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First ever breeding attempt!

With all of my babies, I'm going to make sure they have at least 2 meals and a shed before I give them up.
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The routine for hatchlings is that you don't feed them before they shed. That usually happens about a week after hatching and you can feed for the first time immediately afterwards. I have mine take three defrost feeds in a row before I sell. If there are any refusals, then the count goes back to zero and I start again.

Also, how do I go about getting certified to ship? Is it hard? Does it cost money?
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Only FedEx ship reptiles in the US and from other posts, it looks like it can be a pain to get registered. It seems to depend on your local company rep and how cooperative they are. If you do a search, you should find some detailed instructions.
 
Great! Thanks!

Here is another pic of the new female....who I've now named Onyx.
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Update time! So either Saraphine is ovulating again or she is in fact gravid. It's hard to tell, because I have never actually seen a lock between her and Donatello. BUT she is sure touchy when I handle her, and she normally isn't. She shed a few days ago, so I was hoping that meant she was getting ready to lay some eggs for me! But she did eat tonight so my hopes are down a little bit. We'll see!

Anyway, here are some pictures of the set up that I've come up with. I'm testing out the temps and the humidity for the incubator right now.

Enjoy!

At first sight of her being in shed, I put in her lay box.
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Which Donatello likes to hog....lol
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The incubator...a large Styrofoam box I was able to get from work...that was used to ship fish, so it was perfect! Then a spinich container Heather gave me (Thanks again!), and a heating pad underneath that's connected to a temp control box (the actual name for which I cannot remember for the life of me....lol) and set for 82 degrees. Testing it out right now, because my house has a tendency to get really warm during these nice sunny days we've been getting lately.
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If she's just shed and is touchy, it's time to separate them. She is just going to get stressed out by having a male in her lay box.
 
Yea, I took him out tonight and fed them both. She's not fat, just "puffy". From what I've heard, that could mean shes just Ovulating again? I'm not going to put Donatello back in until Thursday or Friday....or should I wait longer?

If she is just Ovulating I don't want to miss it, but if shes not and IS gravid....I don't want to stress her out either. lol Oh what to do, what to do.....lol
 
So, Saraphine is back with Heather.

After two weeks of holding my breath, she ate again....so I'm sure she's not gravid. I took Donatello to get probed, but of course he wouldn't open up, so he must be in his pre-blue state.

So...at this point, I'm going to pair him with my female that I have, Onyx, and hope that he is a male. After he sheds, I'll take him to get probed again, and hopefully that will give us a for sure answer that he is indeed a male.

At least now I'm prepared. :p

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated! :eek:
 
I am addicted....its true. lol

Help?:dgrin:

So I went to the Reptile Expo over here and ended up coming home with something. :D At least just one thing, there were several other things I wanted to come home with though....many of which were Carpets. Lance you devil! lol

I went not really looking very hard for anything, but figured if I ran across an adult proven male corn that was in my budget, I'd jump on it. I'm not really breeding for the money, or the color...just the experience. I came across this guy. He is super sweet and shy...it's adorable. He will be my boy to take over for Donatello, seeing as either D is a female (looking more and more like this unfortunately), or just very shy. I normally don't like orange, in anything....but this guy was just so nice I had to. I especially like the "frosting" he has in some places.

Introducing (and yes he'll have his own thread full of pictures, after he settles in...seeing as we all love those ;) ) Michelangelo! The 2001 Amelanistic Motley.
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Checking out his new home
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:D How exciting! I've just started introducing my two corns for the first time as well! I have a question though, that is somewhat off topic. After a pair has copulated, do you try to get them to copulate again? If so why? I am guessing that this is to make sure there is enough sperm to fertilize all of the eggs?
 
Yea, all the research I found said you can pair them all the way up until the female goes into shed....then take him out. Don't co-habitate that entire time, but choose specific times when you know you'll be home to put them together, so you can keep an eye on them. If either one of them goes into shed at all though you'll want to keep them away from each other, just because shedding can be stressful for them anyway.
 
OK, thanks for the help! My female has not shed at all this year, and i'm not seeing signs of ovulation either. Regardless, my male is incredibly persistent in his advances to breed. So should I wait until she sheds to introduce them again, or just keep introducing them every few days until they breed? I also didn't brumate my snakes.
 
Honestly, I'm not really the person to ask....seeing as I'm so new into this as well but I'll tell you what I think then hope I'm going in the right direction and that someone more advanced can answer it better for ya.

To my knowledge you should be able to pair them up continuously until she either sheds again or lays. But keep in mind you will want to keep them separate when they eat, and when they are in shed. The schedule I keep is, feed on monday or tuesday, then pair back up thursday-sunday. That way, they have time to digest their food in peace.
Also, if you male is being persistent, that could mean that she is ovulating. But not always, some males are just eager. The female gives off pheromones that tell the male its time to do the deed, so if he's going nuts around her, it could be she is ovulating, and your just not catching them hooking up.

So the short answer to your question is yes, I would continue to pair them up until she sheds. Then after she sheds, offer her food....if she refuses then that means she could likely be gravid....but put him in with her a few more days after she shed, just in case.

Hope that helps and it was the right advice!
:D
 
Exciting!

Ok... about shipping... You either need to get FedEx certified, or you can use Ship Your Reptiles... which means you don't have to get certified.
I just use Ship Your Reptiles, because it is easier... however they have had problems staying around so they may not be available always and forever.

If you want to breed corns but don't want all the babies, don't incubate all the eggs!
If the female lays 20 eggs, incubate 8 or so and freeze the rest.

You will be keeping and feeding the babies for quite a while unless you have a place to sell them to. I have made connections with local pet stores and now I just give them everything but my hold backs... I get about $10/snake.

I have had SO MANY problems getting baby ball pythons to eat. Maybe I'm just not a ball python person.
I'm sticking to colubrids from now on... much less of a headache.

Why put them in more than once to breed? Just like humans, it doesn't always take the first time.
Plus, why not? I think that it is good for the male snakes at least. I've found that I can usually get the males to take food after they breed, whereas if they are still in the mood but don't breed, they will refuse meals.

I also think it is good exercise and hopefully it is enjoyable. I mean, us humans like it... other animals seem to like it... I hope that the snakes get some kind of enjoyment and we aren't just torturing them.

I put the males in every three days with the females until the females show no interest anymore for two times in a row.

Then the females get their lay boxes and small water dishes.

Of course, this method isn't full-proof. Last year, Bastet was still receptive up until she laid... and she didn't shed... so she laid an egg in her water dish before I caught her.

So, this year after the first female sheds, I'm removing all large water dishes and putting lay boxes in all vivs.

(I did catch Bastet in time, and she laid about 10 more eggs in her lay box, all of which hatched and sold at the reptile expo. They were beautiful babies.)
 
Well after a few weekends of putting these two together, Onyx is in shed. I'm not sure if shes gravid or not but just in case, I put her lay bin in her tub, and shes' been soaking in it all weekend.
When I picked her up to do an inspection she felt very puffy and fat. She looks a little swollen too so I hope thats a good sign! I never did see any actual hookups but I put them together for the weekend and let them be so hopefully that meant they did the deed!
Anyway, enough chit chat, here are some pics of the "hopefully" gravid Onyx!

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Came home from school today to find a wonderful surprise!
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Onyx was in fact gravid! And I had no idea! She wasn't in shed last night when I checked her, or at least I couldn't tell, and she ate last week. Go figure!

I feel bad because I didn't have her lay bin in there for her because I didn't think she was gravid, so she had no place to put them, but other than being a bit dry, they look healthy!

17 good ones! :D
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