Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I saw my two corn snakes mating for the first time for about 2 hours last night, so hopefully she will become gravid. I know i am jumping the gun slightly but i would like some advice on what to do next. I know i have to provide a box with damp vermiculite for her to lay her eggs on after her next shed (7-10 days before laying of eggs). I am then thinking of getting a hova-bator to incubate the eggs, what is the best substraight to use here and do i put them straight into the incubator or do i put them in a plastic container? what is the best way to keep the required humidity up? any information on what i do after the eggs are hatched would be grateful. The female is 4 1/2 foot and 4 years old and this is the first sign of breeding, she has been brumated this year.

Congrats, after 2 hours I'd bet she's gravid

Sounds like you really read your stuff too, GOOD FOR YOU!
Vermiculite is great for incubating. I use a hovabator myself, and last year bought a bunch of small deli cups, (i bought pre-puched, but this year I'll just punch the holes in the cups myself and save 2cents a cup) That worked nicely, but some eggs tend to get stuck in a clump, and though you can separate them, it'd be easier to just put the vermiculite in the incubator itself instead of the deli's

You'll want the hovabator withOUT the fan, there's two kinds of hovabator, ones a turbo fan, that would dry out the eggs. I got mine at LLL for 35$ on sale and it came with some deli's, some vermiculite, and a thermometer. Set the hovabator up early, like after she does her pre-lay shed. Because it takes a little bit to be sure you have the dial set to the right temp, it's a very touchy dial, a little turn goes a long way. Once you have it right, you can just unplug it till she lays her eggs. If you choose not to use deli cups for the eggs, make sure you keep the plastic tray on the floor of the hovabator, I actually filled that with water last year to keep up the humidity in the hovabator, then set the cups on top of that, worked great.

For after....well, you'll need a couple plastic shoe boxes My clutch of 13 last year took 5 days to completely hatch, from first pip to all out of the egg. I separated my hatchlings from the start, but I doubt that all the big breeders do that since they have so many more babies at once. Then you wait for the babies to shed, usually in the first few days to a week, then give them each a small (day old or just born) pinky mouse.

Relax though...you got a little time
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Dianne
AKA IcedGoddess
6.7 Cornsnakes
1.3 Cats
0.1 Child
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