Reptile & Amphibian Forums

This is my first time attempting to breed corns (obviously) and I was wondering how long I should leave them together? I just introduced the pair last night and they both crawled all over each other (the male moving a bit jerkily...just like I had read to expect). This morning she was on one end of the cage and he was on the other...no slime trails to indicate any breeding activity. My boas are left together for several months so that courtship and breeding can occur...does it work the same for corns? Any help is appreciated.

Thanks!
Raven

Last year was my first corn breeding, and I didn't have to do much! I put them together a few times, just for a few hours, and sure enough, cought them in the act.

This year it's a bit more of a challenge. The male is a first timer, and not quite two years old yet. But I've been putting them together on "overnight dates" about once a week. But then seperating them. She doesn't seem to care if he's in there or not, but he is usually ready to go to his own space by morning. I've seen them sleep together, and on opposite ends, but no action other than the jerking slither that I've whitnessed. Hopefully he's getting the idea, and I'll see some babies.

Some people do leave them together longer, I don't mainly because I feel the cages I have are too small to let two adults live together for long.
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Dianne
AKA IcedGoddess
4.5 Cornsnakes
1.3 Cats
0.1 Child
IcedGoddess Creations
Castle Serpents

I might try leaving them together for a bit longer then separate them. The cage they're in is 36"L X 24"D X 12"H (he's close to 4' and she's closer to 3'), so it should be fine for the pair of them in short bursts. I've bred a couple of my boas this year (one of which I'm pretty sure is gravid, the other ????). I'd really like to try my hand with the corns (my first egg layers). I'm both excited and nervous about it actually working. I've never had to incubate eggs before and I've never had anything I've produced that will be as tiny as newly hatched corns...even baby boas are substantially sized in comparison.

Raven

Baby corns are small! It's amazing how fast the grow though, and how they can swallow a day old pinky just days after hatching!
It's a waiting game though. 2 months in mom, two months in eggs. Here's Ruby march 13, 03..she laid 15 eggs, 2 didn't make it through incubation, and I blame myself, I let them get too dry.

Here's one of the babies the day she hatched, may 16 or 17 of 03.

she's a normal, and het snow. They were all close to the same size, around 11-12" long, and 13 of them

I used a Hovabator (the one without the fan) for incubating, after I lost two eggs trying to use a snall tank set up for incubating. The Hovabator was great!

Mostly, we just wait....lol
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Dianne
AKA IcedGoddess
4.5 Cornsnakes
1.3 Cats
0.1 Child
IcedGoddess Creations
Castle Serpents

My pair of 02 normals were maybe 10 inches when I got them...VERY tiny. They're both probably 18-24 inches now and it's hard for me to imagine how small they were when I first got them. My baby boas are usually 12-14 inches at birth (my female is smaller than average, many babies are 16-18 inches at birth). Even so, they have some decent girth to them...not like baby corns. I'm looking forward to the experience though, this will be very cool if it all works out.

If so, you may want to reconsider. 18-24 inches is large enough for the male, but the female may egg bind. It is generally recomended that you wait on females until they are at least 36" which is usually the third Winter.

Just a little freindly advice.
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Cheryl Marchek
AKA JM
Check out my website at:
The Red Dragons Den

are my adult snow corns. The male is around 4 feet long and the female is around 3 feet long (probably a bit more, but she's a bit too wiggly to get an acurate measurement). From what I was told, they should both have been hatched in 1999 or 2000. The pair of normals will probably have at least another two years before I consider putting them together. While they've grown an amazing amount in the time I've had them (since August 2002), I generally like my snakes to be at least 3-4 years old before I attempt to pair them off. I know, I know, they'll probably be ready before then but it's a quirk of mine. *grin*

Raven

Wow!

*grin* Yeah, I tend to like to give my guys plenty of room. Generally speaking, I like my cages to be at least 2/3 the length of the snake though the bigger my boas get the less that equation works out. lol Because the corns are so much more active than the boas, I've really tried to make sure they have lots of room...seems they're more inclined to use all the available space for cruising around. At the moment, my pair of snows have staked out separate corners of the cage, no evidence of courting or mating. I'll probalby separate them again for a while and put them back together after a few days or maybe a week. Perhaps the forced separations will make them more amorous?

Raven