# Jamaican boa litter (Chilabothrus subflavus)



## LiasisUK

Myself and my partner were pleased to find a litter of Jamaican boas Sunday morning (3rd October). 

Wasn't sure she was going to produce as started eating again after a long fast. But she did! 12 live babies, 2 dead and 7 slugs. Not bad for a first time mum.


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## PH0EN1X

LiasisUK said:


> Myself and my partner were pleased to find a litter of Jamaican boas Sunday morning (3rd October).
> 
> Wasn't sure she was going to produce as started eating again after a long fast. But she did! 12 live babies, 2 dead and 7 slugs. Not bad for a first time mum.
> 
> View attachment 353943
> 
> 
> View attachment 353944


Those are stunning, would love a pair of these, good job


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## Malc

Looks like all the babies wanna piece of you...... bet if you stuck your hands in there 10 of them will come out, each attached to a finger


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## snaketats

Huge. Congrats a species I’ve like and searched for - for a long time


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## ian14

Lovely species. I had the fortune to work with loads when I did a stint at Jersey Zoo.


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## Jouletrix

My lord sooo beautiful and congratulations such an accomplishment!!! My i ask the length and weight of adults please?


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## Thommy python

That's incredible- good work. Keep me informed- should you decide to re-home any in the future.
Regards
Thomas


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## LiasisUK

Thanks all. 



ian14 said:


> Lovely species. I had the fortune to work with loads when I did a stint at Jersey Zoo.


I wanted them after I helped out at London Zoo haha! 



Jouletrix said:


> My lord sooo beautiful and congratulations such an accomplishment!!! My i ask the length and weight of adults please?


I have no idea what they weigh, I don't weigh any of my snakes as its pointless in my opinion. They are about 7/8 foot. 



Malc said:


> Looks like all the babies wanna piece of you...... bet if you stuck your hands in there 10 of them will come out, each attached to a finger


They did do that.. haha


They should be available in future once feeding, which I have been told can take an age with this species, and also after paperwork is sorted for them as they are CITES app 1


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## Thommy python

LiasisUK said:


> Thanks all.
> 
> 
> 
> I wanted them after I helped out at London Zoo haha!
> 
> 
> 
> I have no idea what they weigh, I don't weigh any of my snakes as its pointless in my opinion. They are about 7/8 foot.
> 
> 
> 
> They did do that.. haha
> 
> 
> They should be available in future once feeding, which I have been told can take an age with this species, and also after paperwork is sorted for them as they are CITES app 1


CITES UK are slow to process at the moment, expect a 2- 4 month turnaround- they're seriously under- resourced.


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## LiasisUK

Thommy python said:


> CITES UK are slow to process at the moment, expect a 2- 4 month turnaround- they're seriously under- resourced.


Thanks yes I had heard, I won't try until a few are eating anyway


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## Swindinian

👏👏👏👏 Beautiful!

Shame you can’t do trades with Vanessa Crutchfield in Florida 🤷🏻‍♂️ 
Hopefully there are a few others with decent stock nearer by.

Great result anyway 😁


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## John1975

Well done fantastic species. I tried to feed one of these live for 6months solid when I volunteered at a nature Center in the midlands. I’d never seen one before or since. They also had Cuban boas like Jamaican boas on steroids. They were all epicrates years back I think.


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## LiasisUK

They are notoriously difficult to get feeding as babies, we will see how it goes


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## Central Scotland Reptiles

Excellent Tom.


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## ian14

Many many moons ago, a good 25 years back, I was given a babish Epicrates striatus that had come in in a box of bananas.
It took a defrost small fuzzy a few days after I received it.


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## LiasisUK

Thanks Fraser, and Ian! 

They have mostly all shed now, so I shall offer some food. See how we get on


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## ian14

LiasisUK said:


> Thanks Fraser, and Ian!
> 
> They have mostly all shed now, so I shall offer some food. See how we get on


If I remember rightly, Jersey had no problems getting their babies to feed. Fingers crossed for you!


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## LiasisUK

Out of the 12 babies, 4 have had 2 meals and 2 have had 1 meal. Drop fed on chick scented pinkies, pretty good going. 

Will try another method for the stubborn 6. 
Pleased with these


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## Swindinian

Tom, how is it going with the other 6 stubborn feeders; have any more got the hint?

They really do looking cracking 😁


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## LiasisUK

9 out of 12 have eaten something now, still using same chick scenting method. 2 of the 9 have now taken just normal defrost pinkies, those 2 will probably feature in my holdbacks in the hope that being a good feeder is somewhat genetic. 

Going to try something else for the stubborn 3 left over, and if that doesn't work I will assist feed them.


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## Swindinian

LiasisUK said:


> 9 out of 12 have eaten something now, still using same chick scenting method. 2 of the 9 have now taken just normal defrost pinkies, those 2 will probably feature in my holdbacks in the hope that being a good feeder is somewhat genetic.
> 
> Going to try something else for the stubborn 3 left over, and if that doesn't work I will assist feed them.


Fantastic news Tom!

Having recently overcome issues with cheynei carpets and Stimsons, I have a new found appreciation for those dedicated in raising tricky feeders.

Really pleased for you 👍

Andy


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## Malc

It's great when hatchlings start feeding... I'm still having issues with a single royal, where as all 8 of his siblings are on their third or fourth feed. May try scenting a hopper mouse by rubbing it on a quail to see if that works !


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## LiasisUK

Yes Andy, It can be a real pain. Carpets in particular, the method I used for the jamboas is the same I used for carpets and stubborn gtps.

Malc, yes definitely try scenting with birds, if you do use blood as well as feathers. Makes a huge difference from my experience.


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## ian14

I'm trying to think how Jersey got theirs going and I'm fairly sure they skinned a chick thigh and put a pink inside the chick thigh skin.
Might be wrong as there were some ingenious methods being used to feed Round Island Boas too.


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## al stotton

Fantastic news that you got some of those beauties feeding Tom , I'm sure they will all eventually feed given time.

One suggestion I would make is to offer them food at night (late as poss) , my theory being once the environment and therefore the snake is cooler it can cue their nocturnal instincts. Of course a cooler snake detects prey that is essentially far warmer more efficiently , if that makes sense.

This is something I've had some success with in terms of North American Pituophis , whom require warmer temps than my Mexican natives.


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## LiasisUK

al stotton said:


> Fantastic news that you got some of those beauties feeding Tom , I'm sure they will all eventually feed given time.
> 
> One suggestion I would make is to offer them food at night (late as poss) , my theory being once the environment and therefore the snake is cooler it can cue their nocturnal instincts. Of course a cooler snake detects prey that is essentially far warmer more efficiently , if that makes sense.
> 
> This is something I've had some success with in terms of North American Pituophis , whom require warmer temps than my Mexican natives.


Thanks Al, hope you're well. 
That is what I have been doing, I have also found night time feeding is best for stubborn snakes, particularly pythons and boas. Good tip!



ian14 said:


> I'm trying to think how Jersey got theirs going and I'm fairly sure they skinned a chick thigh and put a pink inside the chick thigh skin.
> Might be wrong as there were some ingenious methods being used to feed Round Island Boas too.


Thanks Ian, for these ones I covered the pinkies in chick blood and then rolled them in chick feathers but I may try the skinning as a more 'intense' method.


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## LiasisUK

Update on these. 10 out of 12 of these animals eat now, some do still require a bit of chick smell to get them going. The other 2 I am assist feeding. 

I'll start the process of paperwork application ASAP


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## Swindinian

That is great progress, nice one Tom!


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## LiasisUK

Pic update. These are doing great.


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## Swindinian

Gorgeous Tom! 
I mean the snake, not you, no offence 😁


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## LiasisUK

An update on the Jamaicans. Of the 12 babies I managed to get 10 feeding successfully. I am keeping 1 female back for my own future breeding, I chose the best feeder in the hopes this may pass on to her future offspring. She now takes small mice.

I was going to holdback more but I managed to acquire 2.1 unrelated subadults so didn't feel the need to. 

Of the 2 difficult feeders unfortunately 1 did pass away, the other is still with us and is being assist fed. I'm hoping he learns how to take on his own eventually like his siblings did. 

Here is an image showing my holdback female and her dodgy feeding brother. The female is the same animal as in the pics in my previous post above. Both animals born October 2021


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