Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hello,

I was wondering how people who live in a warm climate environment brumate their corn snakes? This will be my first year attempting to breed a pair of Corns, and am curious of how the best and easiest way of getting this done.

Thank you for your feedback,

Kerry

I live in Los Angeles, CA. Thats about as consistently warm as you will find in the continental US, given that the open deserts are quite cold in the winter.

I've never had a problem with brumation. I just find a cool-ish spot for my snakes and turn out the lights for about two and a half months. During that time I keep their water bowls full and clean, and otherwise ignore them.

My snakes breed enthusiastically every spring, and the oldest are now over 12 years old and still going strong. A 12 year old snow corn gave me 19 eggs this year, and has consistently produced about that many year in and year out.

I can't say that my way is great, but what I did last yeat was just wait until a relatively cold month and then just remove the supplemental heat and let them stay at room temp (which was about 64-68F) for about a month. Obviously this isn't exactly the coolest temps, but they did fine, especially since it was only for a month.

I ended up not breeding them but the males seemed like they wanted to and the females produced follicles.
(The one's I bred were hibernated at the previous owners)

It isn't necessary to brumate them for them to breed though. A local and well respected breeder never brumates his snakes and he has hundreds of babies every year.
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colubridlady@gmail.com

3.3 adult cornsnakes
1.2 baby cornsnakes
7 cornsnake eggs

I live in north Texas, so it might get colder here than where you live. I'm not a real experienced breeder, only bred twice. I dont change a thing in the winter. I keep the temps as close as possible, and the same feeding schedule. Some may go off feed for a short while, but besides that I never seen any noticible difference. Every spring they all seem to be hunting for mates like mad. The two occasions I have introduced mates it has happened almost immediatley. I'm only going to pair up one pair this year we'll see if my luck continues. I know for the larger collections it gives the owners a break from all the work. But for my small collection it really doesnt seem to make much difference.
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1,0 snow
1,0 amel
1,0 kisatchie
1,0 aney stripe motley
0,1 normal
0,1 charcoal
0,1 motley
1,1 oketee
0,1 tx rat
4,5 ball python
1,1 dumerils boa
1,1 columbian red tail boa
1,1 green iguana
1,0 leopard gecko
1,2 dogs
freezer full of mice & rats

I live in South Florida and we sre still well up in the 80's right now and will be through the first few weeks of January. In Jan. the temp does start to drop and we will get down in the 40's at night for a few nights then back up in the 70's during the day. The breeders here just turn off any extra heat sources and open the windows. Remember we have Corn snakes and several species of ratsnakes (Miami Phase Corns, Everglades Rats etc.)here that breed really well.
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Joe

Corns don't really need to be brumated for breeding. They are native mostly to more quasi-tropical environments, where it doesnt get that cold... as its been said.
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The reason mainstream thought is thought of as a stream is because it's so shallow. -George Carlin

A fool doesn't learn. A smart man learns from his mistakes. A wise man learns from the mistakes of others. Which one are you?

My Website
Rat/Corn snake care sheet I wrote

Current snakes:
0.1 Licorice Stick Black Rat (Lola)
1.0 Neonate Black Rat (het for Lic Stk's) (Frankie)
1.1 Texas Bairds (Jose and Rosa)
0.1 Blue Beauty (Brunhilde)

I used a mini-fridge last season. Only brumated two snakes. This coming season I will be using a full sized refrigerator. Going to brumate eight.

You really don't need to brumate them though. They will breed without brumation. I bred three pair this last season.
One pair was not brumated.
One pair was brumated.
One pair had a brumated male and a non-brumated female.

I have four planned breeding pairs for the upcoming season and plan to brumate them mainly for a little time off from feeding. It will save me a little money and time.
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Corn snakes and rat snakes..No one can have just one.
"resistance is futile"
Jimmy (draybar)

Jimmy,

What setting did you have that set on (temps, I mean), and how did you keep the air flow constant (or did you worry about that at all)? Been thinking about trying that, myself.

Thanks!
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Darin Chappell
Hillbilly Herps
PO Box 254
Rogersville, MO 65742

>>Jimmy,
>>
>>What setting did you have that set on (temps, I mean), and how did you keep the air flow constant (or did you worry about that at all)? Been thinking about trying that, myself.
>>
>>Thanks!
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>>Darin Chappell
>>Hillbilly Herps
>>PO Box 254
>>Rogersville, MO 65742

Darin,
I had to experiment with the mini fridge for a little while to get the temps right.
I think I had it about half way between medium and low. Once I got the setting right it maintained a constant 45 degrees.
I actually drilled a 3/8 inch hole through the rubber seal, around the door, to allow for air.
The air hole along with checking thier water every couple of days worked to keep the oxygen levels safe.
I didn't weigh them before or after brumation but you could see no weight loss when I removed them from the fridge. They maintained thier weight quite well at 45 degrees.
So I will be doing the same with my full sized refigerator this season.
It is actually time to start experimenting with settings to get the temps right with the new fridge.
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Corn snakes and rat snakes..No one can have just one.
"resistance is futile"
Jimmy (draybar)

As was mentioned, corns don't need brumation to breed, but lots of folks brumate them anyway, including me. The hardest places to brumate are in s. FL, where it doesn't hardly ever get cold enough, and in some of the desert states, where it is too dry. Here's what I would do. Brumate for two months, or less, at temps bt. 55 and 75*F. Make sure your snakes are hydrated at all times. I think they do better with no light and no disturbances, except the occasional check on their water, temp, etc. Even in the low 70's they shouldn't have any trouble getting through eight weeks of rest and recycling. Brumation is best thought of as a metabolic break, imho, and snakes don't necessarily need cold temps to get them to shut down. We just have to care for their needs when they are shut down.

Terry

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Ratsnake Haven: Calico and albino Chinese stripe-tailed ratsnakes, Mandarin ratsnakes, Chinese twin-spotted ratsnakes, South Korean Dione's ratsnake, and Great Plains ratsnakes