Ambient temp for corn snakes in a rack? Possible breeding

So I have a few snakes including a gorgeous corn (she's a sun-kissed diffused het charcoal), and several BPs. I don't care much for the genes aspect and am more focused on the experience of snake keeping.

My wife, on the other hand, has been toying with the idea of breeding corns for a while now. She recently saw the palmetto morph and was immediately over the moon for them. She's seriously thinking about buying a few palmettos and breeding them to increase the red speckling.

Personally, I wouldn't choose to breed corns, but if that is what she wants to do, and it results in keeping more snakes, then she has 110% support from me. Like I said, I just enjoy keeping snakes.

Of course to breed, one pretty much needs to use a rack system. There is just no other practical way to do it.

Here's the issue though, we live in Massachusetts and it sometimes gets a bit cool here in the winter. Right now all our snakes live in their own individual PVC enclosures, so the temp of the room/house is of little concern.

Most people I interact with that breed, breed BPs which need an ambient temp of 80 F or so. Consequentially the room with the rack ends up being specially heated since heat tape does nothing for ambient and only provides belly heat.

But corns do not need such high temps. In fact the cool end of my corn's PVC enclosure is 73, and she seems pretty content to hang out there.

My question is this, if the ambient temp of my house were 70-73 (and it typically is in the winter, though a bit warmer in the summer) could I get away with keeping and breeding corn snakes in a rack system?

Thank you for your time.

Man, if my wife said she wanted to breed corn snakes I'd rush right out and buy a lotto ticket or two. It would have to be my lucky day. And Palmettos? Your wife has good taste.

Getting back to your question, I have an ambient room temperature of 80 degrees F for
10 or 11 months here in Florida. While I do provide belly heat in my racks, the corns only frequent the hot side after eating. Most of the time they are right in the front of their containers, away from the belly heat. In fact, I mentioned in one of my previous posts that a fellow corn snake breeder that I visited provides no belly heat at all. He said his ambient temps are usually between 78-80 but usually 80 or slightly higher. I forgot how many years he said he has been breeding corns, and I certainly didn't tell him that belly heat is required. LOL. I visited one of the largest colubrid breeders in Michigan and I believe his ambient room temp was 85, and obviously no belly heat. Now that was a bit too hot in my estimation, but again, the breeder has been doing it that way for years, so I kept my opinion to myself.

Twolunger said:

Man, if my wife said she wanted to breed corn snakes I'd rush right out and buy a lotto ticket or two. It would have to be my lucky day.

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Oh yeah? It gets better. Not only does my wife really like the snakes, but she's a red-head, AND Russian! I've been very lucky in love, but in little else!

80F you say? Yeah, that's in line with what I was afraid people would say. And some people offer no temp gradient? I'm sure people do it and I'm sure the snakes survive, but it seems a bit on the spartan side to me.

I should mention that your ambient temps of 70-73 would be fine with good belly heat. Most people have a hide on the warm side and another on the cool side. I just use paper towel tubes, since I use racks.

I raised snakes for years in Michigan and the ambient temps dropped at night, but the snakes could move to the heat if they wanted to be warmer.

Good to hear that. I've never used a rack, only PVC enclosures so I want to learn as much as I can before plunging in.

If you have a hot spot, those ambient tempts are fine, but if that is the temp for the whole enclosure, with not hot spot, that's not warm enough for digestion.
I keep mine at an ambient temp averaging 80 degrees, it fluctuates 1-2 degrees on the thermostat.

Not all snake keepers like rack systems, preferring vivariums with decorations. But I currently have 28 corns, so tanks or other vivariums are out of the question for me. I would suggest large containers, such as the 41 quart size that BP breeders use.

Rack systems work well for me, especially with the babies. I have found the babies seem to start feeding more readily when started out in a smaller enclosure. I move them up as they grow.

I have 4 racks, starting out with a hatchling rack, and then moving them up to a 6qt, a 15qt and then my large rack. As they grow I try to decide which I will hold back and which I should sell.