help with breeding corns

mazgoodgirl · 07-09-04, 05:36 PM

hi, im new to this forum and wondered if anyone can help me with my 2 cornsnakes................we introduced our male and female cornsnake last year male is 4 yrs female is 5 or 6yrs. we were hoping they would breed but nothing, until today where me and my husband saw everything, it was amazing and although we have read about breeding them we have got most things but need some advice on how long it would take for her to lay??any hints or tips on breeding corns.

many thanks,

mazgoodgirl

JDouglas · 07-09-04, 09:56 PM

According to Kathy Love in her book "The Corn Snake Manual" her Corns ussually lay 31 to 45 days after mating with 39 days being average.
Soon you will notice that your female will fatten up and she may refuse to eat. Most corn snakes shed about two weeks before they lay their eggs.

I would buy The Corn Snake Manual it is loaded with info.

Good luck,

Jaremy

StoneAge · 07-12-04, 11:38 AM

Youll tell shes pregnant when she gets fatter then usual and starts eating. i realy dont go by when she sheds I just keep a close eye on her and sometimes it suprises me when she lays them. Make sure if you only want 1 clutch or more because sometimes theyll lay 2 clutches (a few months after their first eggs laid). It sounds like you also dont need to help them get ready for breeding but if you want to you could spray them with a water bottle

vanderkm · 07-12-04, 12:49 PM

I definately second Jaremy's advice about The Cornsnake Manual - great booklet that covers most everything you need to know.

We have found that they pre-lay shed is the best indicator of when the female will lay, as that depends more on ovulation than on actual breeding date. Female corns will accept breeding and store sperm, so hard to predict lay date from breeding date.

The size increase in the female will vary a lot - some of ours have been very thick in the back end, but others are hardly noticable. With some practice you will be able to feel the lumps in her belly as she crawls over your hand. We usually check them by feeling this way after each shed to determine whether or not to expect an additional clutch.

Our females feed heavily from the time of breeding til they go into their pre-lay shed and then refuse food. They lay between 10-16 days after the pre-lay shed, so we put the laying box in when they shed and then just make sure it is moist until they lay.

Good luck with them - what colors are they??

mary v.

Tim_Cranwill · 07-12-04, 12:55 PM

You may also want to try for 1 or 2 more successful breeding just to increase fertility... It's worth a try but you may not need them.

mazgoodgirl · 08-17-04, 02:33 AM

Thanks for the reply guys, my corn has layed her first batch of eggs we have 4 in total. Just wondered what the best temperature would be to incubate them?. I cant wait to see if we have any hatch, my male corn is orange and tan colour and the female is black and grey. Anymore advice will be helpful.

Simon · 08-17-04, 05:58 AM

Well not trying to put things down for you...
but it is possible that you have missed ovulation and don't have any eggs this year. I am not saying that it wont happen, I have had clutches lay in Sept too but the chances are much lower than the prime breeding time of Feb-May. Of course there are still exceptions for breeding any animals.

Sounds like that you have bred an amel (dad) to an anery (assuming type a anery as its more common) (mom).

The results should be all normals het for amel and anery (or snow) assuming that they're both het for nothing.

The temp that you would need to incubate them at is around 80-85F and it takes an average of 60 days before the little ones start hatching.

Good luck and hope that the female will lay some eggs for you about a month from now~

mazgoodgirl · 08-20-04, 05:12 AM

well our female has just layed her seventeen egg and is still going, is it normal for her to lay over a few days as she has been laying for 5 days now. Some of the eggs look abit strange though, some are a funny shape and look slightly yellow, should we remove them or leave them to see what happens.

vanderkm · 08-20-04, 08:53 AM

Usually if the clutch is normal and fertile they will all be laid pretty much within 24 hours. They will tend to clump together and adhere if the female is not disturbed and has a chance to curl around them as they are laid. If she is still laying 5 days after the first one and eggs look abnormally shaped and are yellow, it is likely that there is not good fertility and there may be egg retention.

'Slugs' - those that are not fertile and have no chance of hatching are dark yellow and have kind of a waxy look rather than a nice white clean shell. They often have a weird shape. No point in keeping those.

Some eggs that are laid over an extended time can be fertile - may look a bit yellow and have sort of thin looking shells. Might still be worth incubating these - if they aren't fertile or the embryo dies early, they will mold and not hatch, but you could get lucky. We give all of them a chance - but with a limited number so far - have not had good luck with those.

mary v.