breeding size

[dan2492]

how big should a corn be before you breed
Thanks Dan

[Jeff_Favelle]

Your question was already answered, and you already thanked Marisa in the other thread that you posted.

:confused: :rolleyes:

http://www.ssnakess.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=36924

[dan2492]

was wondering if someone knew around how many grams

[Colin Friesen]

200+g to breed. I think 200g is still too small. Bigger the better.

Colin

[Jeff_Favelle]

Its tough to say man. They can totally range in lengths, and thus weights. Just make sure the females are THICK. Feed the poop out of them during Feb., March, and April. 18 months old is the minimum, but when in doubt, just wait another year.

Males can breed at or under 1 year of age without any consequences.

Best of luck. Try PM-ing Simon. He's the Corn King!! He might have a set minimum weight to go by.

[Darwin's Oasis]

Dan

When I started out breeding Corn snakes I used 200 grams as the minimum weight for breeding females. Small females like this will produce between 4 - 12 eggs based on my experience.

As I started to meet and talk with other breeders I found out that 4 - 12 eggs per clutch is very low. Other breedes regularly get well over 20 eggs in a clutch. 33, 36, 39 eggs in a clutch were sometimes achieved. They were also able to get a second clutch from many of their females. I was never able to do this.

After viewing other collections it became quite obvious to me that I was doing something wrong. I was shown breeding females 600g to 900g. At that time I did not have a single female in my collection anywhere near 500g. Once a female begins breeding her growth rate slows dramatically (obviously). Waiting one more year before breeding will make all the difference in the world.

Now, I will not cycle any female for breeding that is less than 350g. Many of the females in my collection now are well over 800g. I have a single female that weighed in at 1135g this season. I intend to breed her for the first time this season.

This makes alot of sense to me now. A well fed Corn snake hatchling can weigh 200g in as little 7 months, and I do not think anyone would consider this to be ready for breeding.

I hope this is helpfull.

Troy Mouck
http://www.darwinsoasis.ca

[gonesnakee]

Like Troy said. Bigger is better. Would you rather risk eggbinding a small female or have her laying 1 small clutch a year OR have a big double clutcher dropping upto 40-50 eggs in a season with no risk of eggbinding? NUFF SAID Mark

[marisa]

Agree with you guys.

Waiting an extra year is WELL worth it. Besides the world isn't aching for more corns and they will sell the same this year as they will next year.

Marisa

[dan2492]

ok thanks

[dan2492]

right now my female is about 260g and two years old