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Minimum female breeding size

T

Tony D

New member
I know I've been around a bit too long to be asking questions like this but its been awhile since I worked with corns.

I have 3 females I've been raising rather slowly. They are all CB12 and ~30 / 32" long. My primary question is should I breed them? I know their size is sub optimal but I've also had many females this size ovulate and then bind because the unfertilized eggs didn't calcify and adhered into masses to large to pass without intervention.

I know I can likely prevent ovulation by keeping them up this winter but I've long believed that failure to cycle animals by second winter could be a factor in them developing into poor breeders. This isn't based on any experience but is just something I've been carrying around for awhile?

Anyway some insights on whether or not to breed then next year and if not if it would be best to keep them up or put them down for the winter would be appreciated. Thanks in advance.
 
I don't always brumate my corns (18+ years) and it has not made any difference in fertility. The only thing that I've seen it affect is the timing of ovulation.
On the size issue, I'd be more concerned with weight rather than length. In my experience length seems to affect the size of the clutch, as in, number of eggs. Whereas low body weight puts mom and eggs in peril.
Granted bigger, length and weight, is better up to a point. Optimal breeding size falls into a standard Bell Curve for almost all living things. With less than desirable results at both ends of the spectrum.

Terri
 
I would think a snake that is only that long would be too small. I wouldn't breed a female under 3.5feet and 400 grams.
 
So I saw crackerhead say here that being too large can affect the mother/clutch neggatively. How big is too big? Right now im working with a female that is 670 grams. Early in the year (january) she had a clutch of twelve but she was in the 500 range then.
 
The rule of thumb for females is a minimum of three feet, three years, 300 grams. I have no idea how long any of my snakes are! Like Terri says, I go by weight, but more so even, body condition. You don't want a flabby fat momma snake- you want one that is strong and lithe and muscular. I think I only have one female who is 600 grams- the rest are in the 400-500 range.

Once I'm sure a female is gravid, she gets regular gentle exercise until she goes blue, pre-lay. This could be crawling on the floor, swimming, or even small stair climbing. You don't want to stress her, but you want her out and moving.
 
I am also curious how too big would be an issue. I can understand obesity being a problem, is that what was meant? My big girl is just over 600 grams and 5 ft long, 3 years old, never been bred. I have been thinking about getting a baby boy to raise up and breed with her in a couple years, I imagine she will be even slightly bigger then. But she is not overweight, she has a very healthy shape and eats one adult mouse every 2 weeks.
 
I imagine she also meant overweight for the individual animal, rather than some arbitrary number for every female. Granted, my girl is slightly bigger than I'd really like her right now, but Stormy, when bred was in the mid 700 gram range and went over 800 grams while gravid and laid 26 eggs and lost 200 grams doing so, all without any ill effects I've seen. She's since gone back up to the high 700 gram range and is slightly girthier than I really want her but by no means obese for her general build. There is quite a bit of variation in body types with corns, some will always be on the smaller side and others on the large side. It's more important that they have good muscle tone and aren't flabby than any kind of upper gram number on a female.
 
This might fly in the face of some..... And I apologize in advance.... But..... I had a female lay 15 perfect eggs.... All hatched.... All healthy, no issues.... And she weighed 250g at barely 2 yrs old. In some instances.... The over all health of the snake out weighs her size/age. Imagine that? Size didn't matter for once.........
 
I think going by age/size is good for someone newer to snakes and breeding in particular. Once you have a good feel for your animals and what breeding can be like, you are better able to tell when that girl should be around 400 grams before trying her but that girl is good to go at 250.
 
That makes sense, thanks for the info guys :) Another question, do they usually produce less eggs their first time or is that irrelevant?
 
I'm guessing age and size, plus genetics, are probably more likely to affect clutch size but first time could be a factor too. Stormy, the one I was talking about earlier, bred this year for the first time and laid a pretty large clutch. However, she is a late '08, so right in prime breeding age.
 
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