Reptile & Amphibian Forums

First, let me preface this by saying I have no desire to breed, let alone breed off-season. Even if I did my snakes aren't old enough anyway. I'm just curious, is all.

That being said, I've noticed this and other boards lighting up lately with posts about warming brumated snakes and beginning to breed, and I'm confused about why it's all happening now. I know this is the time of year that these snakes breed in nature, and I've seen several posts with remarks to the effect that snakes "just know" what time of year it is, but it seems like some people are getting around that.

Case in point - in early January my girl bought a snow corn at Petco, and that thing was TINY, so it must have been a new hatchling. Also, while it seems like lots of people are just now starting to breed or in some cases just getting eggs, a few days ago I saw hatchlings at a pet store that were just as tiny as my girl's snow was when she got it in January.

So, what I'm assuming is that some people are breeding year round. If that's correct, why isn't everyone else doing this, too? I know it might not be convenient for people to have their own clutches of hatchlings year round, but it seems to me like sellers - that is, you guys - would start replenishing stock when they run out rather than just in the spring.

Can someone set me straight about this?

Thanks.

I'm no expert, but I'd be willing to bet dollars to pesos that Petco wasn't feeding that snake as it should be, and that's why it was "tiny." Just my first inclinations on that post. That being said, I've had no luck with "off season" breeding. I used to house my female and male together when I only had two corn snakes (oh so long ago) and they always knew when it was time, with no adjustments to photo period or brumation. I think it's a barametric pressure thing or something, but they always know. I'm sure there's ways to fool them, but I'm too lazy to find out. After all, I'm just an owner, not a professional breeder.
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1.0 Hypo Okeetee - Wesley (Princess Bride)
0.1 Ghost - Sydney (Scream)
2.0 Striped Amel - Jay and Aiden (Kevin Smith movies)
1.0 Snow - Silent Bob (Kevin Smith movies)
0.1 Anery - Columbia (Rocky Horror)
1.0 Creamcicle - Brandon (Mallrats)
0.1 Zig Zag Anery - Pepper (didn't name her)
0.1 Normal - Bindy (Croc. Hunter)
0.1 Motley - Craven (Underworld)

I'll agree that Petco probably wasn't feeding it right. However, after the first clutch is laid, it is possible to breed them again right away and get whats called a double clutch. These commonly end up hatching around mid to late july, thats probably when yours was hatched. Then it probably just hasn't been fed that well.
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0.1 Licorice Stick Black Rat
1.0 Black Rat
0.1 Vietnamese Blue Beauty
1.0 Green Tree Python
0.1 Texas Bairds Rat

The educated are the few. The uneducated are the masses.

Most breeders follow the standard protocal of cooling snakes in the winter, warming them in Spring, getting eggs in April/May and hatching out babies in June/July/August. You will find that the vast majority of people do things this way, as it falls in line with the natural breeding cycle of corn snakes.

The small babies you saw could have been a case where they were not well fed, or perhaps were cooled for the winter and brought out of brumation a few weeks ago.

There are a few breeders who "reverse cycle" their snakes or bring them out of winter cooling very early to try to get a "jump start." But most do it in the way outlined above.

Tim

Third Eye

ontract with a big breeder to supply alot of corns all year at low cost...I forget who it is........?.......

could be a late baby that they fed pinkies to and yes not enough...could be a late baby that was bred to be later....

yes people breed corns all year long.not many people.but some do.

one guy has 3 sets of corns....so he has some in brumation,breeding,and post laying all the time actually.....

..........I have babies from last summer.and a few are not really that big......I fed one pink a week.that's it......and some grew and some didn't........

a few I fed more to are up to hoppers now........yet a few still look like they are a couple weeks old........

.........

PetCo isn't well known for over feeding animals..*(as no pet shop is actually).......
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>>ontract with a big breeder to supply alot of corns all year at low cost...I forget who it is........?.......
>>
>>could be a late baby that they fed pinkies to and yes not enough...could be a late baby that was bred to be later....
>>
>>yes people breed corns all year long.not many people.but some do.
>>
>>one guy has 3 sets of corns....so he has some in brumation,breeding,and post laying all the time actually.....
>>
>>..........I have babies from last summer.and a few are not really that big......I fed one pink a week.that's it......and some grew and some didn't........
>>
>>a few I fed more to are up to hoppers now........yet a few still look like they are a couple weeks old........
>>
>>.........
>>
>>PetCo isn't well known for over feeding animals..*(as no pet shop is actually).......
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>>.................

Gourmet Rodent supplies their feeder mice and corn snakes
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Corn snakes and rat snakes..No one can have just one.
"resistance is futile"
Jimmy (draybar)

Draybars Snakes

np
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1,0 snow
1,0 amel
1,0 texas corn
1,0 aney stripe motley
0,1 normal
0,1 charcoal
0,1 motley
1,1 oketee
0,1 tx rat
1,0 diadem
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