My first year breeding
 

I've been preparing for my first Cornsnake breeding season for over 10 years now, and I wish that was hyperbole.

I was finally able to get my first Cornsnake 3 years ago, and now she's breeding size.

Here's the pair (Although nothing has happened yet :nope:)
Attachment 198175

Female is a Amel het Anery and the Male is a Fire het Anery.

I know it's super early in the season, but I wished they'd get started already. She seems to be receptive, but he doesnt seem to know what to do.


Attachment 198174

Today I got the incubator all put together. I'm just missing the thermostat, I'm waiting for Herpstat's to get back in stock. Worst case, I'll take one of the herpstat's I'm currently using for my snakes and swap it for one of those jumpstart thermostats.

Here's to hoping the action starts after the female's next shed.

Fun pairing! Hope he figures it out sooner rather than later!

Pretty snakes. I hope they make lots of pretty babies for you! And I hate to tell you this, but those days in between breeding and laying are loooonnng, and then the wait for your very first pippies is almost eternal. (At least, mine was. [emoji38]) Wishing you the best of luck!

Sent from my LM-X210CM using Tapatalk

Lol I cant even imagine, my lack of patience will be the death of me

SUCCESS???!?
 

Today I decided to switch it up and not use the bin, Bean, the female is been very active at night and in the morning and so I thought maybe she's releasing pheromones in her enclosure. So I put the male, Ozy in her tank and he was confused at first, and exploring, Bean was basking.

And then I don't see either of them, I decided to take a peak, and this is what I saw.
Attachment 198178

I was certain it finally happened. Once they moved from the spot I wanted to check for the evidence and, there it is

Attachment 198179

It goes to show, you can have your plans, but the snakes do not care. I wanted to pair them in the plastic tote so I wouldn't have to worry about the substrate (and to be honest so I can be nosey lol)

So I'm wondering now, should I continue to pair in the enclosure or try the bin/tote again?

Congratulations on the lock! As you noted, the snakes do have their individual preferences. If they are more enthusiastic in her viv, by all means, nothing wrong with
that. On the other hand, now that they've figured this out, they may be fine with your designated breeding bin. Nothing wrong with trying that first if you like. Put them in there for an hour. If nothing's happened by then, you could move them.

I realize that wild snakes have been mating on the ground with assorted debris from grass, leaves, etc. for centuries. Substrate makes me nervous though. You could pull out the aspen and put some newspaper in put them in her viv. I do this with some of mine. Sometimes I put the female in the male's viv with no substrate.

Btw, there's nothing wrong with leaving the pair together if you like while she's receptive. Of course this is only if they're calm together. Most are. If anybody's trying to hide or is being chased, they should be separated but that's rare. In nature the pair would likely stay near one another during her receptive period.

Best of luck!

Sent from my LM-X210CM using Tapatalk

I was thinking about that, maybe keeping them together, only separating for feeding purposes, until she's visibly gravid/about to lay.

She actually eats tomorrow, so I will see how the fair the rest of the day and make a decision on Saturday, when it's time to re-pair them anyway.

Sounds like a solid plan. [emoji106]

Sent from my LM-X210CM using Tapatalk

If you have another male, you can try putting his shed in the enclosure when you pair them. Sometimes the scent of another male brings out the competitiveness in them. LOL

I only have one male. Snake Discovery said in a video, if you only have one male, you can do the trick anyway, they won't realize the difference. (But I think/hope snakes cant be THAT dim lol). But I tried the trick and it did not work lol. But this was back in Jan and it was probably just too early to be trying anything.

Got another confirmed lock today.