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Dwarf Corns

rolandslf

rolandslf

New member
Has anyone bred Corn Snakes that can be called dwarves?
Why I ask is because I have 2 which I have bred which are small, despite eating on the same feeding schedule as all my other Corn Snakes. The only difference is that where my normal sized Corns will eat 2 or 3 adult mice per feed, these two will only eat 1 adult mouse per feed.

The one is an '06 and she is about 2 foot long, the other is an '08 and he is only about 2 foot long as well.

I ask also because if they are dwarves I want to breed them and produce a line of Dwarf Corn Snakes.

I will post pics of them tomorrow and then judgements, assumptions etc. can be made.
 
I am not sure if anyone has or even tried to breed for smaller corns. I would like to see picture of them.

What size are these adult mice that you are feeding? And how often are you feeding. I have never fed bigger that one a adult mouse to an adult snake. And I have a couple males that are on an every 2 week schedule cause they gain weight to easy. I just can't imagine how a 2 foot snake can eat an adult mouse.
 
Yea thats a lot of food, the only time I will feed my snakes 2 adult mice in a feeding is right after breeding season when the males have lost a bit of bulk or when my females have laid recently.

Interesting concept though, it has been done with a lot of other species of snakes, why not corns? I myself have a super dwarf reticulated python.
 
The three snakes shown have the same parents. Albino Male x Classic Female. It should be noted that both parents are normal sized Corn Snakes.
Mice are classified as follows: Pinky, Fuzzy, Hopper, Small, Medium, Adult and Jumbo.

Here are the snake pics.

Female '06

DSC01936.jpg

DSC01937.jpg


Male '08
DSC01938.jpg


Female '08
DSC01940.jpg
 
As can be seen from the pics. These are not underfed or malnourished corns.
They just stay small. The problem is that although one female is 5 years old and the other 3 years old, they seem small to breed. This poses the question, How on earth do you test to see if they are dwarves.
 
I've read that some localities are smaller than others (Miami's I believe are small by nature). Of course that doesn't really help here unless the parents were somehow linked to one of these localities.

If the snakes are adults with a healthy weight to length ratio, then the only way to prove them out is to simply take a chance and breed them. This is obviously a risk however.

It will be interesting to see where this thread leads to. Although I would not personally be interested in dwarf corns, I am sure there are many many others that would be.
 
BB - It is funny that you mention the Miami Phase connection, because I posed a question about the mother about 3 or 4 years ago querying Miami Phase. She did have a lot of silver in her but I was told that if there was any Miami influence going on, it would be minnimal.

As for weight, I have not weighed them. I am going to put the '08 male with the '06 female this coming season and see what happens.

With regards to the eating and prey item query, I can assure you that an adult 5 foot Corn easily disposes of 2 x adult mice at a single feeding.
I have a 5 and a bit foot female, known on the Forum as Big Bertha, take a medium sized rat on occasion with very little effort.
 
If they are dwarves (or whatever the correct word would be) and not just smallish snakes, I would be concerned with, among other things, 1) other manifestations of a genetic-generated smallness (like heart defects, organ abnormalities, and things that may or may not be obvious but are not conducive to a long and healthy life, and 2) normal healthy-sized eggs in a small (for whatever reason) female snake is not good.
Just something to think about, Roland.
But still, they both look perfectly healthy and are quite beautiful. Strange.
I think "runt-ism"...LOL...is pretty common in the animal world, which I don't think is genetic and do not think would be predictably reproducible necessarily in subsequent generations.
 
Thanks for your input Eric. How short would not living a long life be, the '06 has reached 5 years' old. I also agree with the runtism theory but pose a question. What would cause a particular pairing to produce these runts consistently. They are my only pair which produce these small ones, and not the entire clutch is small, hence my agreement with the runtism theory.
Ahh well, time will tell.
 
You do have a point about them seeming to live a healthy life into adulthood.
You also have an excellent point about them consistently producing small snakes.
Very very interesting.
 
I have decided to do the cross in the upcoming season (September), otherwise we will spend all eternity wondering what could have been.
 
rolandslf said:
I have decided to do the cross in the upcoming season (September), otherwise we will spend all eternity wondering what could have been.
Click to expand...

Excellent!!! No risk no reward they say! Good luck to you and the scaley ones! As always, I will await any updates when the time comes.
 
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