繁殖哥伦比亚红尾蚺(二)

    When breeding boas,some breeders use multiple males but I have found this to be unnecessary and less effective than using a single male. Although the presence of additional males will often be so intent on impressing the female that he will not be relaxed enough to actually copulate. Another reason for using single males is to control the breeding outcome. Because selective breeding is of paramount importance in my breeding projects,it is critical for me to know which male fathered a particular litter.

    有些繁殖者同时使用多条雄性与一条雌性放置在一起进行交配，可是这样却没有一雄一雌的配对来得更成功。虽然同时有多条雄性能更容易刺激雌性的较培欲，但是雄性由于身边有其他的竞争对手，根本不能放松下来认真地进行交配。另外，只进行1：1的配对，也是为了更好的进行选育繁殖，你会知道究竟是哪一条雄性进行了交配。

    The male is first introduced to the female one week after the female’s last meal. If ready to begin courtship he will usually demonstrate a lot of tongue flicking and move very slowly around the female which hopefully is producing pheromones to attract a mate. The male should be left in with the female for 2-3 days. If after this period of time,If he is not courting her he should be removed and she should be fed a small meal or two while they are separated for approximately three weeks. After this period the male should be reintroduced following the same instructions as before.

    当用来繁殖的雌性最后一餐往后的一个星期，是放入雄性红尾蟒的时机。雄性如果希望交配，他将不断的吐舌并在雌性身边缓慢的的摩擦移动，用以发出更多的信息来引起雌性的注意。雄性应该与雌性至少放置一起2-3天；如果雄性不再追求雌性，那么他们应该被分开；分开大约3个星期后给雌性喂上1-2顿小餐；然后，再次把之前的雄性与雌性放在一起。

    This reintroduction procedure can be repeated 3 or 4 times in a single season and will enable you to take full advantage of the receptive period I call the “window of opportunity”. Oftentimes when the male is introduced to the female he will show no interest in courtship. This may mean that one or both snakes are not yet ready to breed or that they are not in the prime of health. Trying another male may indicate whether or not the female is receptive. When the male is interested in breeding he will crawl on top of the female forming a zig zag pattern and begin courtship “squeezing her” in 5-60 second intervals. He will ride her around everywhere she goes. He may attempt cloacal alignment and will dig into scrape her sides with his spurs. The female often will act irritated or annoyed by this scraping and try to jerk away. Do not be alarmed by this behavior as it is part of the courtship necessary for successful breeding. Female boas develop egg follicles over a period of weeks,maybe even months. The courtship by the male may play a role in stimulating the continued development of these egg follicles. Courtship can be constant,day and night,seven days a week with the occasional exception being when either of the two animals is opaque. Courtship will last from 3-8 weeks before a posterior midbody thickening may be observed in the female. This is called the “preovulation swell”.

    这个过程应该重复3-4次，才能更好地提高成功率。如果雄性跟雌性放在一起的时候没有交配欲望，可能是单方或者双方还未处于交配状态，你应该更换另外一条雄性来尝试。如果雄性有兴趣进行交配，他将爬在雌性身上形成Z形形状，并在5-60秒内开始对雌性进行摩擦挤压。无论雌性爬到那里，雄性都会压在她身上，并尝试将双方的泄殖孔对齐，然后雄性用泄殖孔旁边的短刺轻扎雌性的泄殖孔，雄性这个“轻扎”的行为可能会有点激怒雌性，雌性会有逃跑的意向。你不必为上面这个情况感到担心，因为这是交配过程中必须的一些动作。在一周至一个月内，雌性开始体内排卵。雄性的求偶追逐过程对于刺激雌性排卵及卵成熟起到重要作用。追逐求偶行为将日以继夜地进行。持续到3-8周左右，雌性身体中后部开始鼓胀起来，这称作“排卵前腹胀（preovulation swell）”。

    THE PREOVULATION SWELL

    排卵前腹胀（preovulation swell）

    Before the introduction of the male of the female may be observed in an unusual position. She will stretch out straight in the vicinity of the ovaries,leaning slightly,showing small discernible tight curves while appearing very rigid. This is what I call the “preovulation twist”. It is a behavior I have noted in females prior to male introduction through just before ovulation. The maturing egg follicles will often make the female appear gravid (which is normal) but the female is actually not gravid until after the fertilization of fully developed ova. This takes place following.

    在把雄性放到雌性一起之前回发现一个不同寻常的情况。雌性卵巢附近有一点扭曲，看起来很硬，我称之为排卵前扭曲（preovulation twist）。只是把雄蛇介绍给雌蛇之前，雌蛇的排卵前期行为。成熟的卵子使得母蛇看起来很像怀孕，只有成熟的卵子真正受精后，才算母蛇怀孕。

     A thickening may be observed in a female who has been courted by a male. This swelling may be observed as early as 2 1/2-3 months prior to ovulation but normally can be noticed just 2-3 weeks prior to ovulation. The swelling is centered at appoint approximately two-thirds down the length of the body. An obvious redistribution of weight will also be evident at this time. Misidentification of this swelling or the assumption that the female is already gravid is the reason I believe boas may produce infertile ova (“slugs”) and or “reabsorb”. This incorrect assumption may lead the keeper to remove the male too early resulting in low sperm levels or no sperm to fertilize the ova. The length of the gestation period has also been greatly exaggerated because of this misunderstanding. Courtship,the per-ovulation twist and the pre-ovulation swell should all be observable before copulation takes place.

    当雄性开始追逐雌性红尾蟒后，会发现雌性会开始变粗。这个变粗的情况会出现在雌性正式排卵的1/3—1/2月前。变粗的部位大约是身体2/3后面部分，重量也会明显地开始增加。这样的排卵前腹胀的状态很容易让人以为雌性已经怀孕而过早地把雄蛇拿开，最后会导致正式排卵时受精率过低。求偶追逐---排卵前扭曲----排卵前腹胀只是正式交配前的必经过程。