Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Okay... I thought I understood this issue, that corn snakes genders are NOT DETERMINED by the incubating temperatures. BUT there is a debate elsewhere. I could have sworn I heard this debate and also heard some proof that was reasonable enough so that it wasnt' a debate in my mind any more.... but now I'm not so sure... so anyone wanna bite and tell me what they know? Research into this would also be nice.... So far I only have two clutches of eggs to go by that I have raised up myself... one was incubated at a lower temperature than the other. The lower temp clutch (kingsnakes, not cornsnakes) was 7.0.1 gender ratio (one died, gender unknown), and the other clutch was 2.5 at a higher temperature incubation (peaked at 100 degrees at the end due to AC malfunction).

Anyway, would love to hear what everyone has to say on this!
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~Sasheena

Well I dont know about corns but I do know that gender is decided with leopard geckos...now both are herps so it may be possible that corns are too decided by temp.

nothing to do with the sex of the baby. In geckos, high temps (88) will give you males, low temps (80) will give you females, and any temp in-between will give you both. THAT IS NOT the case with snakes. If it was predictable, then your high incubation temps would have produced ALL males, and that was not the case; likewise low incubation temps (78-80) would have produced ALL females, and that was not the case. It is possible that if you breed the same pair together you will find that THAT PARTICULAR BREEDING PAIR might produce more males than females for instance(or vise versa). But in the long run, it will work out to 50/50 no matter what the incubation temp is.

Kerby...

Wouldn't gender be determined at the moment of conception? If not, how does temperature affect gender?
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Brandon
0.0.1 White's Tree Frog (I think he's a male....do you know any way to easily sex him?)
1.0 Creamsicle Cornsnake
corn_snake_dude@yahoo.com

Well if you actually care to know, Ill tell you what I think is right, on my knowledge based from animal planet. The sex is decided like after the first week of the egg (in geckos and alligators for sure). The reason for the temp deciding is because often the temp will show in nature which of the sexes is needed more of...I am not certin why but I think it has something to do with that when it is hotter the females will breed more meaning there will need to be more males needed to fertilize them and the other way too...Dont listen to what I have to say for sure because it is late and my memory is not that great...plus how much can you trust animal planet?

I'm taking a Biology class right now and we have been learning about genetics. I just don't understand how gender can be determined by temperature. Let me explain. I have learned a little bit about mendelian inheritance. The female can only give an X sex chromosome. The male can give an x sex chromosome or a Y chromosome. Every egg has an X chromosome and each sperm cell would have either an X or a Y chromosome. This would be determined at the moment of creation of the gamete(sex cell....egg or sperm). According to this knowledge, the fertilization of an egg by any one sperm cell - containing either an X or a Y chromosome - would determine the gender of the snake, or gecko, etc. If it is true that temperature effects gender, how does this work? Then again, there are even fish that have the ability to change gender in the middle of their lives. I'm sure there's a way that it can work, but does anyone know how?
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Brandon
0.0.1 White's Tree Frog (I think he's a male....do you know any way to easily sex him?)
1.0 Creamsicle Cornsnake
corn_snake_dude@yahoo.com

Well I might be wrong but like i said i think all the sperms from the male in those species are called Z cells meaning they have neither X or Y...and then it is decided later on in the eggs life like I explained in my earlier post....I may not be right like I have said...so check with your biology teacher...heck I am only 14 how much can I know....?

the temp thing is true for gecko's, but not for corns. Last year my clutch was 50/50 pretty much, and all incubated at around 83deg F. This year I expect the same, I think corns are more like us than geckos in this way anyway, where it's all about X and Y, no Z's involved here.
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Dianne
AKA IcedGoddess
6.7 Cornsnakes
1.3 Cats
0.1 Child
IcedGoddess Creations
Castle Serpents

In fruit flies and mammals, the females have two large X chromosomes and the males have a large X and a small Y chromosome. Colubrid snake and bird females have one large Z and one small W chromosome, while the males have two large Z chromosomes. The biologists named them this way to minimize confusion when discussing the two systems of sex determination.

Geckos do not have X, Y, Z, or W chromosomes. 8-)

Paul Hollander