Some newbie breeding Q's....

[DavidBeard]

I have an adult female Amel Corn & an '02 male het. for lavender & amel that I would like to breed soon. I have heard that brumation is not necessary and ideally I do not want to have to brumate them....I was also wondering how to go about introducing them to each other, and how I should alter their feeding habits while I am trying to breed them. Any tips or advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

 

[Charlie]

Well for starters...I think it is a little late in the breeding season to try to get them to breed...especially since they haven't been brumated. I would wait til next year. All my breeders are done for the season and I am starting to get them ready for brumation. Ideally you want to let them cool for 2-3 mos and then wait til they shed after brumation and introduce the female in with the male.

 

[gardenmum]

Like Charlie said, the corn snake breeding season is pretty much over. Even second clutchers are already laying their eggs now. You don't have much chance of getting any this year now.

You don't have to brumate in order to breed, I have bred both brumated and unbrumated and both ways have produced eggs. Either way, in late winter, early spring after the female has her "post brumation" shed, you can put them together. No special feeding other than extra feeding if they were brumated is needed. If you do a search on the forum you should be able to find a wealth of information on this. I definitely suggest that.

Good luck.

 

[DavidBeard]

Thanks for the info! However, I was under the impression that you could breed COrns any time of the year, am I mistaken? Thanks again for the help.

 

[Charlie]

Yeah, corns only breed in the early spring to early summer. I haven't heard of anyone breeding there corns any earlier or later than that. Ususally everyone brumates there corns during the cold winter months so they are ready for spring breeding.

I too have bred females that have not been brumated. I would say that I would atleast brumate the male since the cooling increase sperm production and gets them in the mood. The females can do better with being fed over the winter months but like gardenmum said....they will do what they have to do with/without brumation.

 

[DavidBeard]

OK, cool. Thanks Charlie!

 

[gardenmum]

No, you can't breed them at just anytime. Unlike rodents who, in captivity, will produce any time of year, snakes have an inner time clock that ensures the eggs are layed at the best time for the hatchlings to be ready to survive fall brumation. You can, however, start brumation early in the fall and pull them out early and actually get some to breed as early as February. And second clutches are normally done being fertilized in May/June. I do have two second clutches that are due to be laid in another week but the others have already laid their second rounds. As with anything else though, I am sure there are exceptions and you can get an occasional one that is late in producing eggs.

 

[Kel]

I had a female lay six fertile eggs in early December 2002, after being introduced to an established pair late that August (I thought she was "safe" for the year, but reckoned without the enthusiasm of the male!). Guess she hadn't read the book....

However, as Corns would traditionally be brumating in the wild from September, it might be difficult to get yours back up to bodyweight if she did lay late.