Reptile & Amphibian Forums

So I have a male and a female corn in the same enclosure (I know you are not supposed to do that, but it is very large and they are healthy) and I did NOT plan on breeding them, did not mimic cool down/warm up or anything and to my suprise I find 13 eggs today while I was doing my maintenance. I quickly read a book I have on corns and placed the eggs in a deli container with damp spagnum moss and a few vent holes, and I currently have the container in the mothers cage, and the temp seems to be about 81% according to my temp gun. I need to know the best way to incubate these eggs, bearing in mind that an incubator is not going to happen, since I live in the middle of nowhere and it would take a week for one to get here in the mail. Any help would be much appreciated. Sorry for wall of text

Well, that will work. As long as the incubation media stays moist (not wet) and the temps stay around 78-85 degrees, they should hatch in about 50-70 days!! I have incubated using sphagnum moss, but generally prefer vermiculite. Vermiculite seems to stay moist longer and requires addition of more water as often IMO. Just leave them alone and check the moisture every week. If the moss feels dry, dampen with a spray bottle along the edges of the container til its moist, but not dripping wet. DO NOT spray or wet the eggs directly. Other than that, hope for the best like the rest of us do LOL!! Good luck and stock up pinkies for the babies!!

If the eggs look cramped in the deli cup I suggest a plastic shoe box. Try to find some vermiculte or even Perlite but make sure it contains no additives, like miracle grow or anything. Then just keep the eggs moist and warm like Kevin said. I often spray the eggs and never had a problem but I don't like spagnum moss because it tends to stain the eggs badly which is really not a real problem, if you can't find the Vermiculite or perlite at your local garden center. Oh try to leave the eggs in the same position as found never turn them, and if you can remove any badly molding eggs carefully. If you don't want to try removing the bad eggs you can wipe then every couple days to remove the mold and keep it from spreading. The box doesn't ned any holes though I sometimes put one small hole but as long as you open it every few days to let air exchange you should be good. If the eggs start to spoil all at the same time then the clutch was infertile. Sorry for the long post just wanted to include everything you might need to know. Good luck.
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King Snakes! Who can make a better mouse trap?
J Sierra

Keeping a male and female corn in the same cage pretty much means they will breed, whether you want them to or not. However, if you don't want to be bothered with incubating eggs and housing/caring/selling the babies, just freeze the eggs over night and toss them. Then just get a separate cage for one of your snakes so you won't have to worry about unwanted eggs again.

Also note female corns can double clutch so she may lay more eggs in the near future (about a month or so later...can't remember the exact time between clutches for corns.)

It is also very easy to make your own incubator. You just need any decently insulated container, be it an old cooler, mini fridge, or even a plastic container with insulation foam inserted inside to provide better insulation. Then you need a heat source, such as heat tape, heat cable, a heating pad underneath the container set on a thermostat or rheostat with a temperature probe inside, should do for an incubator.
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PHLdyPayne

I have only hatched two clutches of cornsnake eggs so far, and did just leave the container with moss in the mother's cage. I put the temp probe inside the container, and kept it between 80 and 85 degrees. It worked just fine.

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Kent

0.1 Hypomelanistic striped cornsnake
1.0 Lavender cornsnake
1.2 Gray-banded kingsnakes, blairs phase

I appreciate the help guys. I was worried they wouldn't make it because of my lack of preparation, but they seem to be doing fine. There is only one I'm pretty sure is infertile, but I'm not 0, as I am told they can fool you that way sometimes.

>>So I have a male and a female corn in the same enclosure (I know you are not supposed to do that, but it is very large and they are healthy) and I did NOT plan on breeding them, did not mimic cool down/warm up or anything and to my suprise I find 13 eggs today while I was doing my maintenance. I quickly read a book I have on corns and placed the eggs in a deli container with damp spagnum moss and a few vent holes, and I currently have the container in the mothers cage, and the temp seems to be about 81% according to my temp gun. I need to know the best way to incubate these eggs, bearing in mind that an incubator is not going to happen, since I live in the middle of nowhere and it would take a week for one to get here in the mail. Any help would be much appreciated. Sorry for wall of text

the sphagnum moss will be fine.
don't worry about buying vermiculite for a few eggs, especially since you have the moss.
I only use sphagnum moss.
make sure most of the moisture is squeezed out.
I will get it thoroughly wet and then squeeze and squeeze until it is damp but no water will drip out.
I would get something a little larger then the deli cup, though. A mid sized gladware container will work.
Too small of a container and the moss will dry out too quickly.
Place moss in container, place eggs on top of this and place lid on container. make sure the lid isn't pressing down on the eggs.
I use a couple of air holes, some people don't.
Something very simple to do...place the container on top of your refrigerator, TV or VCR. These will all work fine.
Just check every 5 to 7 days to make sure the eggs aren't getting dried out. If they aren't shriveling they are fine.
I've worked on this over the last couple of years and I have found the dryer the better. Like I said as long as they don't shrivel they aren't too dry.
If they do begin to dimple or shrivel add water to the container by pouring it at the outer edge of the container. Don't pour water directly on the eggs and do not spray or mist the eggs.
Simple really. Place them somehwere, check them occaisonally and somewhere between 60 to 70 something days they should hatch.
Don't over think it and don't keep them too moist.
good luck
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Corn snakes and rat snakes..No one can have just one.
"Resistance is futile"
Jimmy Johnson
(Draybar)
Draybars Snakes

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