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Breeding in Florida

Wow- definitely looks gravid! Now is the time to make a lay box, and remove her big water bowl and replace it with one she can't get into. I have t thread about making a lay box down in my personal forum, if you need ideas. Lowes and Home Depot sell Orchid Moss, which is excellent. I like the kind in the turquoise and yellow package- it's the softest and fluffiest.

She will shed, and then lay in roughly 12 days, maybe a couple more or less. I always put the lay box in after I stop breeding the female, because sometimes, not often, she will lay before going blue.
 
Also, if you put her on the ground (and she will actually move forward...) you can gently feel her belly and get a very accurate egg count.
 
Hey Nanci. My female shed this past Saturday. I took the water bowl out and put the lay box in.

I tried giving her a small meal after she shed but she denied it. Which from what i've read is normal.

Whats throwing me off is she's extremely active. All day all night moving around climbing in and out of her lay box. Is this normal? Usually she becomes active when shes hungry but not this much. She's been like this since she's shed.

Is this normal behavior for a gravid female?
 
Yes, very normal! She will get in and out of the laybox a lot, until she is ready to lay about 12 days after shed.
 
She Laid her eggs :)

They're in the incubator at 82F

12 Eggs on her first try.

Thanks for all the help Nanci!!!
 

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Nice eggs! Now feel her carefully to make sure she is empty. Then she can have a small meal, like a hopper, and a big drink of water, and then a larger meal in a few days.
 
Hi Nanci,

The eggs are healthy and will be hatching in the next few weeks.

I'm going to be building the baby rack this week. Question for the tubs, what do you use to puncture the breathing holes? I know Corns are escape artist especially small ones. So whats big enough to allow air exchange but at the same time not big enough for them to crawl out of?
 
I use a regular solid soldering iron, like the $10 one from Lowes. If you punch holes, you run a real risk of shattering the plastic.

I like the Reptile Basics Iris rack, 16 bins. RB comes with all the bins, and the heat. The bad thing is that rack is _not_ escape proof for cornsnake babies (despite what they tell you) but the good thing is it's simple to fix. Either cut a piece of cardboard to go under each bin (not as much of a PITA as it sounds, and pizza boxes are the perfect thickness) or take "rubber" shelf liner and cut to fit the shelf, with about 1/2 inch short at the front and back. Then tape that down with HEAVY aluminum tape, overlapping the front and tucking under. Also tape the back, just flat, not up the heat tape.

I'm running five of those, and wish I had more, and room for more, although I really don't want more babies than five will hold, anyway.

They also sell racks that hold a LOT of hatchlings, but they look like they are in little coffins! So not good if you are growing them out for any length of time.

The Iris shoebox rack has bins with enough room for some "stuff" for the baby- a toilet paper tube hide, a big enough water bowl to climb on and get into. Target sells perfect ceramic bowls- too heavy for the hatchling to tip, deep enough to hold water so you could go on vacation for a week and not worry..
 
Maybe I'm overly concerned, but I'm really afraid a newly hatched little one could go right through the soldering iron holes I've made on the tubs for my bigger animals.

How big of a hole is safe?
 
I know, using that iron, carefully so as to not enlarge the original hole, even a 3-4 gram corn can't get through. I've been using them since 2010 and haven't had an escape through an air hole yet. I've had some 2g babies in there. I have had two escapes because the bin wasn't tight enough- first, because the guy said it was escape proof, and I believed him, so my VERY FIRST hatchling escaped!!! And was quickly recovered. And then I had a baby I was babysitting escape, who had a thinner piece of cardboard under her bin, but it wasn't tight. I woke up in the morning and there was a snake on my dresser! After that- there are no cracks at all between the lip of the bin and the shelf- it's tight.
 
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