive house snake and believe that all are in fact hybrids , yes they have the characteristic deep olive colouration and yes they have the ruby red eyes but they are not pure Olives in the last 15 years or so a lot of brown house snakes were exported from Tanzania, a characteristic of many of the Tanzanian form of the brown house snake is their deep olive colouration and red/brown eyes. so are our Olives actually Olive browns? or are they hybrids ? or is science wrong and they are indeed pure Olives? 

One thing to take on board is the natural range of _ Boaedon olivaceus_ they are a tropical equatorial species found in countries that to my knowledge do not allow export indeed some of those countries are for the most part out of bounds and dangerous places to be. Olives are reported to be difficult to raise and keep alive in captivity and can be picky feeders and require a higher humidity than other species.it would seem even amongst African herp Circles they are difficult to obtain. Okay so you might say that they are descendants of Olive house snakes brought into captivity before these countries "closed" but considering how prolific house snakes are they're not really common enough in the hobby to support that.

My Olives (which were sold to me in good faith by both parties as pure olives) couldn't be easier and are egg laying machines my male was 8" long when he first sired and my two females were around 15" when they first laid eggs 8 from one 11 from another and I had 18 out of the 19 hatch and all babies have fed without hesitation both females produced another clutch after around three weeks which are still incubating and both are gravid again now and they are only around a year old they have never stopped feeding except to slough I have found cornsnakes to be more difficult.! 

now does that sound like typical _Boaedon olivaceus_ behaviour?:hmm:

so if anybody can quosh my theory then please please do! so show me your Olives, better still sell them to me :2thumb:
I have been at loggerheads with myself as to what to call my babies if I sell them as true olives then I'm a liar if I don't then I sell them "short" and somebody else will, I am happy to disclose this info partly to justify the existence of these "olives" and to not keep anything from people . for future reference I'll probably sell them and refer to them as "hobby Olives" as they're likely to be the only "true Olives" you're gonna get.
but PLEASE somebody prove me wrong.

regards Tim 
ps I'm not selling any until I get to a hundred!


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## pants125 (Jan 30, 2009)

Mmm just checked my 3 and all 3 have divided sub caudals scales 
Any one else checked there's


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