Gravid behavior?

We have 2 Corn snakes, a male and a female named Jack and Jill. The past three or so years we have put them together in the spring to breed. We got eggs twice (none of them hatched, but I think we incubated them wrong) and the last year we didn't get any (but we had just moved and that may have stressed them).

Anyways, this year we put them together April 14 and separated them April 26. I'm not sure if they bred or not, as the room Jack is in tends to be colder then what she is use to and has a very different light cycle. Since she has gone back her behavior has been kind of strange. She usually is very shy and never comes out, but she has been very active and moving around, like she is hungry or looking for food. I had just cleaned the cage but I hadn't washed her hide so it still smells like her. We tried feeding her the next day after she was back and she killed the mice very quickly like she was protecting her cage from them, and left them both (she did the same thing after laying eggs, when she was defending them).

Do you think she is hungry? Gravid? Or trying to find Jack again because they never bred?

I've kept her heat light on all day and night to make sure she is warm enough, and she seems to be comfortable (stays in the hide under the heat light). She also has a "nest box" that is kept moist and part of the cage is covered so she feels secure (since she is on the shy side). She has a 50 gallon cage with three hides.

Thanks!

So a couple days ago Jill ate one of her two mice but she still keeps coming out of her hide (she never does that when she is full). Does this mean I should try putting her back with Jack?

We put Jack and Jill back together for a week or so and then she went back into her own cage. She had a pre-lay shed a few days ago and certainly seems larger/rounder than before.
I tried feeding her and she (for the first time ever) followed the mouse but didn't go for it. She has been pacing for like 3 days straight, going in and out of all of her hides. I'm getting worried, she hasn't eaten in weeks and she just keeps pacing the cage. She never does this, she always stays in her hide. She is shy and doesn't tend to like to be seen.

Does anyone have any experience with this?

A gravid female searches for a secure place to lay her eggs.
You should offer her a nest-box filles with damp moss.

And it might be less stressfull if you move the male between the cages, not the female.
I personally would stop moving her between the cages.

My females start to become active like yours when they are gravid but settle down very quickly when they found a good place for the eggs - I offer them two to three nest-boxes and remove the other after they've devided which one they like most.

Good luck!

Thanks for responding!

Okay, that's true, it probably would be less stressful on her if she didn't have to move. Now just to convince my brother to let me move his snake next time : )

She has three hides, but only one of them is a nest box that is kept moist. She laid eggs in it the other two times she was gravid, and seemed a lot less stressed about it too then this year. Maybe its because I got a higher wattage heat light? It was 75 the last few years and this year I got an 100 watt bulb because her cage didn't seem warm enough. She seemed to like the warmth up until now.

What temperatures are in her cage?
Maybe it's too warm now?

Common wisdom seems to be that a female will lay her eggs 10 days after the pre egg laying shed. In my experience, if you give her the perfect egg laying box, she will lay in more like 5 to 6 days. 10 days seems to be the length of time it takes a female to become less critical about where she lays the eggs. Sometimes she will prefer laying in the water dish than any other place available to her.

Pack the medium (I used dampened peat moss) fairly tightly in the egg laying box. Corn snakes actually like to burrow. Apparently this makes them feel more secure, and certainly the female is looking for a secure place to lay her eggs.

Remember that the eggs are growing inside of her every day. The longer it takes for her to lay, the more difficult it is on her. Too long, and you run the risk of egg impaction. Then you really could have a problem on your hands. Few things are more heartbreaking than looking in on your snakes and seeing her oviduct strewn all over the blood soaked cage. Trust me, it will ruin your day.

And the request for actual temperatures is wise. If you have it too hot, that will kill the embryos. During breeding season, it can also sterilize the males. I incubated eggs at normal room temperature, which for me was roughly 82 degrees F. With normal day/night fluctuations. I never used additional heat sources.

IMHO.

So, today I got her a second nest box (removed her log for now) and filled it with moist sphagnum. The old one has moist vermiculite. The temperature under the heat light it about 90 F, so I spread out the hides around the cage to make sure she had cooler areas to lay. Because of the air conditioning and where we live, room temperature is in the 70s.
Her cage is about 50 gallons and while its near the window, the sun never shines there so it doesn't over heat.

Jill laid around 20 eggs (haven't counted yet) last night/this morning! I'm so excited! 12 days after the prelay shed. She was pacing the whole time, she must be exhausted.
I have the incubator set up and will move them. If successful, this will be the first time we have our snake eggs hatch!