EGG NEST

[Tom]

I have been wondering why my snake hasn't been eating, and why she was so active, a couple of days later i found out that my snake had made a nest underneath the bark and newspaper. She has layed about 20 eggs!!
But the funny thing is that i have had my corn a year now and have not bred it once! Is the snake's eggs safe where they r layed. (warmth) i mean. How should I look after the eggs?

[pdrau]

If you've never bred her, then the eggs will not be fertile. Reptiles will lay even without mating just like birds will. Probably best just to remove the eggs and toss them as they are just going to be duds and rot anyway.

If per chance you don't want to do that, you can get a plastic shoe box or similar container fill it with vermiculite or spaghnum moss and cover the eggs to where they are flush with the top layer. Keep it damp and warm ( think the range is 75 - 85 degrees not sure, but someone here will chime in ). If they are fertile, they should hatch in about 90 days.

The eggs can be candled like bird eggs to look for developing blood vessels. There is an entire section in the Corn Snake manual that very thoroughly covers all of this. I'm just commenting based on what I've read here and in that.

Peter

[Tom]

I did here though that snakes could store male snakes sperm after mating over a year ago.
So I think i should incubate the eggs and see what happens.
Will the eggs be chalky white all the 90 days or will they change colour slightly?

[pdrau]

Search through the posts for incubation and eggs. Read those posts here. They should give you a good idea. Order the corn snake manual from http://www.corn-utopia.com . It is the best corn snake guide available and it has all kinds of information about incubating eggs and caring for neonates.

Peter

[Tom]

Could I use coconut bark instead of using moss, or is moss better?

[Iris]

I don't have a clue what coconut bark is like but spaghnum moss is great because it stays moist. It also has a little bit of acid which kills a lot of bacteria and prevents fungus from growing. I'd recommend spaghnum moss to everyone and if you can get it, it's definitely one of the best incubation mediums.

[CornCrazy]

I have also read that corns can lay fertile eggs even when they haven't been bred in a year or so. They can store sperm in order to lay fertile eggs later. Good luck, and keep us posted as to how things go!;)