Category Archives: Conservation

Breeding the endangered Jamaican Boa, Chilabothrus subflavus

Boa, Captive breeding, Chilabothrus, Conservation, , , ,

Jamaican Boas have been bred as a measure of conservation since the 1970s.  Today the species is still listed as Vulnerable (VU) by IUCN and listed in Appendix I of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).  The species is currently kept by multiple zoos and aquaria as well as private breeders.  We sum up the annual breedings of this boa that we are aware of.  Westindianboas.org provided over the years several breeders with breeding stock animals in the US.  Unfortunately, restrictions make the export of this species unnecessarily difficult.  Considering the good breeding successes on both sides of the Atlantic, it should be in the interest of conservation to exchange genetic material and thus continue to maintain a diverse genetic foundation for conservation.

Several litters of the Jamaican Boa, Chilabothrus subflavus, were born this season in the US, the UK and the EU.  This particular litter, shown below, was born 9 September, 2021.  Produced by Rob Stone of the US, the litter numbered 17 live with no stillborn or unfertilized ovum.  Neonate weights ranged from 10.83 g to 13.93 g, with a mean of 12.98 g.  SVL of the neonates was 25.72 cm to 33.18 cm, with a mean of 30.13 cm.

Sire of the litter. Photo Rob Stone
Dam of the litter. Photo Rob Stone
Sea of subflavus. Photo Rob Stone

The Jamaican Boa is highly variable in color and pattern; the ontogenetic color change will take 18 – 24 months to complete.
The following litters were also produced during the 2021 season:

  • UK:  12 live, 2 stillborn and 7 unfertilized ova on 3 October, 2021.  Bred by Tom Middlebrook and Faye Da Costa.
  • US:  15 live, 1 unfertilized ovum on 27 September, 2021.  Bred by David Muth and Jared Rager.
  • US:  34 live, 3 stillborn and 3 or 4 unfertilized ova on 26 September, 2021.  Bred by Tom Crutchfield.
  • Germany:  9 live, 1 stillborn and 6 unfertilized ova on 14 September, 2021.  Bred by Sebastian Hölch.
UK litter of 12. Photo Tom Middlebrook and Faye Da Costa

Visit the chapter for the Jamaican Boa here for more in depth information and photos.

Chilabothrus neonate season continues with Bahamas Boas

Captive breeding, Chilabothrus, Conservation, Natural History, , , , , , ,

The Bahamas Boa Chilabothrus s. strigilatus is a species that relatively few private persons keep and, to our knowledge, no zoo worldwide has these fascinating boas on display.  We are more than pleased to announce that a litter of C. strigilatus was  born on October 1st in Germany.

Chilabothrus strigilatus babies with snake mother

Birth began in the morning hours from 8.30am.  The moon phase was in between half and new moon.  The pressure system was high and the morning was sunny, however, in the evening a low pressure system came in and it started to rain.

The post ovulation shed of the female boa occurred on June 13th, thus 110 days passed between post ovulation shed and birth.  Noticeably, the yolk was entirely used up in all babies and only the allantois was present as extraembryonic tissue.

Chilabothrus strigilatus babies the first sight

The litter contained 27 perfectly healthy babies. weighing between 12 and 16 grams.  Average weight was 14.07 grams.  The length of the babies is around 43 cm.  The litter did not contain any unfertilized eggs, deformed or stillborn babies.

Chilabothrus strigilatus babies with mother

The relative clutch mass (RCM) indicates the amount of mass spent on the babies by their mother.  The babies had a combined birth weight of 380 grams and the mother weighed post parturition 1087g.  The RCM is calculated as: baby mass / (baby mass + mother mass post parturition).  The mother spent 25.9% of her mass in babies, not accounting for fluids and extraembryonic tissue which could not be accurately weighed.

Chilabothrus strigilatus babies
Chilabothrus strigilatus baby on hand

More information on the species can be found here.

Corallus cookii; documenting its life cycle in captivity

Captive breeding, Conservation, Corallus, , , ,

A small litter of Corallus cookii, born September 26 at approximately 10:00 p.m., consisted of six live neonates, three small unfertilized ovum and no stillborn.  The neonates weighed 5.51 g to 14.09 g with an average weight of 11.86 g.  The female moved away from the heat source immediately after shedding on 16 September.  She also dropped a large quantity of pre-birth material in the bowel movement.

Litter of six C. cookii born September 26, 2021.

There is a variety of pattern and color between the neonates, though this polymorphism is not as pronounced as it is with C. hortunalus or C. grenadensis.

The iconic rhomboids found on C. cookii.

The female  boa, once finished with parturition,  consumed all three unfertilized ovum-possibly the first time this behavior has been documented in the species.

A total of three litters was produced in 2021:

  • US:  6 live and 3 unfertilized ovum on 26 September.  Smallest neonate weighed 5.51 g and the largest weighed 14 g with an average weight of 11.86 g.
  • US:  5 live, 1 stillborn and 6 unfertilized ovum on 8 October.  Smallest neonate weighed 7.96 g and the largest weighed 9.89 g with an average weight of 8.65 g.
  • US:  5 live, 1 stillborn and 2 unfertilized ovum on 8 October.  Smallest neonate weighed 7.4 g and the largest weighed 12.0 g with an average of 10.18 g.

For more photos and a complete overview of the species, view the C. cookii chapter.

 

Research News – Chilabothrus strigilatus

Conservation

The Bahama Boa, Chilabothrus strigilatus, was first described in 1862.  However, even almost 160 years after it’s first description, the ecology of this boa still holds many facts that are unknown to science.

The team of Sebastian Hoefer and colleagues were interested in several biological aspects of the snakes occurring on Eleuthera Island.  In their recent study they investigated two snake species occurring on Eleuthera Island and compared prey as well as endoparasite prevalence in the snakes .

Eleuthera Island is one of several islands and cays where Chilabothrus strigilatus occurs. Eleuthera Island has a surface area of 457 km2, maximum elevation of 60 meters above sea level, is 120 km long and, in places, 1 km wide.  Eleuthera Island is located on the eastern part of the Great Bahama Bank.

The study took place from 19 August 2019 to 16 March 2020.  The researchers took the approach to collect road killed specimens of the snakes on Eleuthera and investigate stomach contents as well as parasite load.  This approach is unique and offers detailed insights without sacrificing healthy snakes.

The team investigated across four habitat types and the road was investigated up to four times daily by car or bike.  As a result, the researchers collected 270 road killed snakes representing all four species (232 Bahamian Racers, 31 Bahamian Boas, 6 Northern Bahamas Tropidophis, and 1 Cuban Brown Blindsnake) occurring across Eleuthera.  During this seven-month period, road killed snakes amounted to 35.5 snakes per month or 1.2 a day.  For Bahamian Boas, this translated to 5.2 road kills per month.  Road mortality was previously studied on another Bahamian boa species, Chilabothrus exsul on Abaco Island .  The study concluded that on Abaco island 1.6 Boas are lost per week due to road mortality.  This amounts to a total of 83.2 Boas per year.  The data of Hoefer and colleagues amounts to an annual loss of 62.4 boas.  Thus road mortality and increased traffic poses a serious threat to at least two Bahamian boa species.

The main aim of the study however was the prey selection and parasite load.  The Bahamian Racer Cubophis vudii vudii feeds predominantly on lizards (Anolis sp.).  However, they found the Racers to be opportunistic generalists and in addition to documenting oophagy for the first time in any Bahamian snake, they also described two snakes,  Tropidophis canus barbouri and Typhlops lumbricalis, as prey items of the Racer.

In contrast, the diet of Bahamian Boas consisted exclusively of of anoles and rats.  Juvenile boas fed exclusively on anoles and adults consumed only rats.  This finding confirms an ontogenetic shift in the feeding ecology of the Bahamian Boa.

Regarding the endoparasite load, it was interesting that nematodes were found in most of the racers but none of the boas.  One explanation for this observation is that sample size was different in Boas and Racers but this could also be attributable to differences in activity, movement patterns and foraging behavior between the species.

More information on Bahamas boas can be found here.

Citations

Corallus grenadensis; documenting its life cycle in captivity

Captive breeding, Conservation, Corallus, Natural History

A small litter of seven live, 1 stillborn and six unfertilized ovum was laid on 28 August.  They will now be separated, individually set up and assist fed small anoles for the first 3 or 4 meals until they take anoles on their own.  They undergo the same ontogenetic color change as other boas in the genus-they will look entirely different as adults.  In the EU Johan Versluis had a litter of four live, two stillborn and several unfertilized ovum, born on 22 September.  The babies weighed 4.85g to 6.03g, with an average weight of

Two C. grenadensis born Aug 28, with anolis sagrei as first foods.
7 C. grenadensis born Aug 28, shed from Sep 10-12.
Two C. grenadensis, freshly shed on 10 Sep.

See the Chapter on Corallus grenadensis for more in depth information on the genus and species in particular.

A fantastic discovery – Chilabothrus ampelophis

Chilabothrus, Conservation, Natural History

A small team of researchers make a unique discovery.

Miguel A. Landestoy T., R. Graham Reynolds and Robert W. Henderson found and described a new species of Chilabothrus on the well studied Island of Hispaniola. They describe the new species as Chilabothrus ampelophis – the Hispaniolan Vineboa – in the Journal Breviora . The boa was discovered on the Barahona Peninsula on the Dominico-Haitian Border in a very small area of less than 10 km2.

Phylogenetic relationships of Chilabothrus species (Figure from Landestoy T. et al. 2021)

The new species Chilabothrus ampelophis differs from C. fordii in body, head, snout shape, scalation, coloration and pattern. It is on the molecular level phylogenetically unique. Morphologically the species appears to fall between C. fordii and C. gracilis, which the researchers consider as a accentuation of the probable ecological differences from its sister species C. fordii.
Interestingly, the researchers found a -as of yet undescribed- Tropidophis species in the same area. This is a reminder of how little we know, even in areas populated by humans and in scientifically well studied regions like the island of Hispaniola. We can only speculate how many species might have gone extinct without us ever knowing of their existence in the intensely altered part of the island on the Haitian side.

The press releases are here and here.

This is a reminder to protect what we know – and what we don’t know.

Citation

Climate Change and the importance of captive breeding for species survival

Boa, Captive breeding, Chilabothrus, Climate Change, Conservation, Corallus, ,

Humans as a species behave in interesting ways.  We respond to events such as a terrorist attack, a flooding or a wildfire with some sort of intellectual answer – not always the right response but that’s a different story.  On the other hand, dramatic events that affect our world as a whole and which are long lasting seem too big to fathom.
One such event is the ocean circulation of the Atlantic Ocean, which includes the Gulf Stream, has probably lost stability over the past century and could now be facing a crucial tipping point.  The news should have sent shockwaves through the world – but it didn’t.
Niklas Boers, a climate researcher of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) came to conclude this.  He published his findings in the Journal,  Nature Climate Change .

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/97/Hurricane_Maria_2017-09-19_1742Z_%28gallery%29.jpg
Hurricane Maria to the southeast of Puerto Rico. Source Wikimedia Commons
Why is this important and what does it mean?

The Gulf Stream is considered the long-distance heater of Europe, as it brings heat as far as the British Isles and off the coast of Norway.  The Gulf Stream, in turn, is part of the larger Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC).  This carries warm and salty water northward at the ocean surface, while cold and low-salinity water flows back at depth.  Based on evidence from Earth’s history, researchers suspect that the circulatory system can, in principle, switch between two different operating states: a strong circular motion, as currently observed, and a much weaker one.
Because the AMOC system redistributes large amounts of heat, it affects weather worldwide. A sudden change from the strong to the weak state would therefore have serious consequences: Europe would possibly cool, while hurricanes would increase over the Atlantic.
A number of factors are probably responsible for the approach to the tipping point.  The increased input of freshwater originating from the melting of the Greenland ice masses is a main factor while, in addition, precipitation and input from rivers into the ocean have also increased as a result of climate change.  Fresh water is lighter than salt water and therefore tends to remain at the surface instead of sinking into the depths.  This process is slowing down the normal ocean circulation.
Boers traced the telltale signs of change in ocean circulation, such as saltwater content and ocean temperature, back over 150 years.  His analysis shows that the AMOC system transitioned from relatively stable conditions to a point near a critical threshold over the last century.

And the boas?

We saw in the recent past glimpses of what hurricane intensification means for the West Indies. Hurricane Maria devastated the northeastern West Indies in September 2017, particularly Dominica (Category 5), Saint Croix, US Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico (Category 4) were affected. It is regarded as the worst natural disaster in recorded history to affect those islands. Considering the above mentioned study, we need to prepare for more of this.
But even if some islands are unaffected by hurricanes, and aside from big tangible impacts, even a small change in weather, which might not be considered as dramatic in human terms, might have a huge impact on the boas. The food source of the boas might be affected and most probably the ability to reproduce will be strongly affected, since reproductive stimuli to which the boas evolved are altered and the chances of proper thermoregulation for gravid females might decline.
We have but one chance to improve the likelihood of survival for the West Indian Boas – captive breeding through willing institutions and the Invisible Ark.

Addendum

On August 9th the IPCC published it’s Sixth Assessment Report .

Key findings:

  • Global surface temperature was 1.09C higher in the last decade (2011-2020) than in the last pre industrialisation half century (1850-1900).
  • The past five years have been the hottest on record since 1850
  • The recent rate of sea level rise has nearly tripled compared with 1901-1971
  • Human influence is “very likely” (90%) the main driver of the global retreat of glaciers since the 1990s and the decrease in Arctic sea-ice
  • It is virtually certain that hot extremes including heatwaves have become more frequent and more intense since the 1950s, while cold events have become less frequent and less severe

https://www.ipcc.ch/assessment-report/ar6/

Citations
Tolson, Peter J., and Robert W. Henderson. 1993. The Natural History of West Indian Boas. 1st ed. Taunton, Somerset, England : Excelsior, MN, USA: R & A Pub. ; Distributed in the Americas by Eric Thiss Serpent’s Tale.
Secor, Stephen M., P. J. Tolson, and R. W. Henderson. 1995. “The Natural History of West Indian Boas by P. J. Tolson; R. W. Henderson - Bookreview by: Stephen M. Secor.” Copeia 1995 (1): 254. https://doi.org/10.2307/1446832.
Losos, Jonathan B. 1990. “The Evolution of Form and Function: Morphology and Locomotor Performance in West Indian Anolis Lizards.” Evolution 44 (5): 1189. https://doi.org/10.2307/2409282.
LOSOS, JONATHAN B, and BARRY SINERVO. 1989. “THE EFFECTS OF MORPHOLOGY AND PERCH DIAMETER ON SPRINT PERFORMANCE OF ANOLIS LIZARDS.” Journal of Experimental Biology 145: 23–30.
Hedges, S. Blair, Carla A. Hass, and Linda R. Maxson. 1992. “Caribbean Biogeography: Molecular Evidence for Dispersal in West Indian Terrestrial Vertebrates.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 89: 1909–13. http://www.jstor.org/stable/2358899.
Murphy, John C., Alvin L. Braswell, Stevland P. Charles, Renoir J. Auguste, Gilson A. Rivas, Amaël Borzée, Richard M. Lehtinen, and Michael J. Jowers. 2019. “A New Species of Erythrolamprus from the Oceanic Island of Tobago (Squamata, Dipsadidae).” ZooKeys 817 (January): 131–57. https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.817.30811.
Babtiste, April Karen, and Richard Smardon. 2012. “A Review of Wetland Use and Management of the Nariva Swamp,Trinidad.” Caribbean Geography 17 (September): 73–91.
Letsch, Wolfgang. 1986. “Haltung Und Vermehrung von Epicrates Angulifer (Cocteau Und Bibron 1840).” Elaphe 8 (3): 41–44.
Hailey, Adrian, Julia Horrocks, and Byron Wilson. 2011. “Conservation of Insular Herpetofaunas in the West Indies.” In Conservation of Caribbean Island Herpetofaunas Volume 1: Conservation Biology and the Wider Caribbean, edited by Adrian Hailey, Byron Wilson, and Julia Horrocks, 1:181–95. Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill. https://brill.com/view/journals/ah/3/3/article-p181.xml.
Booth, Warren, Daniel H. Johnson, Sharon Moore, Coby Schal, and Edward L. Vargo. 2011. “Evidence for Viable, Non-Clonal but Fatherless Boa Constrictors.” Biology Letters 7 (2): 253–56. https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2010.0793.
Buden, Donald W. 2007. “Reptiles of Satawan Atoll and the Mortlock Islands, Chuuk State, Federated States of Micronesia.” Pacific Science 61 (3): 415–28. https://doi.org/10.2984/1534-6188(2007)61[415:ROSAAT]2.0.CO;2.
Buden, Donald W. 2015. “Reptiles of Uman District Islands (Southeastern Chuuk Lagoon and Kuop Atoll), Federated States of Micronesia.” Pacific Science 69 (2): 271–79. https://doi.org/10.2984/69.2.9.
Henderson, Robert W. 1997. “A Taxonomic Review of the Corallus Hortulanus Complex of Neotropical Tree Boas.” Caribbean Journal of Science 33 (3–4): 198–221.
Ford, Neil B., and Richard A. Seigel. 1989. “Phenotypic Plasticity in Reproductive Traits: Evidence from a Viviparous Snake.” Ecology 70 (6): 1768–74. https://doi.org/10.2307/1938110.
Henderson, Robert W., Michael J. Pauers, and Timothy J. Colston. 2013. “On the Congruence of Morphology, Trophic Ecology, and Phylogeny in Neotropical Treeboas (Squamata: Boidae: Corallus ): Morphology, Trophic Ecology, and Phylogeny in Treeboas.” Biological Journal of the Linnean Society 109 (2): 466–75. https://doi.org/10.1111/bij.12052.
Dunn, R. W. 1979. “Breeding Children’s Pythons Liasis Childreni at Melbourne Zoo.” International Zoo Yearbook 19 (1): 89–90. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1748-1090.1979.tb00535.x.
Mattioli, Fabio, Claudia Gili, and Franco Andreone. 2006. “Economics of Captive Breeding Applied to the Conservation of Selected Amphibian and Reptile Species from Madagascar.” Natura 95 (2): 67–80.
Mercado, Javier, Esteban Terranova, and Jr Wunderle Joseph. 2002. “Avian Mobbing of the Puerto Rican Boa (Epicrates Inornatus).” Caribbean Journal of Science 38 (1–2): 125–26.
Schwartz, Albert, Robert Powell, Robert W. Henderson, and Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles, eds. 1996. Contributions to West Indian Herpetology: A Tribute to Albert Schwartz. Contributions to Herpetology, v. 12. Ithaca, N.Y.: Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles.
Thomas, Richard. 1963. “Cayman Islands Tropidophis (Reptilia, Serpentes),.” Breviora 195: 1–8.
Wagner, Philipp, Adam D. Leaché, and Matthew K. Fujita. 2014. “Description of Four New West African Forest Geckos of the Hemidactylus Fasciatus Gray, 1842 Complex, Revealed by Coalescent Species Delimitation.” Bonn Zoological Bulletin 63 (1): 1–14.
ZIEGLER, THOMAS, NORBERT RÜTZ, JOHANNES OBERREUTER, and SIMONE HOLST. 2010. “First F2 Breeding of the Quince Monitor Lizard Varanus Melinus Böhme & Ziegler, 1997 at the Cologne Zoo Aquarium.” Biawak 4 (3): 82–92.
Hallowell, Edward. 1860. “On a New Genus of Boidae from Cuba.” Transactions of the American Philosophical Society 11: 65. https://doi.org/10.2307/3231926.
BAUER, AARON M, TODD R JACKMAN, ROSS A SADLIER, and ANTHONY H WHITAKER. n.d. “Revision of the Giant Geckos of New Caledonia (Reptilia: Diplodactylidae: Rhacodactylus),” 52.
Andrews, Robin M., and Tom Mathies. 2000. “Natural History of Reptilian Development: Constraints on the Evolution of Viviparity.” BioScience 50 (3): 227. https://doi.org/10.1641/0006-3568(2000)050[0227:NHORDC]2.3.CO;2.
Wilson, Edward O, and Frances M Peter. 1988. Biodiversity. http://site.ebrary.com/id/10068400.
Costa, Fernando G., and Fernando Pérez-Miles. 2002. “REPRODUCTIVE BIOLOGY OF URUGUAYAN THERAPHOSIDS (ARANEAE, MYGALOMORPHAE).” Journal of Arachnology 30 (3): 571–87. https://doi.org/10.1636/0161-8202(2002)030[0571:RBOUTA]2.0.CO;2.
Duméril, A. M. C., and G. Bibron. 1841. Erpétologie Générale ou Histoire Naturelle compléte des Reptiles. 8th ed. Paris: Libraire Encyclopédique de Roret.
Barichivich, Jonathan, Emanuel Gloor, Philippe Peylin, Roel J W Brienen, Jochen Schöngart, Jhan Carlo Espinoza, and Kanhu C Pattnayak. 2018. “Recent Intensification of Amazon Flooding Extremes Driven by Strengthened Walker Circulation.” SCIENCE ADVANCES, 8.
Williams, R. H., D. McGee, C. W. Kinsley, D. A. Ridley, S. Hu, A. Fedorov, I. Tal, R. W. Murray, and P. B. deMenocal. 2016. “Glacial to Holocene Changes in Trans-Atlantic Saharan Dust Transport and Dust-Climate Feedbacks.” Science Advances 2 (11): e1600445–e1600445. https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.1600445.
Lovejoy, Thomas E., and Carlos Nobre. 2018. “Amazon Tipping Point.” Science Advances 4 (2): eaat2340. https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.aat2340.
Bathiany, Sebastian, Vasilis Dakos, Marten Scheffer, and Timothy M. Lenton. 2018. “Climate Models Predict Increasing Temperature Variability in Poor Countries.” Science Advances 4 (5): eaar5809. https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.aar5809.
Levine, Naomi M., Ke Zhang, Marcos Longo, Alessandro Baccini, Oliver L. Phillips, Simon L. Lewis, Esteban Alvarez-Dávila, et al. 2016. “Ecosystem Heterogeneity Determines the Ecological Resilience of the Amazon to Climate Change.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 113 (3): 793–97. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1511344112.
Antunes, A. P., R. M. Fewster, E. M. Venticinque, C. A. Peres, T. Levi, F. Rohe, and G. H. Shepard. 2016. “Empty Forest or Empty Rivers? A Century of Commercial Hunting in Amazonia.” Science Advances 2 (10): e1600936–e1600936. https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.1600936.
Bello, C., M. Galetti, M. A. Pizo, L. F. S. Magnago, M. F. Rocha, R. A. F. Lima, C. A. Peres, O. Ovaskainen, and P. Jordano. 2015. “Defaunation Affects Carbon Storage in Tropical Forests.” Science Advances 1 (11): e1501105–e1501105. https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.1501105.
Ineich, Ivan. 2011. “Amphibians and Reptiles of Vanuatu (Melanesia).” In The Natural History of Santo, 187–236. Paris; Montpellier: Publications scientifiques du Museum ; IRD.
Miller, Aryeh H., Anna C. Jackson, Matthijs P. van den Burg, Charles R. Knapp, Mark E. Welch, and R. Graham Reynolds. 2019. “The Complete Mitochondrial Genome of the Critically Endangered Lesser Antillean Iguana ( Iguana Delicatissima ; Squamata: Iguanidae).” Mitochondrial DNA Part B 4 (2): 2479–81. https://doi.org/10.1080/23802359.2019.1637789.
Coke, Rob L., Ramiro Isaza, David E. Koch, Marie A. Pellerin, and Robert P. Hunter. 2006. “PRELIMINARY SINGLE-DOSE PHARMACOKINETICS OF MARBOFLOXACIN IN BALL PYTHONS (PYTHON REGIUS).” Journal of Zoo and Wildlife Medicine 37 (1): 6–10. https://doi.org/10.1638/04-102.1.
White, Stephen D., Patrick Bourdeau, Vincent Bruet, Philip H. Kass, Lisa Tell, and Michelle G. Hawkins. 2011. “Reptiles with Dermatological Lesions: A Retrospective Study of 301 Cases at Two University Veterinary Teaching Hospitals (1992-2008): Reptiles with Dermatological Lesions.” Veterinary Dermatology 22 (2): 150–61. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-3164.2010.00926.x.
Ruhe, Brandon, and Amy Ruhe. 2019. “First Record of the Mourning Gecko, Lepidodactylus Lugubris (Duméril & Bibron),from the Turks and Caicos Islands with Additional Observations Fromthe Bahamas.” Caribbean Herpetology, March, 1–3. https://doi.org/10.31611/ch.66.
Huchzermeyer, F. W. 2003. Crocodiles: Biology, Husbandry and Diseases. Wallingford, Oxon, UK ; Cambridge, MA: CABI Pub.
Cacciali, Pier, Norman J. Scott, Aida Luz Aquino Ortiz, Lee A. Fitzgerald, and Paul Smith. 2016. “The Reptiles of Paraguay: Literature, Distribution and an Annotated Taxonomic Checklist.” Special Publication of the Museum of Southwestern Biology 11 (11): 1–373. https://digitalrepository.unm.edu/.
Hallinger, Malek J., Anja Taubert, and Carlos Hermosilla. 2020. “Occurrence of Kalicephalus, Strongyloides, and Rhabdias Nematodes as Most Common Gastrointestinal Parasites in Captive Snakes of German Households and Zoological Gardens.” Parasitology Research 119 (3): 947–56. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-019-06526-0.
Wellehan, James F.X, and Cornelia I Gunkel. 2004. “Emergent Diseases in Reptiles.” Seminars in Avian and Exotic Pet Medicine 13 (3): 160–74. https://doi.org/10.1053/j.saep.2004.03.006.
Reynolds, R. Graham, and Alberto R. Puente-Rolón. 2016. “Chilabothrus Strigilatus Geographical Distribution.” Herpetological Review 47 (3): 425.
“Reptiles.” 1997. International Zoo Yearbook 35 (1): 354–62. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1748-1090.1997.tb01233.x.
“REPTILES BRED IN CAPTIVITY AND MULTIPLE GENERATION BIRTHS 1995/1996.” 1998. International Zoo Yearbook 36 (1): 383–99. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1748-1090.1998.tb02915.x.
“Species of Wild Animals Bred in Captivity during 1965.” 1967. International Zoo Yearbook 7 (1): 300–356. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1748-1090.1967.tb00416.x.
Ettling, Jeff, and Fabian Schmidt. 2015. “Introduction to Reptile Conservation: Introduction: Reptile Conservation.” International Zoo Yearbook 49 (1): 1–7. https://doi.org/10.1111/izy.12099.
Hailey, Adrian, and Michelle Cazabon-Mannette. 2011. “Conservation Of Herpetofauna In The Republic Of Trinidad And Tobago.” In Conservation of Caribbean Island Herpetofaunas Volume 1: Conservation Biology and the Wider Caribbean, edited by Adrian Hailey, Byron S. Wilson, and Julia A. Horrocks, 183–217. Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill. https://doi.org/10.1163/ej.9789004183957.i-228.64.

 

Chilabothrus neononate season begins with Ford’s Boa

Captive breeding, Chilabothrus, Conservation, , ,

This time of the year is the start of the season when West Indian Boa babies are born.  The various species employ slightly different reproductive strategies, reflected in their annual timings of birth.  Ford’s Boa (Chilabothrus fordii) is generally the first of the genus to give birth in- and ex situ.
This litter of four C. fordii, produced by a five year old female, was born on July 24, 2021 in Germany. The moon phase was full moon, a low pressure system was in the making and the boas were born in the hours of the (not so early) morning and discovered around 11am – most likely – soon after birth.  Yolk sacs and fetal membranes were still attached.
The weight of the boas was determined with a household fine scale. The measurements of the seemingly largest specimen was approximately 25 cm and weighed 4.9 grams. The shortest was about 23 cm and weighed 4.4 grams.  The weights of the others were 4.5 grams and 4.8 grams, respectively.  Mean neonate weight was 4.65 grams.
No stillborn, deformed young or unfertilized eggs were discovered.  It appears unlikely that the female produced and consumed them because:  (a) the boas were discovered right after birth and ( b) no signs of consumption were made – the mother looked very emaciated.
The boas are from Jeff Murray, a mixture of US lines.  Jeff coined the phrase: It’s Christmas in July!  Which appears very accurate when one sees these beauties.

A litter of Chilabothrus fordii with the mother boa. Photo by E. Fitzpatrick
A litter of Chilabothrus fordii. Photo by E. Fitzpatrick

Litter of 9 neonate C. fordii born 27 July. Photo Jeff Murray

The first newborn boa shed after 5 days. A comparison of the first skin to an adult C. fordii shed illustrates the size differences.  Notice that the skin stretches when the boas shed, the baby boa measures about 25 cm, whereas the skin measures close to 40 cm. The adult boa skin has stretched to a lesser percentage.

Size comparison between adult shed skin and newborn first shed.

We look forward to more litters coming on both sides of the Atlantic.  To read more about the fascinating Ford’s Boa, click here