Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I was thinking of beginning breeding corn snakes, but everything i read on breeding says you must hibernate them. I live in S. FL, and we dont have cool weather for any length of time to hibernate the snakes. Does anyone know something about this? Thanks
~snakesnatcher

while many breeders recommend hybernation it is not necissary for a successful hatch. corn snakes actually live and reproduce in the wild in florida, so obviously they have the required teperatures there without hybernation. still there are lots of things to read up on about breeding before you begin, and even if your snake does not go into hybernation it should be fed more then usual (called fattening up) for months before being bred. i have never bred snakes myself, but my roommates successfully bred corns without hybernating them first. read as much as you can before you try, for as i found out with my roommates and there first hatch, an unsuccessful hatch can be heart breaking.

-spangles
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Pets:
1.1.0 Albino Corns
0.1.0 Normal Corn
2.0.0 Green Iguanas
0.0.1 Florida King Snake
0.1.0 Rat Snake

First off, i'm telling you this so you dont go around looking like an idiot talking about it. Snakes don't hibernate, they brumate. The difference is in hibernation the animal actually sleeps during the winter, during brumation they just are very inactive and should not be handled, to conserve body fuel. in south florida there are different varations of corns and rats as most people actually have in captivity. one of the most common ratsnakes is a black ratsnake which only goes far south as northern GA. It still gets cool up there.

Tips on brumation.

1) turn off all heating equipment, lights, etc.
2) place them in a darker area, as long as it isnt too hot. i keep my apartment around 65 year round, and I am planning on letting them brumate in my closet, because it keeps around the same temps. The reason for the darker area is because naturally going to wintertime there is less daylight. that is thought to be the signs for brumation in s. florida.
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The reason mainstream thought is thought of as a stream is because it's so shallow. -Unknown

Another tip, if you do brumate, is to wait at least 2 weeks after feeding their last meal before lowering the temp, because if they have food in their gut, it can rot and do harm to them.
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alstiver@hotmail.com

1.0 2001 Coral snow cornsnake
0.1 2002 Pastel Ghost poss Het Amelanistic cornsnake
1.1 2002 Bloodred cornsnakes
0.1 1998 Het Hypo, Het Caramel cornsnake (gravid w/second clutch)
1.0 2000 Hypo Het Caramel cornsnake
0.0.13 2004 Eggs (potentially normals, hypos, caramels, and ambers)