My first year breeding

[inu009]

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


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.




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.

 

[hypnoctopus]

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

 

[Caryl]

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!

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[inu009]

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!

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

 

[inu009]

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.


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



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?

 

[Caryl]

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!

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[inu009]

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!

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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.

 

[Caryl]

Sounds like a solid plan. [emoji106]

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[MysticExotics]

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

 

[inu009]

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.

 

[MysticExotics]

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.

Nice!
I usually don't have to, but with younger males I may throw a shed from another male in with, to see what they do.

 

[Caryl]

Congrats on the confirmed breedings. [emoji2]

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[inu009]

Female already refusing food?

So let me preface this by saying that my female has always been my pickiest of eaters. For the timeline so far, she last shed 12/21, and I got my first visual lock on 2/24. All year so far she was uncharacteristically enthusiastic about food, but today she refused. I've been feeding her once a week since the first week of January, so it could be that she wasn't hungry. I don't know if I'm just reading too much into it? I just don't want to go off food too early, or maybe it's normal?

She just crossed the 700 gram mark, so I probably don't even have much to worry about.

 

[inu009]

*** I meant I got my first lock on 2/22, sorry long day at work x.x

 

[Caryl]

Females' appetite while gravid can vary quite a bit. Your girl may not want to eat if she's feeling full as eggs and embryos develop and take up internal space. Some steadfastly refuse meals. It's not ideal although she may still do well. You can try offering 1 or 2 smaller prey items such as hopper mice. You can also promote her appetite and, crucially, her muscle tone by encouraging gentle exercise. It's good for her any time, extra important now to help prevent dystocia. This can be as simple as her crawling around a room, or from one of your hands to the other. Aim for 10-15 minutes, twice weekly. I've got to add, 700 g is on the higher end for a corn snake. You state that her normal feeding interval is weekly. What is she eating? Have you a picture of her to share?

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[inu009]

Females' appetite while gravid can vary quite a bit. Your girl may not want to eat if she's feeling full as eggs and embryos develop and take up internal space. Some steadfastly refuse meals. It's not ideal although she may still do well. You can try offering 1 or 2 smaller prey items such as hopper mice. You can also promote her appetite and, crucially, her muscle tone by encouraging gentle exercise. It's good for her any time, extra important now to help prevent dystocia. This can be as simple as her crawling around a room, or from one of your hands to the other. Aim for 10-15 minutes, twice weekly. I've got to add, 700 g is on the higher end for a corn snake. You state that her normal feeding interval is weekly. What is she eating? Have you a picture of her to share?

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Oh her normal interval before I started pairing was a jumbo mouse every two weeks. Since January 1st, I've been feeding a large mouse weekly.

This was her in January


She's just starting a shed cycle so that could be why too, she gets really picky about eating during shed. Which also leads me to ask..this is way too soon for a pre-lay shed right? I thought it was about 5 weeks after first lock.

 

[Caryl]

If she's often picky when she's in a shed cycle and she is beginning one now, then yes, you can expect her to be even pickier.

..this is way too soon for a pre-lay shed right? I thought it was about 5 weeks after first lock.

Not necessarily. I see that you confirmed a lock on 24 February. Given your good husbandry and her healthy condition, this is probably going to be her pre-lay shed. This is an area where the snakes definitely don't read the instruction manuals, lol. They can and do lay within a pretty wide range of "normal/average." 30-45 days is usually considered average for actually laying. The pre-lay shed cycle is of course earlier.

In my experience, females are pretty consistent about their own gravid period from season to season. Tulip, for instance, lays between 32-37 days after the last mating. Esperanza goes about 10 days longer. Victory tends to have an extended blue phase when she's gravid.

This being your girl's first clutch, you'll just have to do what you're doing and be observant of her physical changes and behavior. You should assume this is the beginning of her pre-lay shed. Give her a moist lay-box, make sure her water dish is too small for her to get inside, etc. There are excellent threads on this forum about the topic. If you do have questions we're happy to help.

So exciting!! Are you ready?!


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[inu009]

If she's often picky when she's in a shed cycle and she is beginning one now, then yes, you can expect her to be even pickier.


Not necessarily. I see that you confirmed a lock on 24 February. Given your good husbandry and her healthy condition, this is probably going to be her pre-lay shed. This is an area where the snakes definitely don't read the instruction manuals, lol. They can and do lay within a pretty wide range of "normal/average." 30-45 days is usually considered average for actually laying. The pre-lay shed cycle is of course earlier.

In my experience, females are pretty consistent about their own gravid period from season to season. Tulip, for instance, lays between 32-37 days after the last mating. Esperanza goes about 10 days longer. Victory tends to have an extended blue phase when she's gravid.

This being your girl's first clutch, you'll just have to do what you're doing and be observant of her physical changes and behavior. You should assume this is the beginning of her pre-lay shed. Give her a moist lay-box, make sure her water dish is too small for her to get inside, etc. There are excellent threads on this forum about the topic. If you do have questions we're happy to help.

So exciting!! Are you ready?!


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Thank you so much for this info. Yep I already switched her water dish for a mug. I was going to set up moist lay box yesterday, but I want to cover the top of the enclosures first (we have a pesky fruit fly problem) so I'll do that in the morning.

Watching her behavior has been so interesting to me. Like how she was pacing her cage like crazy for a few days before the first lock and then after that, right back to normal. And currently she's ALWAYS under her warm hide when before she only went to that hide the night after a meal.

I got the incubator all ready, I unplugged this week (needed the extension chord I was using for work lol) but that should be plugged back in this Saturday. Here is the temps I was going for/getting.



In terms of making space for the babies, I have a plan, but I'm waiting on seeing how many eggs she lays and how many are fertile.

This all feels surreal, since I was 12, (so 16 years ago now) it was a dream of mine to own and breed snakes and this is really a dream come true lol.

 

[Caryl]

Looks and sounds like you're ready for the next part of the dream. Your projected temps look good. Your girl is behaving like an expectant mother should.

I do understand the "dream come true" part. I felt very much the same with my first clutch, having waited many years myself. (I still have and still love that first pippie - Dazzler - though of course she's now an adult who's produced multiple fine clutches.) You know what? I still get excited. Every time.

Looking forward to your next phase! Thanks for sharing.

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[inu009]

Lay box has been provided! I introduced her to it and I kinda expected her to leave right away, but she's been hanging out. I tried the whole moist-hide when in shed when I first got her, and she never used it lol. I do live in Florida so (low) humidity is never the problem lol. Also please note the enclosure isn't usually this bare, I had to remove some decor to make room for the egg box, and I also had to remove her favorite cork round (sorry girl) it's impossible for me to get her out of there without a big ordeal and I couldn't have her laying her eggs in there.



I have two more bags of moss on the way, I'm going to follow Rich's advice to make sure theres enough moss in there for her to dig down and feel safe, I dont need her holding on to those eggs any longer than necessary.

Also besides the bad lighting, here is a good shot of her lower half