By Justin Smith
It was the fall of 2018. At this point, I had decided to shift my focus back to snakes as I slowly started selling my collection of Crested and Gargoyle Geckos. Chondros were a big part of the focus as well as some other snake species but I was looking for something different. At the time, several Boiga popped up for sale. As a kid (and even an adult) that genus had always caught my eye. I knew they had, historically, been considered a little tough to acclimate, especially the mangrove snakes due to their importation in large numbers. But one species I saw for sale were Boiga cyanea and captive bred neonates at that. I got a pair and within several days I opened a box with some green headed worms and with them, a new obsession.
I was given a heads up that it was very likely the pair would go off food for a while which meant I’d be assist feeding mouse tails until they decided to take to pinkies again. Sure enough, the seller was right. In dealing with that original pair and the neonates I’ve hatched recently (more on that later), I think it is safe to say that assist feeding should be expected with neonates of this species and some others in the genus. At the time I hadn’t had any experience assist feeding tails. Thanks to a video that Jordan posted on his youtube channel it seemed easy enough and in no time I was getting tails into my pair regularly without any issues. This “trial by fire” has come to be extremely helpful even outside of cyanea neonates.
A few weeks passed and both animals had gone back to eating pinkies with no problems. Unfortunately, the male of the pair started going downhill and eventually passed but the female was doing flawlessly. It wasn’t until June of 2019 that I managed to get my hands on another male. This one was a little bigger, a subadult import that was established and doing great.
A quick overview of keeping
Before I get into pairing, it’s probably wise to give a quick rundown of how I’m keeping the adults. A few years ago I came across these great sterilite brand tubs that are 200 quarts (50 gallons) with nice snug lids. I outfitted these tubs with a Python Portal from Specialty Enclosure Designs, a hide on the ground, a mounted removable hide (also from S3D), a 28 watt radiant heat panel on the opposite end, and a manzanita perch typically used for birds. I also offer a nice, large water bowl which helps keep humidity high. Under the heat panel I also offer a tub perch from S3D with ½” pvc legs to raise the platform up about mid-height of the tub that gives them a nice spot to bask under the heat. Finally, the tubs are really packed with fake foliage to give them plenty of visual barriers and security.
It should come as no surprise that this species isn’t likely to spend much time in the ground hide. However, they absolutely love the mounted hides and spend a large amount of time in them! A majority of the time I see my female out under the heat panel not long after lights-out. My male is a bit more secretive but does cruise some nights.
Humidity isn’t an issue here in the Southeast U.S. but the oversized water bow is a big help in keeping the air thick. The heat panels are hooked up to a thermostat that is set at 85F and they do great. Occasionally, the panels get unplugged by the snakes causing temps to dip into the upper 70s but, once again, they seem to do fine if things get a little cooler with no problems.
As neonates they can be a little tricky to get eating regularly. They come out of the egg incredibly small which I believe is a good indicator that they’re likely to be eating mainly small frogs and lizards. Once they come around to eating small pinkies they are usually eager feeders from that point on. But more on getting them there later!
My adult female rarely refuses food unless she is in a shed cycle. As for the males it isn’t uncommon for them to refuse food for periods of time but I find that if I offer them a cup with 3 or 4 live fuzzies in it, they magically disappear. Oftentimes I just leave a frozen thawed mouse in the mouth of the mounted hide and they handle the rest.
Pairing
We’re now in mid-June of 2020. I noticed my friend, Matt McDowell, had some Boiga producing and that the female was a similar size to my female. After some consideration and doing some research, I came to the conclusion that she was at a healthy weight to be paired. So I put my male in with her but wasn’t really expecting anything to come of it. Within 15 minutes they were locked! My male went straight to work pursuing her and wasted no time making it happen.
Something interesting to note here is when they were locked I noticed the female had some serious swelling right before the cloaca. My first reaction when I saw this was “oh no she’s impacted…” Then I wondered if I was going crazy because I was sure I didn’t see it before he went in since it was so obvious. But did I? I coaxed them into separating, tubed the female and inspected her. Nothing. The mysterious swelling had disappeared. I then gave them the next night or two off to make sure I REALLY wasn’t seeing things. Why this was strange is because I’ve never seen this kind of swelling before in any species when they are locked up. I was very confused and decided to get back on google and see what I could dig up. I ended up finding a post on an old Boiga forum from 2010 or 2011 that showed the same copulatory swelling and breathed a sigh of relief. Upon the second introduction of the pair there was some interest and a few more locks. After a few days it was obvious they had taken a break so I separated them once more.
A little over a month later (late July) it was clear that the female was gravid and going into a shed cycle. In the beginning of August, she went through her pre-lay shed and 2 weeks later dropped a clutch of 9 pearly white eggs! Her lay box was a standard tupperware container with damp sphagnum moss that I put in with her after her pre-lay shed. Before she dropped the clutch, I noticed she would pace a lot more while also going in and out of the lay box regularly. Personally, I like to put a lay box in earlier rather than later so the females can familiarize themselves with it. I also pulled out her water bowl a few days before I expected eggs just in case she decided that would be a better place for the clutch!
The long wait…
The hardest part of this whole process with breeding cyanea (or Boiga in general) is the long, long wait for incubation! I need some information on the best way to incubate the clutch so I coupled my google searches with talking to Chris Lgwrd in Europe since Boiga overall has a bigger following there than here in the States. He recommended that I use an egg box that is roughly 3 quarts in size on top of light diffuser over a medium like pearlite (I use and love aquatic plant soil) with a bit of damp sphagnum moss to the side. I added a very small hole in each corner of the lid of the tub to offer a little ventilation but still keep humidity high.
As for temps, Chris recommended day temps of 82F with a night drop to 78F. Whether the insulation of my former wine cooler turned incubator actually dropped down to that 78 for any extended period of time at night, I’m not sure, but the eggs looked healthy throughout incubation. I really loved this method of incubation because it kept the egg box humid but the eggs themselves were dry which is ideal.
It wasn’t until December 1st that the eggs hatched, a total of 114 days! I noticed the neonate had pipped which I then gently cut the rest of the clutch. One thing that I found very interesting was just how thick the egg shells were. Compared to other species I have bred previously, these shells seemed abnormally tough. However, after talking to some other people who have produced Boiga, this seems to be a normal thing.
It took 4 or 5 days for most of the neonates to make their way out of the egg. Unfortunately, there were a few that were full term but either died before they were to hatch or simply drowned in the albumin after cutting. I lost 3 this way and then lost 3 more after they had come out for reasons unknown. Where I THINK I went wrong was the egg box I used for this clutch. It had an opaque lid which meant to check on the eggs, I had to open the box and the main chamber of the incubator. My female laid a second clutch about a month after the first batch hatched. With that clutch I switched to a small gasket box with the same set up inside as the first. The difference here is I can use a flashlight to check on things, see the level of condensation, and not have to open the incubator as often, keeping things more stable. Whether this will make a difference or not? Time will tell as that clutch is still incubating.
I set up the neonates in a 6 quart tub in a rack with some perches from S3D, water, and a hide on paper towel. Since I’m not in and out of my room constantly I opted not to add some fake foliage. One of the most important parts when it comes to neonates is keeping them hydrated and humidity high so their first shed is easy on them. I mist mine and let the tub dry out until I mist it again. Since they are colubrids, they can be messy so making sure the paper towel is changed regularly will help prevent mold from growing and causing problems.
Neonates are the hardest part of breeding this species. As mentioned before, they don’t always take to pinkies from the start so expect to either be scenting or assist feeding mouse tails. I offered food before their first shed and had no takers. With this second clutch I’ll be waiting until after their first shed to offer anything since they seem to have no interest in food in that time anyway. Assist feeding tails, in my opinion, is the simplest and less stressful option if you have neonates refusing their first or second meal. While tails may not be as nutrient filled as assist feeding whole day-old pinkies or pinkie heads, I think it’s better to get a tail in them in under 30 seconds than to tease feed for several minutes. I still offer pinkies and if they don’t eat them via drop feeding then they get a tail and I repeat this process until they decide to start eating whole pinkies on their own. This process usually only takes a few weeks.
Conclusion
This piece is by no means an expert guide on breeding Boiga cyanea but simply my experience with my first clutch. Overall I found this species to be extremely easy to breed with the challenges coming once neonates are out. The Boiga genus really is a great and interesting group of snakes that I wish had a bit more of a following here in the U.S. but at the same time they aren’t a group that is for everyone. I very much look forward to breeding my cyanea again later this year and getting more species of the genus!
