Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi everyone. My female cornsnake is getting close to laying. She has been staying in her nest box for the last couple of weeks, and seemed to be comfortable in it. She had her pre-lay shed on the 17th, and ate one fuzzy the next day.

Today she is all over the cage, like she is looking for a better place to lay. Burrowing in the aspen, pushing with her nose in teh corners. The temp in the lay box is between 80 and 84 degrees.

Any suggestions would be welcome. I am keeping an eye on her, in case she starts laying all over the cage. Should I take her water bowl out?

Thanks.
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Kent

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

>>Hi everyone. My female cornsnake is getting close to laying. She has been staying in her nest box for the last couple of weeks, and seemed to be comfortable in it. She had her pre-lay shed on the 17th, and ate one fuzzy the next day.
>>
>>Today she is all over the cage, like she is looking for a better place to lay. Burrowing in the aspen, pushing with her nose in teh corners. The temp in the lay box is between 80 and 84 degrees.
>>
>>Any suggestions would be welcome. I am keeping an eye on her, in case she starts laying all over the cage. Should I take her water bowl out?
>>
>>Thanks.
>>-----
>>Kent
>>
>>0

what do you have in her lay box?
is it moist enough in the lay box?
she is looking for the best place to lay so I would make sure the lay box is THE best place.
remove any hides, replace the water dish with a smaller water dish. One not large enough for her but still leaves water if she needs it.
after checking the lay box place her in it.
There have been times where my females have been searching and searching so I re-introduce them to their lay boxes and they stay and lay.
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Corn snakes and rat snakes..No one can have just one.
"Resistance is futile"
Jimmy Johnson
(Draybar)
Draybars Snakes

_____

Her lay box has damp sphagnum moss in it. It has probably dried out some since I first put it in her cage, so maybe I should re-moisten the moss.The temp probe is in the bottom of the lay box and is reading 83 degrees.

There are no other hides, and I will put in a smaller water dish. She has been in and out of the lay box all day. In fact right now she has her body inside, with her head and tail out.

Thanks for your reply Jimmy. I guess I worry too much!
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Kent

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

Corn snakes usually lay eggs 10 days after they shed. So you have a few more days before you should be expecting eggs. After the shed, females are generally restless and spend quite a bit of time both in and out of their nestbox.

The day before laying eggs, female corns go into the nestbox and pretty much spend the whole day in there and do not come out until the eggs are deposited. At least that's been my experience. So what's happening with your female corn is perfectly normal.

Just because a female corn is in a nest box doesn't mean it intends to lay eggs. I see people on forums get all "geeked up" because their snake is in a nest box - it doesn't mean anything unless it's about 10 days after a pre-egglaying shed. Just because a female corn isn't in a nest box, doesn't mean she won't eventually lay her eggs in the box (this is especially true if it's less than 10 days since she shed).

Tim

Third Eye

She started laying this afternoon. I only see one egg so far, and she is still moving in and out of the lay box.

It is hard to not keep checking, but I will leave her alone until tomorrow.
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Kent

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

The one egg I see is in the lay box, and looks good. Its only been 6 days since she shed.
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Kent

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