Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Though the whole breeding snakes can be easy as pie I realized a few things I could have mentioned.
So sure it can be easy but also maddening.

You may have snakes that breed and do not lay eggs
females that lay infertile eggs
eggs go the full distance only to have babies drown inside the eggs
and also the worst... having 90% of your clutch turn out to be males. This alone can really affect how easily you are able to sell your offspring.

One thing I have always said from the beginning is the best thing a person can do is to have a setup that makes caring for a quantity of babies easy. If you are prepared to house and care for a ton of snakes you won't find the maintenance too overbearing and will be less likely to want to " move them out" as quickly as possible with cheap pricetags stuck on them.

When your season goes into the toilet and you have 10 babies to show out of several clutches you may ask yourself if you can handle it. The same can be said on a succesful year when you have more babies than you thought.

This is my 9th season. I love doing this and will keep at it
Tom Stevens
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TomsSnakes.com
twitter.com/TomsSnakes

I couldn't agree more!
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Boneyardreptiles.com

I agree Tom. You have to plan ahead. I didnt last year and wound up with more babies than expected after I decided to dip my toes into the breeding waters again. It was definitely a shock and scramble to get them all set up and feeding. I only had one small local show lined up and wound up wholesaling a lot of babies off for very reduced prices. I was better prepared this year with the hatching and housing, but again not so prepared with the venues to sell. I still sold off a bunch of babies wholesale, but not as many as the year before. This upcoming season I am trying to calculate the number of offspring I "plan" to produce, and also track hatching time and upcoming show schedules more carefully. I dont want to rush getting babies ready, worry about housing, etc. It can be done less stressfully for sure with a bit of advanced planning!!!!

Developing a viable customer base is as important as producing and maintaining the stock. Quite often I will have a huge inventory and no buyers because I totally loathe having to hustle for business, and would rather just putz around taking care of my critters. So far this has only applied to mice and some other things, but once I am able to breed my snakes, knowing me I will probably wind up with lots of snakes and will just have to plan on having many pets! LOL!

The customer base worries me the most. I plan to advertise here on ksnake, and attend some regional shows. I don't really love the idea of attending shows (they're all a few hundred miles from me, lots of driving) but I can't think of a better way to get my name out to the snake buying public since I'll be an unknown and that way people can at least look at what I'm selling before buying.
There's one pet store near here that's ok (not great but at least OK) that I know buys from the public but I don't know that I'm targeting stuff they'd be interested in since I'm shooting for morphs on some animals.
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We wouldn't have 6 and a half billion people if you had to be beautiful to get laid.
6.6 African House snakes
3.2 reticulated pythons
.1 corn snake
4.2 Florida Kings
1.2 speckled kings
1.2 ball pythons
0.0.1 Argentine boa

I also think that when you begin the breeding thing it is a great thing to purchase "pro" equipment, like hatchling racks. You are contributing to yet another part of the reptile industry which helps keep the hobby alive and also makes life easier for us.
I can house 100 hatchlings in a relatively small area in my rooms, and I have some varying larger tub sizes to work with too. I hated spending the cash initially but got over it when I saw what a difference it made in my work day.

Most of us go through a phaze where your signifigant other can't believe you want to buy more containers every single time you go to the store. I went through the overloaded micro container setup for a while...its no fun.

Tom Stevens
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TomsSnakes.com
twitter.com/TomsSnakes

Agree Tom. Being organized and standardizing things makes just maintaining a collection so much less sressful. When it's a hodge podge of aquariums,racks, deli containers, stacked boxes, various cage designs etc. it contributes to people burning out and dumping everything to recoup their lives.

Also spending the money on quality caging and racks just makes sense. Aquarists and Bird folks spend significant money on housing sometimes many more times than the cost of the animal kept inside.

Before I invested more into caging, that was the biggest hassle. Its still not where I want it to be, but getting better. I actually prefer to use the large clear deli containers to house my babies for the first few months. I staple a small plastic souffle cup the side that allows me to sit another one inside. No spills and the container is more than large enough. Easily stacked. However, quality racks for the keepers is a MUST!!! I suggest researching and purchasing a quality rack system. Going with a bargain rack here and there will only lead to a hodgepodge of racks that may not be compatible for stacking, etc., or provide the quality you are looking for. Invest wisely and early.

I actually prefer to use the large clear deli containers to house my babies for the first few months

Do you use the ones that are 6.75" diameter? I always found the lids on those to wear out quick and break. Do you hav that problem?

Also what/how do you staple the water cups to the side? Do you use a special staple?

Finally i am always searching for the perfect substrate to use for neonates. I use the Reptile basics hatchling racks and the biggest problem is cleaning and finding something that does not stick to the pinkies. I am currently using sani chips. Large shavings and paper towels just don't work well with small neonates and require to frequent cleanings.

How about corncob? Does anyone still use that?

Any other substrate for deli cups and hatchling racks substrate anyone can reccomend??
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www.Bluerosy.com

I can't vouch for it but want to try crushed walnut. It looks like finer corncob, and someone on the milk snake forum loves it. The local pet store didn't have any in when I went, though (I believe it's mostly used for parrots).

The only thing that sticks to a pinky worse than walnut is sand.

I've used pine shavings all my life and still use it. I've never had a problem and I find it works well for babies. However I buy small brown paper lunch bags to feed the babies in. Toss in a pink and a snake roll or fold up the top of the bag, put back into his cage and check it tommorrow. The bag also doubles as a hiding place after the pink is gone and if they poop on it replace it. They come in a bag of 100 for about 2 dollars.
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King Snakes! Who can make a better mouse trap?
J Sierra

Rainer, I use the size deli cup you quoted and I have not had a major problem with the lids. They are cheap enough to replace if needed. But its not like I am keeping them in those for extended periods of time(hopefully), just until sold or I can set the holdbacks up in a baby rack. I am in the process of moving juvies from last year to larger boxes, and holdbacks from this year into the baby rac,. I use a regular stapler to staple the little solo soufflee cups to the sides. I make it a point to staple it about a quarter inch off the bottom so the substrate wont get stuck behind/beneath the cup. Its not perfect, but works great for me. I have also been recently using corn cob substrate. I bought a bag to put on the bottom of the small deli cups for a show I just did so they looked nicer than shavings. Its OK for the small cages, but gets heavy when you load an adult box with them. I still prefer aspen or pine shavings for the adult boxes.

I too use the reptile basics hatchling rack (we have space for over 700 hatchlings at a time), and I too have settled on "sani-chips" as the best compromise for substrate.

Forget corncob (unless you're a mycologist)-it seems to be the PERFECT substrate on which to grow mold culture!
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Brad Chambers
WWW.HCU-TX.ORG

Breeder of:
Green Tree Pythons
Pastel, Pinstripe, FIRE, Piebald, Clown, Lavender Albino, Leucistic, and Spider Ball Pythons
Striped Colombian Boa Constrictors
Kenyan, Rufescens, and Conicus Sand Boas
Red Phase Western Hognose Snakes
Spider Western Hognose Snakes
Albino Western Hognose Snakes
Locality Trans-Pecos Mexican Hognose Snakes
Southern Hognose Snakes
Eastern Hognose Snakes
Tricolor Hognose Snakes
Hypo Checkered Garter Snakes
Eastern Blackneck Garter Snakes
Stillwater Hypo Bullsnakes
Patternless Bullsnakes
S. GA Eastern Kingsnakes
Locality Desert Kingsnakes
Albino Desert Kingsnakes
Hypo Desert Kingsnakes
Mexican Black Kingsnakes
Desert Phase and Striped Desert California Kingsnakes
Locality Mexican Milksnakes
Spotted Mexican Milksnakes
Tangerine Mexican Milksnakes
Locality Alterna
Abbott Okeetee Cornsnakes
Mexican Baird's Ratsnakes
Cape Housesnakes
Tangerine Albino African Fat -Tailed Geckos
Locality Spotted Turtles

I have always preferred one piece substrate for my hatchling containers. A paper towel folded lengthwise fits perfectly in an Iris shoebox. I usually set a bunch up before hand and give them a spray with PAM to keep the flies at bay.

As for water bowls a recently retired corn snake breeder used modified PVP end caps with grooves cut in so the cap was held in place by the top of the cup to prevent spilling. I am considering getting some of these to use for two day shows so the snakes don’t get dehydrated.

"As for water bowls a recently retired corn snake breeder used modified PVP end caps with grooves cut in so the cap was held in place by the top of the cup to prevent spilling"

Yeah, I have a bunch of PVC caps that I routed wide notches in like Zuchowsky was doing too. Works great!

BTW, exactly what were you spraying with PAM to keep the flies at bay?......the paper towels??

I've never heard of that one before. But there are many other things can be done to kill them in the room itself if they get in there.

I know PAM is used by some folks to smother mites, but I've never heard of it being used the way you are describing.

~Doug
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"a snake in the grass is a GOOD thing"

my website -serpentinespecialties.webs.com

meant Zuchowski, not Zuchowsy..
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"a snake in the grass is a GOOD thing"

my website -serpentinespecialties.webs.com

I spray Prevent-A-Mite on the paper towels to kill the flies.

Yes, I love my ARS CB70 size rack. I use cages too. What's particularly nice about Racks like that is you can unplug a level when not in use instead of heating a whole rack for a few animals depending on your present needs.Plus the open air ones allow the snakes a broader temp range to choose from. Like the enclosed AP type racks too for young. Dark/secure feeling, somewhat insulated on 5 sides maintaining temps better/efficiently.

I have some of the AP CB 70s right now and I'm mixed on them. They're mostly great but the tubs seem to catch on the channel for the heat tape and it's driving me crazy.
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We wouldn't have 6 and a half billion people if you had to be beautiful to get laid.
6.6 African House snakes
3.2 reticulated pythons
.1 corn snake
4.2 Florida Kings
1.2 speckled kings
1.2 ball pythons
0.0.1 Argentine boa

I think I know what you mean. I had the CB110 AP rack and liked it a lot for the space (#900 series is even bigger!) but the feet catch and bump in the heat channel and "bump" as you slide them in on the outside lip, stressing out the animal (in my opion). With a box with no feet they are nice racks. Some of the reasons I chose the ARS rack was the wheels to move it around when needed and that the tubs slide in and out smoothly on rails on the top sides. They are also built like tanks and should last forever. Their tubs are also some kind of cool different material that cleans up easier than regular plastic storage tubs. While they are heavy as a unit and a little off putting in that regard, you can easily remove each level and reassemble in a different room yourself unlike a large plastic/wood rack should you need to. I figured it was a long term investment.

I definitely agree Tom, I just recently decided to switch it up and get some racks. For sure the best way to go if you're keeping more than a couple snakes.
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Mike
KingPin Reptiles
www.kingpinreptiles.com