I just read all 12 pages of this thread, it’s a pleasant and informative read. Thank you to all who contributed. I hope that when it is finally finished it will be archived or stickied or whatever the term is so that future 1st time breeders can look back at it and relate their experiences.
I have a question re the double-clutching, actually two questions on that same topic. The first is to the OP: Why after all of your effort and years of planning do you not want two clutches from this process? It seems to me it’s like a 50% off sale; the brumation the pairing the locking the wondering… that’s all done and now because the female retained some of the male’s initial sperm so early in the season you get a double-scoop for your efforts. I’m not implying that you are in this for the money but breeding, even just keeping snakes (or any kind of pet for that matter) does in fact cost money and now here’s your chance to recoup some of the expense for the incubator, hydrometer, temp gun, enclosures, hides, moss, feeders, the list goes on and on.
The least expensive morph hatchlings on MorphMarket, Fauna, expos, Craigslist, sell for ~$50 each. Do the math. Certainly not worth quitting your day job but having a hobby that pays for itself or even earns a few tanks of gas never hurt anybody. And you’d get to share the fruit of labor with other hobbyists, some of which, like you, might be eager to breed for the 1st time.
My 2nd question re 2x-clutching goes to the experienced breeders. Correct me if I’m wrong but 2x-clutching is a (mostly) unnatural process. I mean it has only been happening for the past ~50yrs that humans have been cultivating Corns and providing them with ideal (unnatural) conditions. In our houses, reptile stores, breeding facilities, there’s a steady and reliable supply of food for the snakes. There’s no famine, drought, flood, hurricanes, heat waves, cold snaps, predators, invasive species, Corns propagated by humans have no competition for survival there’s no “only the fittest survive” going on.
Pairing/Locks in captivity occur when many Corns (especially north of Florida) would normally still be in brumation. This jump, this head-start early in the reproductive timeline is the main contributing factor to 2x-clutching. Again, correct me if I’m wrong; this is my understanding from looking at the timeline in Don Soderberg’s book and knowing what goes on naturally/climatically in southeastern US which is the natural range of Corns, i.e. the origin of every Corn morph ever produced no matter how aberrant its skin color/pattern/scales may appear today.
But, what if our Corns were brought out of brumation more naturally. The term “summer room temperature method” from Kathy Love’s book comes to mind. What if Corns were not paired in March but were instead paired in April, May, or June. After all, the warmest, most humid, most stable temperatures (most conducive to incubation) in the US are during July/August (the Summer Doldrums). What is the latest that Corns could be paired in time to yield a single-clutch?
BTW OP if you are reading, and if you are gonna breed again next year, and if you really want only 1 clutch (or to anybody who wants only 1 clutch), the surest way to prevent a double is to begin the process when it is beginning in the woods, fields, swamps of southeastern US. (Or am I wrong?)
