Protobothrops breeding.

Hello all,

does anyone know some articles, or maybe information from own experience about breeding Protobothrops ??
And especially the Protobothrops jerdonii sp ?

Im particulary interested in information about the gestation period.

Thanks to all !
Stefan

Orlov et al (2001. Russian J. Herpetology 8.2 pp 159-164) gives a little information on reproducing jerdonii. I bred a captive raised female - she later gave birth to only one live and several dead neonates. I cooled her to about 10 C and kept her in the dark for 4-6 weeks. I have had many matings with my wild caught specimens, but nothng has resulted which is very frustrating. It is my impression from my limited success is that cb individuals would be easier to cycle than wild caught imports. My captive raised female later died so I wasn't able to repeat.

I have also had a wild caught female give birth to a litter of five. Both her and the captive raised female that gave birth to the one live baby remained pretty elusive and didn't appear to bask or seek warmth (typical with many pitvipers). Gestation was about 4-5 months.

Good luck!

Michael

Thank you Micheal.
very nice of you to share this information.
The female is really really big.'

did yours fed thru the whole gestation ?

If she doessnt gie birth im gonna take here to the fed for some exrayphoto's

best regards
Stefan

I do not recall either female feeding through gestation. If your female appears large after you have witnessed her mating, however, I would suspect she is gravid. I believe you can never have enough jerdonii in your collection, they are very beautiful. Post a picture if you have babies.

Michael

Hi,
what Jerdonii do you keep?
For P.jerdonii xanthomelas it´s better you go down to 4 - 6°C!
They eat and shit still at 10°C!

Regards
Michael

Hello,

I keep xanthomelas but have also maintained bourreti at the zoo I used to work at. I generally drop my temperatures according to the outside temperatures here in Texas, so 10 C is about the average I can maintain them in the winter months. I have a couple of friends who traveled to Vietnam and found bourreti active at very low temperatures like you suggest and according to literature, because they have been found at fairly high altitudes, I could expect that many populations exist at the extreme. It's amazing that some reptiles are able to stay active at these temperatures. I have always been a lowland tropical rainforest person who only expects activity at considerably higher temperatures.

Michael