Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi I live in Florida and am trying to cool down my corn snake pair for breeding. I am having a temp problem. I can't get it cool enough. My temps here right now are highs of 80 and lowest lows of 59. It does not not get cool enough in my home. We are running the air conditioner. I shut the heat source off and it still gets to almost 80 in their room at the warmest part of the day and at night maybe 70. I don't have another room that gets cooler. I lowered their day night cycle to only a few hours of daylight but they are still eating at least once a week. How can I cool them off? Will they still breed?
They are nice 3 year old motley sunglows and I would really like to breed them this year.

Brumation is not necessary for breeding corns, but many people do brumate their snakes for a variety of reasons. You can not do it, though, and still produce many babies without the process.

Consider it from this perspective...your corns IN the house aren't any warmer than the corns OUTSIDE the house, are they? If not, don't you suppose they'll be able to breed as easily as do their wild cousins outside?

Don't worry about it. You and your corns will be fine come Spring...
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Darin Chappell
Hillbilly Herps
PO Box 254
Rogersville, MO 65742

The room faces west and has a big window so it heats up in the evening. It also does not get quite as cool as outside at night.
I will try and breed them without the very cool brumation and see what happens. I know it does not make a big difference with my leopard geckos but it does with my cresteds. It gets hard to get them cool enough to breed the next year. Plus the room really heats up in summer and gets hard to regulate the temps.
Even with the air on. Due to all the heating elements in the room.
Have you ever tried keeping corns in an ambient temp instead of with a hot basking spot. The hot spots for each cage are part of the problem in that room. Collectively they make a lot of heat.

If your temps get up near 80 on a regular basis, I would shut off all extra heat. Here in Ohio, SOME of my snakes get extra heat during the cold months, but ALL the heaters (uth) get unplugged once summer comes. Once the daytime temps are pushing 80...they are on their own. All my ratsnakes (including corns) do great with this. I feel that it gives them "natural" seasons even though I don't brumate. Most of my ratsnakes (and 2 of my corns) are currently eating, pooping and thriving at a room temp of around 69 *gasp* ... My smaller, younger snakes get extra heat during the winter. Most of my ratsnakes are eating smaller meals during the winter, but the corns are ALL eating like pigs...even the ones with no extra heat. Go figure. I plan to keep some of my corns on heat gradients into adulthood (that is, "extra" heat in the winter) while others have none. I am not suggesting that anyone follow suit and try to maintain their corns at 70, but let it be known that they are a LOT more tolerant of cooler temps than most folks give them credit for. Of course, if any individual snake showed signs such as puking or otherwise being unable to digest their meals, I would add a uth at once. Duffy

is in the same room and I only have one room for my reptiles.
The BP's are kept with a 90 degree spot in each cage during the day and then lowered at night. Plus I have baby BP's which will grow faster kept year round with a 90 degree hot spot night and day.
I really hate to have to make a decision between them. I really only have one trio of corns that are more like pets but I would like to get a clutch from them. More for the love of doing it than anything else. They are such a beautiful trio. Two motley sunglows 1.1 and one fluorescent orange 0.1
Sonia

some years I used to go "natural" (no a/c), but just give complete darkness (cover windows, no light for a couple of months except if I had to change water, etc). They bred fine, but would lose a little more weight than if they were nice and cool. Now I brumate them earlier in the year (to get earlier babies), when it is still hot here. So I use the a/c and can get them down to about 62F or so, but not colder. I still keep them dark, and they do fine this way too. They are not really all that demanding.

Good luck!

I have your book and have met you at the Tampa show. I should have just looked up the answer. LOL
Thanks for the help. I do have them covered so they get no light but they are losing a bit of weight.
I do still feed them some about every 10 days.
When I heat them up. Probably in Feb how long should I fatten them up before introducing them together? Do you just introduce them right away after heating back up. Also They are over 36 inches long but what is a good breeding weight for a corn snake that size?
Also in the books I have read I don't see mention of slitting or cutting the eggs open at all. With Ball pythons we slit the eggs at a certain date to ensure the babies make it out.
Is that not necessary with corns?
Sonia

>>I have your book and have met you at the Tampa show. I should have just looked up the answer. LOL
>>Thanks for the help. I do have them covered so they get no light but they are losing a bit of weight.
>>I do still feed them some about every 10 days.
>>When I heat them up. Probably in Feb how long should I fatten them up before introducing them together? Do you just introduce them right away after heating back up. Also They are over 36 inches long but what is a good breeding weight for a corn snake that size?
>>Also in the books I have read I don't see mention of slitting or cutting the eggs open at all. With Ball pythons we slit the eggs at a certain date to ensure the babies make it out.
>>Is that not necessary with corns?
>>Sonia

I'm confused
If you are trying to brumate why are ytou feeding every 10 days.
And...If you are feeding them every 10 days WHY are they losing weight?
If they are eating they shouldn't be losing weight.
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Corn snakes and rat snakes..No one can have just one.
"resistance is futile"
Jimmy (draybar)

Draybars Snakes

we did get some really great info of results from a huge breeder concerning clutch sizes, hatching ratios, and also weights he uses for breeding females, summarized in the Manual( he breeds females at about 200 - 240 gms - see middle of page 58 in the Manual for more details).

It usually takes several weeks (and a shed or two) of feeding after the warm up before they are ready to breed. Check out page 45 of the Manual for more details and also on how to check for ovulation.

I don't know why your snakes would lose weight if you are feeding them every 10 days. Mine lose very little weight when I don't feed them at all when brumating, even though I can't keep them as cool as I would like. Have you considered getting some small Rubbermaid boxes (with holes melted in them) and putting them in a cool, dark closet for a couple of months?

Hope to see you again at the Tampa show!