I breed them whenever they reach about three feet. There have been several cases of wild corns beng found that were about two feet long and gravid. Having said that, age has far less to do with a snake's maturity than size. There have been corn snakes that successfully reproduced at 9 months of age.

Although there's fear of egg binding or retention in small snakes, I've seen it happen far more often in larger snakes that were proven breeders but didn't have the muscle tone to expell eggs.

There's a heck of a lot of individual variability when it comes to corns and I've always felt that one aspect of being a breeder is to know your animals and understand that they won't always follow "cookbook" type guidelines. I've bred corns, kings and milks at 18 months will no harmful effects. I have a gravid Honduran that will turn 20 years old this Summer - I first bred her at 18 months.

I think most people feel better about waiting an extra year, and there's probably no harm in that.

Tim

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