Breeding Questions!!

[Jimmus]

Hi,

I am in search of the following info.

Has anyone successfully bred corns without brumating?

- If so did you find there was a low fertility rate?
- Any trouble with the snakes actually copulating?

Has anyone bred corns out of their natural mating season (Spring, early summer)?

- If so did you experience a low fertility rate?
- Any trouble with the snakes actually copulating?

Do female corns ovulate on a monthly basis i.e. post shed, every shed, or will they only ovulate after a brumation period and or during their natural mating season (spring/early summer)?

Any personal experiences and/or advice would be fab.


Thanks a lot

Jim

 

[Drizzt80]

Has anyone successfully bred corns without brumating? YES

- If so did you find there was a low fertility rate? Only because they would have been first timers, but not in general.
- Any trouble with the snakes actually copulating? Somewhat, they are typically delayed a bit later in comparison to their brumated peers, but still breed within the Spring "window".

Has anyone bred corns out of their natural mating season (Spring, early summer)? I haven't, there are those that have, but from what I understand they artificially change the light cycles and need to brumate.

- If so did you experience a low fertility rate? :shrugs:
- Any trouble with the snakes actually copulating? :shrugs:

Do female corns ovulate on a monthly basis i.e. post shed, every shed, or will they only ovulate after a brumation period and or during their natural mating season (spring/early summer)? From my experience they ovulate during their typically breeding season and then again after laying eggs. I have heard of them ovulating a third time (pretty rare), but I haven't experienced that.

I personally brumate everyone unless they are under 300 grams prior to brumation time. If they're over 330 grams once everyone else is out of brumation and ready to breed, I will attempt to breed them. They typically breed just fine. Fertility is hit and miss, but I attribute that more to first time males than unbrumated females. :shrugs:

Hope that helps.
D80

 

[Jimmus]

Thanks for sharing your experiences.

Therefore to initiate ovulation in the female you must either brumate or wait for spring?

How would a corn housed in an artificial environment know the difference in seasons if their temps had been kept constant throughout the year? Possibly due to natural light cycles?

Would it not be possible for a pair to mate, the female to then store the sperm until she ovulates naturally? Could this scenario cause the female to ovulate outside of the spring 'window' along with the absence of brumation?

Sorry for all the questions

Thanks
Jim

 

[Drizzt80]

Therefore to initiate ovulation in the female you must either brumate or wait for spring? In it's simplest form, yes.

How would a corn housed in an artificial environment know the difference in seasons if their temps had been kept constant throughout the year? Possibly due to natural light cycles? My personal guess is that it's a combination of light cycles and or pheromones in the air from the snakes that were brumated. I'd have to not brumate everyone to see if there's a difference . . . I'm NOT prepared to do that!

Would it not be possible for a pair to mate, the female to then store the sperm until she ovulates naturally? Could this scenario cause the female to ovulate outside of the spring 'window' along with the absence of brumation? In short yes, as this already happens. Many females will have a second clutch that is fertilized with stored sperm, or will accept a male prior to the first clutch and hold the sperm until she ovulates . . . even with brumation. There's definitely a component to your scenarios where the male needs his triggers and clues as well.

Sorry for all the questions Hey, no problem. They're not your typical "what will I get if . . ." questions!!

Thanks
Jim

Hopefully that's clear.
D80

 

[Jimmus]

Hey thanks again.

My reason for asking is that I have unsuccessfully been trying to get an unbrumated pair to copulate for two months now. I gave up a few weeks ago. Both are unproven and are quite young at 2 to 2.5 years of age both pushing 400gs each.

I do not particularly wish to brumate them, I guess I will just have to hope that they will get their mojos' back in spring!

Maybe the little guys think it's still winter over here as I myself have barely seen the sun this year. I know England's known for unpredictable weather but come on; at least give us a week of sunshine

Thanks again Drizzt

Jim

 

[Drizzt80]

I'd have to say brumating is going to be your best bet in the end. It makes things so much easier. Glance through Kathy's book to get the general timelines/days you'd be following.

Of the 19 females I bred this season, 8 weren't brumated (there was an additional 9th female that refused all pairings), and of those 8, two had unsuccessful clutches. Of the 11 females that were brumated, only 1 had an unsuccessful clutch. :shrugs:

D80

 

[Jimmus]

Yea I think you are right, I have read through both Kathy's and Don's books thoroughly and they both assume that you will be brumating prior to attempting copulations. I suppose this is a hint that it is almost necessary to brumate.

I have several younger snakes that i do not wish to brumate this year and will therefore have to get an additional thermostat to set this pair up at lower temps than the rest of my collection.

I do have the inclination that the failed attempts at pairing may well be down to my male as it was his first time with a female. After weeks of pairing them a few times a week I did not come across any evidence of mating, didnt even see the male trying. maybe he needs some Dutch courage

 

[Susielea]

Hi Jim, I'm in the UK too and I don't brumate. I bred 3 females this year, 2 of which were first timers and I got fertile clutches from those two girls, one of which laid 17 eggs and went on to double clutch another 8 eggs on her own, without re-breeding. Unfortunately the 3rd girl slugged out (laid infertile eggs) and it was her third year breeding, but in 2006 and 2007 she laid fertile clutches too.

Each girl had 3 matings with the male, the first female mated for the first time on 3rd February and the last females last mating was on 6th April. Maybe you need to start pairing them up earlier in the year :shrugs:

My girls seem to cycle with just the changing light, as I don't change the temperature on the heat mats, but they are in a room with a nice big window and lots of natural light and the ambient temps must drop a bit over the winter, especially in this lovely UK weather...lol.

Hope that helps a little

 

[scubadiver]

I would say you do not have to brumate we have never brumated and have never had trouble with our female mating with her male. We also always got 15+ eggs with the majority of them hatching fine. I don't know about the other two though im giving my females a shot at breeding now so i guess we will find out about that later. Hope this helps.

 

[Jimmus]

Hi Jim, I'm in the UK too and I don't brumate. I bred 3 females this year, 2 of which were first timers and I got fertile clutches from those two girls, one of which laid 17 eggs and went on to double clutch another 8 eggs on her own, without re-breeding. Unfortunately the 3rd girl slugged out (laid infertile eggs) and it was her third year breeding, but in 2006 and 2007 she laid fertile clutches too.

Each girl had 3 matings with the male, the first female mated for the first time on 3rd February and the last females last mating was on 6th April. Maybe you need to start pairing them up earlier in the year :shrugs:

My girls seem to cycle with just the changing light, as I don't change the temperature on the heat mats, but they are in a room with a nice big window and lots of natural light and the ambient temps must drop a bit over the winter, especially in this lovely UK weather...lol.

Hope that helps a little

Heya,

That info does help, thanks. It appears your girls ovulate due to the change in photoperiods. I assume then without brumation you could replicate seasonal light changes, artificially however this would be impractical for me.

I find your fertility results interesting. Brumation is therefore more of a convenience/money thing as opposed to a factor directly affecting successful clutches. I only have half a dozen snakes, if i had many more brumation would probably be necessary for money reasons more than anything lol

Thanks Susie

Jim

 

[Jimmus]

I would say you do not have to brumate we have never brumated and have never had trouble with our female mating with her male. We also always got 15+ eggs with the majority of them hatching fine. I don't know about the other two though im giving my females a shot at breeding now so i guess we will find out about that later. Hope this helps.

hey,

You mention that you have never brumated, what time of year did you pair your breeders up assuming they are housed individually?

When you say you are attempting breeding now, are your snakes copulating or are they already gravid?

I am interested as to see how you get on, would be great if you could keep me updated on your progress .

Much appreciated

Cheers
Jim

 

[bitsy]

At 2/2.5 years, it could just be that your female isn't mature enough to breed yet. The guideline is 3 years, so maybe you'll have more luck next year.

Alternatively, mine usually start mating in February, so you might just have missed this year's window of opportunity.

I don't brumate either and the fertility rates are fine.

 

[scubadiver]

Right now i have just been putting the males and females together and have noticed what looks to be them mating but never got close enough to tell. I guess i'll find out later. I will keep you updated and i usually start pairing mine a little early for here while it is still cold out so about feb. It all depends on where you are and who you are. some try early some don't. i usually like to be safe so i go for early. Though I waited to long this year because my father didn't want more babies but i talked him in to it. I hope this late breeding works im really looking forward to it.

 

[Jimmus]

At 2/2.5 years, it could just be that your female isn't mature enough to breed yet. The guideline is 3 years, so maybe you'll have more luck next year.

Alternatively, mine usually start mating in February, so you might just have missed this year's window of opportunity.

I don't brumate either and the fertility rates are fine.

Thanks for your comments, all the feedback i can get is very useful for me.

Right now i have just been putting the males and females together and have noticed what looks to be them mating but never got close enough to tell. I guess i'll find out later. I will keep you updated and i usually start pairing mine a little early for here while it is still cold out so about feb. It all depends on where you are and who you are. some try early some don't. i usually like to be safe so i go for early. Though I waited to long this year because my father didn't want more babies but i talked him in to it. I hope this late breeding works im really looking forward to it.

The last attempt i made at pairing mine was a few weeks ago, i was going to wait until next spring; maybe one more attempt won't hurt!! That would be great if you could keep me updated not just for now but this info will be useful for me in future seasons.


Thanks alot

 

[scubadiver]

Good luck hope the snakes take. I have been breding snakes since i was little with the help of my parents of course. It's always nice to see the nice plump white eggs first laid and then see all those eggs split and have baby snakes coming out.