One more corn lover!

My friend who owns the petstore has hatched snakes before. Her back room is the perfect humidity for it. She used to have people who found local rat snake eggs who brought them to her. She hatched them and used them to show her customers what our local snakes looked like that were not venomous. She would then release them where the person found them, she never kept them long. She has a friend who is a professional breeder who is coming tomorrow to sex Jack and the Okeetee. So far there has been no problems between the two. Jack likes being out in the open or burrowing in the substrate. The Okeetee likes hiding under the wood. Both had that preference before being introduced. Also, my friend has had the Okeetee for a few weeks, and it has shown no problems. It even has a better set up than my tank. Which is filled with yucky sand. That hasn't been changed in over three years. Because mom didn't want to waste the left over sand from when I had Leopard Geckos. I'm trying to talk her into what my petstore friend has. She uses what you guys have mentioned, and it's much cleaner than sand. Jack keeps sand all over him because he burrows. While being in the Okeetee's tank, his color is much better without being sand covered. I am definately getting rid of the sand when mom decides she's not too lazy to help. At the moment she's in Charlotte with grandma who has ovarian cancer. So I'm without my snake, my mom, and my grandma. D:

Another thing is that I probably won't be getting a Lavender. Mom found out they aren't all a pretty purple and she doesn't like gray. I've been told that the pretty ones can cost several hundred dollars. That's out of her price range. Even though she sells her Mastiff puppies for $1200. I don't know about you, but I'd prefer a quiet snake to a big noisy dog. So if Jack and that Okeetee are opposite genders, I might have to settele for it. Just to make mom happy. Because even though she says we're just gonna breed corns for fun, she's making this a business. No "ugly" corns. Ugly includes anything black, gray, white, etc. I'm not supposed to get attatched to the new snake because it's for breeding only. If it doesn't produce pretty babies, she's selling it. She's suggested that if Jack is female, we can buy a male, breed, and sell it to have a revolving door of males. That'd be a waste of money. I don't really care that much for the Okeetee, but it's a nice snake.

Any type of "colorful" corn within an $80 price range you can suggest? That would make ok babies with my Amel?

One day, I'll own a Lavender... Just no while I'm living with the snake Nazi.

That really describes her well. She's totally racist against non colorful snakes.

That makes me sad...

It don't sound like it's an ideal time to be getting another snake. If you can't house them seperately, don't get another one. As far as breeding goes....no way! You have to house ALL of the hatchlings INDIVIDUALLY. I have seen a cornsnake that ate a cagemate in a petstore.
If I was you, I would just be happy with the snake you have until you learn more about them, and can provide a better housing situation for more. Definitely get that snake off of the sand and use Aspen for bedding.
Welcome to the forum. Take some time to look around and learn. You're young and there should be no rush to buy more snakes. Especially when your living with the 'Nazi'. Until you have your own place, you have to abide by her rules, and if those rules include not having another cage, then bottom line....you don't need another snake.
Once again, welcome, and I hope your grandma gets better soon.

Mitch

Well...I tried.

I'm starting to see you guy's point. I might as well wait until I'm on my own so I can have any color corn I want. My friend at the petstore said my mother doesn't at all understand that if corn snake sales aren't doing well in her shop then how would we sell all those babies! We could advertise online, mom has her own site for her dog business, but we don't ship. They come to us. How many people are willing to do that with a snake? None, unless it's one of the more expensive kinds. And mom expects people to want amel x Okeetee babies. When no one wants the Amel and Creamsicle at the shop.

My poor dissillusioned mother.

However, everyone loves the store owner's new Snow corn, Charlie. Mom did admit Charlie wasn't ugly. She doesn't like white snakes. But if she wants to ever profit off my snake, she needs to realize that it ain't about what she likes, it's what the customer likes.

I thought I'd be taking Jack home today, but the guy was working. Even though he said today he'd do it. Where's the reliable folks in the world? So I don't know when Jack will be sexed or coming home.

The adults in my life are giving me trust issues. XP

Also, having a form of Autism kinda puts a damper on me being on my own any time soon. I'm not able to leave until mom thinks I'm emotionally mature.

That's gonna be a while.

Oh God, she's going to turn me into one of those fat kids who never leave their mother's basement! We don't have a basement!

That or she's going to drive me insane. It's not a far drive.

Until mom and I can discuss this snake deal, which will probably be next week, I'll be thinking of ways to convince her to let me use the hermit crab tank for another snake. Not like anyone pays attention to them. I have room for another tank, she just wont admit it. Just gotta move my keyboard synthesizer, put it away. Grandma has a nice old table I could use that she doesn't.

Just got to find a way to keep her from going nuts when I bring up the subject.

How big is your hermit crab tank? Did Jack have a heat source at your house? What did he eat?

I have a butter girl!

Snake genetics are different then dog breeds. An amel + okeetee mating will only produce normals. In order to get the interesting morphs that wxist you need to find snakes that have traits that match up. Like if you mated the amel to the snow, you'd get all amel babies with the het for anery. Give yourself some time to learn how to care for snakes before trying to take on more then you can handle. I'm thirty and I'm still learning how to care for my own snakes.

I hope your grandmother is doing better.

Jack has a heating pad and a lamp and eats almost adult mice. At the pet store he's got a heating pad. The tank he/she's in is better set up than mine. It just doesn't have a lamp.

I know there's a lot to snake genetics. Getting mom to understand is another story.

Amels bred with Anerys make Snows, right? Or do you have to know the hidden genes? That's one downside to store bought snakes.

What is an Amel that has no white borders around it's saddles? My Amel has white borders, but there's one at the store with no white at all.

It'd be better to wait to get to know more about snakes, and then buy your breeders from a breeder. Then you can have the owner's expertise and you will know all of the hidden hets.

An amel with no white borders? Are you sure it is an Amel? It is possible that it could be a line-bread amel called a Sunglow, but it is likely it is a different morph- like a Hypo.

An amel plus an anery would produce ALL NORMALS.
All corn snake genes except Tessera are recessive.

Your mom needs to go here: http://www.corncalc.com/
She needs to read up on corn snake genetics. It doesn't matter what the snake LOOKS LIKE, it matters what genes it is carrying. Unless she is LINE BREEDING, which is what she is used to. Then you need to line breed within ONE morph.

For example, I have two classic corns that are het (carrying the genes for) hypo and lavender.
The corns look normal, but I have a 1 in 16 chance of getting a hypo lavender baby. I have a 3 in 16 chance of getting a lavender, 3 in 16 of getting a hypo and a 9 in 16 chance of getting a normal.

Two corns housed together is not going to work for breeding purposes. There are so many complications. Snakes NEED TO BE QUARANTINED when getting a new snake. A breeding pair is not a good idea to leave together year round. You are inviting sickness and stress.

It sounds like your mom needs to get some basic corn snake breeding information down. At the moment, it sounds like she is heading toward killing/injuring both snakes. And it sounds like she doesn't even understand what babies she would get. She is not going to make any money. The expenses of corn snake breeding don't outweigh the costs of breeding typical morphs.

Good luck with your mother. She should get on this site and learn some information. Or read Kathy Love's book. Or both.

Jack is a boy. Got called this morning.