Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I figured living here in South Florida I would have a jump start on the rest on the snake breeding population else where in the country. With the natural cycle of things warming up down here quicker then say, you folks in Minnesota, I would think that my snakes would be breeding before most others. That never seems to be the case. I see guys with eggs and some with babies pipping already and my corns are still breeding L.
It is the same with the boa people too. People already have beautiful new baby boas and I am still waiting for my females to stop eating to ready themselves to give birth. I do provide additional heat and lights for my critters but I normally follow the natural cycles that I have in my climate, how on earth do you folks get your snakes to think it is spring time in the dead of winter? Your heating bills must be outrageous!
Just curious as to your methods.
Thanks
Hoppy,
Oh and one more thing, I see everyone puts there collections at the end of there names, well here it goes…..
0.1 wife
0.2 kids
0.3 cats
8.0.0 assorted fish
9.5.6 Corn Snakes in assorted flavors
9.12 Boa Constrictors in assorted Colors
1.0.0 African Clawed Frog
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Jim Hopkins "Hoppy"
Hopkins Holesale Herps
Hopfam1@aol.com

>>Hey Hoppy,
My first pair was more or less a spur of the moment decision.
In January we had a warm spell and my female snow started getting very restless. She is normally laid back so I thought she must be looking for a mate so I put my Ghost in with her.
Within in minutes they were hooked up.
She laide her eggs 36 days later on Feb. 13th and the eggs started hatching on April 5th. I got 6 snows and 4 anerys.
My other breeding pair were done differently.
Here are the particulars.
Oct. 17,1 2003: Stopped feeding Arwen (Female Cream) and Strider (Male Cream).
Nov. 1, 2003: I turned their heat sources off.
Nov. 8, 2003: I placed them in a dark, cool closet.
Nov. 15, 2003: I placed them in the fridge at 60 degrees.
Nov. 22, 2003: I dropped the temp down to 47 degrees.
Jan 31, 2004: Arwen and Strider were removed from fridge and placed in closet at room temps.
Feb. 6, 2004: They were placed back in their containers at normal temperature levels.
Feb. 7, 2004: Gave them each a fuzzie. They digested those without trouble. (This was probably earlier then I should have but they were small fuzzies)
Feb. 11, 2004: Gave them each a small weanling.
Feb. 14, 2004: Gave them each a medium weanling.
Feb. 21, 2004: Arwen ate a large weanling. I skipped Strider's meal this week (he is going into the "blue"
Feb. 27, 2004: Strider shed.
Feb. 28, 2004: Arwen and Strider each ate large weanlings. Arwen is going into the "blue".
March 3, 2004: Arwen shed so Arwen and Strider were placed together. They mated within a few minutes.
Arwen laid 20 eggs on April 16, 2004.
As far as electric bills go, I try not to think about it.
I have four 55 gallon tanks, four 20 gallon tanks, two 10 gallon tanks, two 30 gallon tanks,one 75 gallon tank one 125 gallon tank, a hatchling rack, and adult rack and a converted book case rack. I have turtles and bearded dragons as well as snakes.
All of these have assorted lights, heat pads, heat tape and undertank heaters.
If I started counting the actual cost of running all this I might quit....lol
Jimmy

That sounds like a lot of work to cycle the snakes, but I guess that way you could get them to breed just about any time of year. Being a FL boy, I did not realize that people let their corns get that cold. I never let my snake room get below 65 (I keep boas in the same room) during the winter and I don't use extra heat for the corn snake cages, just the boa cages. It sounds like you have done your home work with your snakes. If you don't mind me asking, what part of the country are you in and what time of the year do you think your snakes would breed natrually?
Thanks
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Jim Hopkins "Hoppy"
Hopkins Holesale Herps
Hopfam1@aol.com

>>That sounds like a lot of work to cycle the snakes, but I guess that way you could get them to breed just about any time of year. Being a FL boy, I did not realize that people let their corns get that cold. I never let my snake room get below 65 (I keep boas in the same room) during the winter and I don't use extra heat for the corn snake cages, just the boa cages. It sounds like you have done your home work with your snakes. If you don't mind me asking, what part of the country are you in and what time of the year do you think your snakes would breed natrually?
>>Thanks

Hey Hoppy,
I am in Southheast Tennessee. I would say that as soon as the weather gets consistantly warm enough, somewhere between ealry March to mid April would be about right around here. Maybe even sooner if it warms up early.
Jimmy

The cool thing about living up north is we can cool our critters off in the winter.There's always a cold spot,room,closet,basement,etc.All we have to do is move them to a warmer room and whammo.

About mid-Novemberish, I cease feeding and give them time for their digestive systems to clear. December, I turn off all the heat in the room, leave the room dark, and leave the snakes alone except to change their water. Early January I warm everyone up, then start feeding again. Within two months they start breeding...

(Corns are very forgiving as far as breeding conditions go...)

That having been said, some snakes are quicker to breed than others. I have eggs from some, and some are still in the mating phase of the cycle.

-Kat
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"You keep WHAT in your freezer?"
"Mice. And rats. If that bothers you, I can call them 'cows' instead."

...in regards to when they would breed if I didn't cycle them at all... I have one female I didn't plan on breeding because of her size at the beginning of brumation, so she wasn't brumated. During the past few months, she's grown in size to be sufficiently large enough for breeding, and just recently (as in last night) had her first pairing. So the answer is late April.

-Kat
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"You keep WHAT in your freezer?"
"Mice. And rats. If that bothers you, I can call them 'cows' instead."