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Corn Snake --- Questions about eggs

D

djbjr70

Reptile Tenderfoot
I just bought 2 Corn Snakes that are absolutely wonderful. Very curious and very friendly.

The guy I bought them from told me that last month there were eggs in the enclosure that he discarded.

Does this mean that I have a female and a male or do female Corn Snakes lay eggs from time to time that are not fertile.

Please excuse the ignorant question. I have found a lot of information about breeding corns but nothing that answers this question.

Thanks in advance.

dj
 
Female Corns can certainly lay infertile eggs without mating. I'm afraid you won't know for sure whether you have one or two females, unless you get them sexed.
 
Well......

I just purchased them 2 days ago from someone that kept them together. They are about 18 months old. Is there a problem with keeping the two together? They seem pretty close. They cuddle a lot.
 
If they have been together prior I don't see a problem with it as long as both are in good health. Defintely feed them seperately though.
 
Not with illness issues, more of the breeding issue. 18 months is pretty young unless the female is pretty large. She could be laying slugs because she's too small and not fertile. You'd hate to have egg-binding and lose your female. I know some people are breeding for a second clutch now.
 
OK so let me tell you what I have been doing during my brief 3 days of Cornship.

1) Ive been trying to hold them as much as possible. The smaller one seems eager to be held using its toungue alot. Does that mean it might be hungry?

2) The larger one spends most of its time under the shelter. I have been removing the shelter once a day, giving it a few minutes. Then indtroducing my hand to the cage. And then picking it up after another minute. It has never struck and seems fine once I pick it up. I am doing this to keep it tame or should I just not mess with it when it is "hiding"

3) The person I bought them from says he gave them 2 pinkys every wednesday. Last night (Tuesday) they seemed extra alert. I took this as a sign of hunger. I put them in seperate feeding boxes and they both gently took two pinkys each from my hand.

Once thing I noticed as that they were still moving aroung after the 2 and I could barely see the food traveling down their bodies.

Does this mean they should be eating something bigger? Like fuzzies? Since they were still active should I have given them another?

4) Because I bought them from one person who was admittedly not knowledgable about snakes, should I assume they came from the same litter and not breed them if in fact they are male and female? I certainly won't do it this year but I would like to expand my knowledge and do it confidently. I would be hear-broken if things went wrong.

Thanks for all or your help, DJ

Proud owner of the androgynous duo, Mousey and Synca!
 
1. They use their tongues to get an idea of what's around them. They use it as their eyes and nose. The tongue working is just the snakes way of getting information.
2. Snakes hide most of the time, so if you want to hold them, usually you'll be getting them out from under one hide or another. It sounds like you're going about it the right way.
3.If these snakes are only eating pinkies, they definitely are too small to breed and your female could end up egg-bound and dead. I would seperate them. How large are they? A female should be around 300 grams before considering breeding. Usually you feed a food item that is 1-1 1/2 times the widest width of the body. When they are taking those easily, there is only a little lump in the body, or they are actively seeking food soon after feeding, I go to two. When those go down easily, etc, I go to the next size food item.
4. I would try to get your snakes into a knowledgable herp vet or breeder/reptile shop, and have them sexed. Snakes don't always do what is healthiest for them, and you run the risk of an undersized female being bred by accident. Some inbreeding is done by breeders to start a new color morph, so it is done. Sometimes the only way to find out what your snake is het for, is to breed them and see what you get, so you could breed them back to each other later.
 
Thanks for taking the time to respond to me.

So today, one day after my first feeding of them they were all over the place.

When I took them out we could barely keep control of them and had to put them back after a few minutes. When I say "barely keep control" I mean they were moving very fast and and trying to get away.

Im thinking they are still hungry. Should I give them 2 more pinkies? Should I cut my losses with my freezer full of pinkies and replace them with fuzzies. Or should I feed them 3 pinkies. Should I feed them now? AHHHHH I dont want to be a sub-par dad!

If I find they are both female should I still keep them together? I think we have established that if they are male/female they will be seperated.

Thanks again,
 
i wouldn't handle them for at least 2-3 days after feeding-it's a very good way to find out how very foul smell snake vomit is. :puke01:

as for the pinkies-let them eat their until the're full--if they are on 4 or more it is about time to up size their meals

i have 4 corns and 3 will stop when full - the 4th will just keep on eating how many and what ever size i put out for her-she's called princess piggy - and she will eat until she vomits if you let her

but i'm still new with snakes so listen to the "older" folks on here.--they are very helpful and caring people!

Red
 
How big are the snakes? How long and wide? I go up in food size when they're eating 2 and looking for more, which yours seem to be.
 
They are about 18 inches long. I am going to bring them to a vet to get them aged and sexed this week and Ill let you know.
 
They sound like yearlings. Both of mine are bigger than yours and they are both a year old. One of mine is 33" and the other is 24". Yours are definitely too young to breed, although they can lay slugs (as you found out) even if they haven't bred. I would think they could eat a fuzzy easily.
 
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