Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Just wandering what would be a good species to try breeding - for someone who has never tried breeding snakes before. And what species seems easiest to get newborns eating well (particularly on frozen/thawed).

And does it generally seem easier to breed species that lay eggs or give live birth?
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"Kira"

for people who don't have say a basement with cooler temps for brumation...how does one go about cooling snakes?
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"Kira"

Too wide open a question for me. There are a bunch of suitable species. Make a list of species that you like or think you would like to work with. Then ask which of them would be good to start with and why.

As for the cooling question, that is an exercize in ingenuity. You might buy a cast-off refigerator that still works. Or you might make friends with a herper or non-herper who has a cold basement. Or you might try something else. Good luck.

Paul Hollander

For a first breeding effort, I would generally recommend egg layers. Most egg laying colubrids are easier to breed.

African Housesnakes would be the easiest to breed and deal with. All you need is a male and a female, they don't need to be cooled and the babies usually take pinkies right away (the big dark greenish colored Housesnakes have bigger babies generally).

Cornsnakes are also pretty easy, as are Cal Kings and Mexican Black Kings (and you already have half a pair for either of those two taxa).

Some live bearing snakes (Gartersnakes, for example) are pretty easy, but live bearing boids tend to be a little bit more work (it is hard to get to observe mating and harder still to predict if and when birth will follow).

Basically, you should use two criteria when deciding to breed snakes -

1. What species do I like? Don't bother getting something just for "breeding practice". Find a species you are interested in and breed those.

2. What species would be easy to get rid of as babies? Make sure the babies are easy to start feeding and that someone would want them. While you may really like some obscure african colubrid like Psammophis, getting someone else to take some of the babies off your hands may be quite difficult.
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Chris Harrison

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1.0 Ball Python "Aragorn"
1.0 Kenyan Sand Boa "Gimli"
1.0 Saharan Sand Boa "Frodo"
0.1 Rough-Scale Sand Boa "Arwen"
0.1 California Kingsnake "Gentoo"
1.0 Mexican Black Kingsnake "Indigo"
1.0 Snow Corn snake "Chile"

0.1 Australian Cattle Dog/Pointer
"Kira"

I was going to suggest king snakes also. While I have never personally bred any a few people I know have. The young are very aggressive eatters as are adults as I am sure you already know since you have two kings already. You should get your king snakes sexed and see if you have a pair!

My 2003 cali king is getting HUGE. This snake would eat every day if I let him. I have had him for about a month and he shed maybe two weeks after I got him and grew at an impressive rate. I fed him three pinkies every 7 days but now he can take on hoppers so I feed him two hoppers every 7 days. Funny thing is almost EVERY time I go near his enclosure he comes out of his hide and thinks he is getting food...lol.

I wonder how often it becomes a problem with kings eating their mates - I'm too chicken to find out. But I'd love to breed them. There aren't a lot of MBKs for sell around here. I'd just have to get a mate.
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Check Out My Albums

1.0 Ball Python "Aragorn"
1.0 Kenyan Sand Boa "Gimli"
1.0 Saharan Sand Boa "Frodo"
0.1 Rough-Scale Sand Boa "Arwen"
0.1 California Kingsnake "Gentoo"
1.0 Mexican Black Kingsnake "Indigo"
1.0 Snow Corn snake "Chile"

0.1 Australian Cattle Dog/Pointer
"Kira"

I wonder how often it becomes a problem with kings eating their mates - I'm too chicken to find out.

It does happen, that's why when breeding any snakes, it is best to supervise matings and make sure both snakes "understand" why they are together. It is always risky to leave the snakes together for prolonged periods if they aren't actually mating.

Usually if a female is receptive and the male is ready, eating is NOT the primary thing on their minds.
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Chris Harrison