So I need lots of help... surprise eggs. -__-

[Sacred_Nightmares]

I was holding onto a snake for a friend while she was on vacation and what we thought was a boy well... isn't. When we got her about 3-4 weeks ago she was with the breeder whom was going to give them away for free, and had three snakes in one container for a short period. So maybe they are indeed fertile.

Since I plan to breed my collection in the future, I figure, why not try and see if anything will hatch?

Anyway, I have 20 good eggs. Now what? I've read a lot on here and have basic experience, but haven't experienced anything yet. Right now, I just carefully placed the eggs in an empty plastic container. I don't have moss or anything... so is there any decent alternative? I don't need all the babies to hatch, but if I get one, I'll call it a success.

Plus I don't know how long the eggs have been here. Last I checked on the female, last Thursday she chowed down on a good sized meal.


All help and advice is appreciated. And any rude criticism may be taken somewhere else, because as a first timer, and unexpected that is, I know I will make many mistakes. But I definitely will learn from them!

Geez I hate being in such a tricky situation. :shrugs:

 

[cornsnakeforsale_com]

Well the first thing you gotta do is get them hydrated. There are a lot of substrate choices. The most popular are vermiculate/perlite, sphagnum moss and peat moss. For now if you don't have any of those, paper towels are a quick method until you get something more appropriate. The main idea is to keep the eggs at the right temperature and right moisture level for about 2 months. "Right" temp means about 80 - 85 degrees (don't let it get to 90 on the high end and don't go below 75 or so on the low). "Right" moisture means moist, but not wet.

It's also important to not turn them over soon after being laid. Many people put a little mark on the top of the shells with a pencil to know its orientation.

Now there are a lot more details involved and you really ought to read a book or detailed posting on it, but these are some basics to get you started.

 

[bitsy]

Realistically, you need to work out what you're going to do with 20 hatchling Corn Snakes in an area stuffed to the gills with Corn Snake breeders.

Do you know what morph(s) you're expecting? Is anyone near you producing those? Do they still have hatchlings left from 09 (or even 08) on their website? If you're going to produce Normals, it might be worth just letting these eggs go and continuing with your own breeding plans in the future. You're getting into the Corn market at a very tricky time.

 

[Lawrence]

Hi Everyone, i am thinking of breeding my to male corns, have just bought a female and they all seem to be getting on well, can anyone tell me what i need for hatching the eggs and how will i know when she has bred or direct me to any books i can purchase and read up to at least have some idea... thanks Lawrence

 

[Sacred_Nightmares]

Yeah I did put the paper towels in for a temporary period and dampened the one on top. The babies should all be normals, but just as I was told the snake was male, she could also have other genes that may throw out a surprise or two.

And for housing the snakes, I'm going to see the breeder again today, see if he would like anything that might pop out, and if too many hatch, some will find a happy home right here until I can hand them all out. If anything, my cousin does have a king snake she wants to give me. :/ [although that would be the very last alternative.]

 

[bitsy]

Then to be honest, I'm not sure I understand why you're incubating the eggs.

Murphy says you'll get Normals. The chances of a "surprise" being anything other than Amel, Anery or Snow is minimal at best and they're no easier to sell/rehome than Normals.

Sounds like you plan to give them away rather than try to sell them (probably just as well) but there's a limit to the number/quality of homes waning to take on free Normals. Failing that - feeding them to a King is seriously an option that you're considering in advance? And you'd have to obtain the King especially in order to do it?

Honestly, I'd just put the eggs in the freezer and make future plans. Failing that, give the eggs back to the breeder and let them deal with the hatchlings. My guess is that s/he wants nothing to do with either eggs or hatchlings, given that they were already planning to give away the adults for free. A cynical person might think that you've been used to solve a problem for them.

Sorry if any of that sounds harsh, but as I type, I'm reaching the conclusion that you're being taken advantage of and it rankles that somebody like you, who means well, is being put in a difficult situation which could well cost you money (feeding/housing 20 hatchlings isn't necessarily a cheap undertaking).

 

[cornsnakeforsale_com]

Hatch them, it will be a great experience, especially since you wanted to get into breeding anyway. Maybe they're not your eggs, but it would be cruel to let them go to waste. Then give them away when they hatch since they won't be worth too much. I'm sure you can find people who want free stuff, even a pet store perhaps. Or trade them in for something more valuable to add to your collection.

 

[bitsy]

Maybe they're not your eggs, but it would be cruel to let them go to waste.

But feeding healthy, planned but unwanted hatchlings to a King, wouldn't be?

Sorry, I don't believe in cruelty to eggs.

 

[Outcast]

I can honestly say that I would try to hatch them, just so I could get the experience. I would then give some babies to my friends and family members who want them and then take the others to a local pet store and give them to the pet store, or trade for a different type of snake to add to my collection.

Everyone starts out one way or another, I would take this as an ability to learn how to care for a clutch.

Pet store's almost always take in unwanted pets from people, that way they can flip them for a great profit. I only know 1 pet store owner that will not take in corns unless she has sold her stock of them already, and even then she sometimes makes an exception.

 

[Sacred_Nightmares]

Yeah, no offense or anything, I want to do this for the pure experience. :/ I know it will cost a bit, but I can get the supplies and mice cheap already as it is.

As far as what to do with the hatchlings, I definitely will check on pet stores if I have any that are unwanted. The worst I can do is let them go in the woods behind my house and let them try out life on their own. In which case, feeding them to the king snake would save a step. :/

I'm not looking to sound rude, or go against anyones personal beliefs, but that's just my options out there.

 

[Sacred_Nightmares]

And also, today I visited the breeder and he gave me some moss and pointers on how to keep the right humidity. He's super nice.

 

[J0D0GG]

whatevere you do. don't let them go in the woods behind your house plz. thats not gonna help anyone. feed them to the king snake for all i care but DO NOT LET THEM GO

 

[SquamishSerpents]

Yeah, no offense or anything, I want to do this for the pure experience. :/ I know it will cost a bit, but I can get the supplies and mice cheap already as it is.

As far as what to do with the hatchlings, I definitely will check on pet stores if I have any that are unwanted. The worst I can do is let them go in the woods behind my house and let them try out life on their own. In which case, feeding them to the king snake would save a step. :/

I'm not looking to sound rude, or go against anyones personal beliefs, but that's just my options out there.

my only advice:
don't ever, ever, EVER, EVER, EVER, EVER let a captive bred/hatched snake, or ANY reptile for that matter, go into the wild!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

that is what spurred on all this legislation against breeding and snake keeping, that has an extremely detrimental effect on the pet trade and industry

 

[Outcast]

my only advice:
don't ever, ever, EVER, EVER, EVER, EVER let a captive bred/hatched snake, or ANY reptile for that matter, go into the wild!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

that is what spurred on all this legislation against breeding and snake keeping, that has an extremely detrimental effect on the pet trade and industry

Unless you have a permit and am breeding local animals in order to add to a population that has decreased in numbers...

 

[cornsnakeforsale_com]

Aren't we talking about Florida here? Corn snakes love Florida. It's not like it's some species that doesn't belong there already.

It might be illegal to let them go, you should probably look into that if you were going to do it.

Pet store is a better option if you don't intend on keeping them. I couldn't feed a snake a snake personally. Especially after so much hard work. People will take them if you don't want them. Heck, there are probably a lot of people here who have lost whole clutches who wish they could have yours so they can have something to show for the year.

 

[Thante]

Yeah, no offense or anything, I want to do this for the pure experience. :/ I know it will cost a bit, but I can get the supplies and mice cheap already as it is.

As far as what to do with the hatchlings, I definitely will check on pet stores if I have any that are unwanted. The worst I can do is let them go in the woods behind my house and let them try out life on their own. In which case, feeding them to the king snake would save a step. :/

I'm not looking to sound rude, or go against anyones personal beliefs, but that's just my options out there.

if i was you i would be keeping them too for the experience, in particular as this will be quite a good introduction to breading. Once you've had the panic and rush of surprise eggs, planed ones will probably be less stressful.

as for the king snake, we feed corns on mice and don't bat an eyelid, i'd feel hypocritical saying that eggs can't be pray for something too.

 

[wstphal]

Yeah, no offense or anything, I want to do this for the pure experience. :/ I know it will cost a bit, but I can get the supplies and mice cheap already as it is.

As far as what to do with the hatchlings, I definitely will check on pet stores if I have any that are unwanted. The worst I can do is let them go in the woods behind my house and let them try out life on their own. In which case, feeding them to the king snake would save a step. :/

Well, who knows if you are going to get classics? Maybe these eggs will turn out to be snows & stuff! Amel & anery genes are really really common, so you could get something other than just classics. And if you don't mind giving them away after 3-4 meals, and people want them, that's all good. I am hoping for a late 1st clutch in a month or so. Double het classics for my project. I gotta start somewhere so if this is how you are starting, I support that.

Don't let them go. I know you live in Florida & cornsnakes are native to Florida but it makes the Fish & Wildlife people really really angry if CBB animals are released UNLESS you are part of a program that is trying to support or rebuild a wild population. If you want to go that direction, get in touch with people who do that & find out where in Florida releasing them would actually benefit the wild population & do it in an officially sanctioned way. Releasing them is just going to contribute to trouble for all of us reptile people.

Good luck with these unexpected eggs! Fingers crossed for healthy hatchlings.

 

[Sweetseraph]

Hatch them, it will be a great experience, especially since you wanted to get into breeding anyway. Maybe they're not your eggs, but it would be cruel to let them go to waste. Then give them away when they hatch since they won't be worth too much. I'm sure you can find people who want free stuff, even a pet store perhaps. Or trade them in for something more valuable to add to your collection.

Pet store's almost always take in unwanted pets from people, that way they can flip them for a great profit. I only know 1 pet store owner that will not take in corns unless she has sold her stock of them already, and even then she sometimes makes an exception.

Aren't we talking about Florida here? Corn snakes love Florida. It's not like it's some species that doesn't belong there already.

It might be illegal to let them go, you should probably look into that if you were going to do it.

Pet store is a better option if you don't intend on keeping them. I couldn't feed a snake a snake personally. Especially after so much hard work. People will take them if you don't want them. Heck, there are probably a lot of people here who have lost whole clutches who wish they could have yours so they can have something to show for the year.

STOP THE INSANITY!!!!! What is wrong with you people? Thinking like this is why humane societies exist. Are you serious??? Hatch the eggs so you can pawn the problem off on someone else? Pet stores always take animals?? Um, no! Let them go because they are native to Florida?? :nope:

My personal favorite: People will take them if you don't want them. Priceless.

On one hand, I sincerely hope you both are under 18 and just don't know any better. On the other, this is the future of our hobby??

 

[wstphal]

Umm, the OP is DID NOT mate this pair & didn't know she was going to get surprise eggs & seems to have said she will keep them until she finds homes for them, although I realize there was "at worst I can release them" remark. I don't see this as all that irresponsible. AND she did ask for advice & admitted she was new. Can we be a little more gentle here to the OP? Thanks!

 

[cornsnakeforsale_com]

Wow, for real.

"All help and advice is appreciated. And any rude criticism may be taken somewhere else."

Take it somewhere else. Sorry Sacred.

My personal favorite: Are people under 18 the future of our hobby?