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Help!!! Urgent!!! Surprise Clutch With A New Snakes!!!

MissMaddieMoo

New member
Hello,
I'm a complete noob in the snake world. I got my first corn snake from BHB in March. My parents were pissed, since they both despise snakes; but I just adore them! Anyway, a friend of mine told me that her sister had two bonded corn snakes that she needed to find a home for, or they would be left in her house once it foreclosed. Knowing that I couldn't let them die, I told her I'd take them, even though my parents nearly killed me. My friend said that these two snakes had lived together their whole lives and would sleep curled around each other. (They do, it's adorable!) So I got a 35 gallon tank and two beautiful corn snakes; A year or two old, I presume. The first night I got them, I caught them in a tail lock, but I didn't think much of it because it only lasted a minute or so (at least what I saw!) After this I tried separating them, which they both took terribly. Neither of them would eat, and they'd constantly slither around looking for one another, so... I put them back in the same tank together.
The female is a common corn snake, about 3 1/2 feet long! And the male is smaller, but not by much. He's about 2 3/4 feet, but he's much less 'thick'.
It occurred to me about a week ago that Juno (my female) might be pregnant because she was completely refusing food. She is usually a wonderful eater, but she didn't eat, and she was constantly up moving around the tank.
This morning I woke up to go check on them, and to my surprise, a HUGE slug egg laying in the dirt. I found Juno curled up with Snakespeare (my male) under their hide. I immediately put Juno into a 5 gallon aquarium with peat moss and cranked up the heat and humidity. I went out for the day and when I came home, two more slugs lay in the incubator. Currently, the humidity is at 99% and the temperature is 80 degrees F.
I'm not sure how many times they've mated, but I did everything normal (as I would, not knowing she was pregnant) up until a week ago when she stopped eating.
I'm also not exactly sure how old she is. I've heard that they need to be at least two before they can safely breed. I know my friend's sister got them from a pet store and she had them for well over a year (maybe even two.)
I really need help, because I absolutely love my girl. She rides on my arm everywhere and I want her to be safe and comfortable!

My questions:
Do you think that she has more eggs inside of her?
Is it possible for the whole clutch to be slugs?
If I ever wanted to breed her, how long after this clutch could I try breeding her again, and is she even old enough to safely breed?

If someone could answer my questions and add any additional information, I'd be so so SO grateful!

Thanks so much!
 
To answer your questions...yes there could be more slugs in her. Yes her whole clutch could be slugs. If you want to breed her she should be at least three years old and can be bred once a year.

Now you are going to hate what I have to say.....
Please consider separating them. Snakes are not made to live together and do not form emotional bonds. They compete for resources but to us it looks like cuddling. It is not. Left together he will be constantly harassing her during the breeding season and that combined with the stress of living together can cause her to go egg bound, which could kill her.

In nature a snakes territory is about the size of a football field, and they stay far away from each other, only coming together to mate.
 
I second Starsevol.
Also consider that keeping them together means also more unrestricted breeding.. like cats.. When she produces fertile eggs, are you going to find homes for all the hatchlings? Producing eggs is rough on the snake, it takes a lot of nutrients and having eggs early can stunt her growth and health. There's a thread here that mentions a snake having long term nerve issues from early breeding ( the snake has seizures)..

The snakes being all over the cages after you separated them is due to their instincts to breed - think of it as being like cats in heat.. The Tom can smell that there's a receptive female around so he's yowling and prowling.. and the female's hormones are telling her to go find a male and mate, so she's all over the place yowling and acting up.
It is not unusual for snakes to refuse a meal or two during breeding season - they have one big thing on their minds, and it isnt food.
 
I couldn't agree more with the others. If that doesn't convince you how bad cohabbing is for corns, maybe this will. Please separate us!

Also, why are you sure they are slugs? If you saw them possibly copulating, they could be fertile and if she isn't big enough you may have a real problem on your hands.
 
All of you are telling me to separate them, and that will be no problem at all. I was actually planning on doing that anyway for the safety of my female. I originally thought it was kind of strange that my friend kept her snakes together, because I knew that they were solitary (which is why I only got one baby corn snake)
Also an update, my female has not laid any more eggs so far.
How long should I wait until I know that she doesn't have any more coming?
It's almost been 24 hours since she laid her third slug.
Thanks so much for all of your help!
 
I couldn't agree more with the others. If that doesn't convince you how bad cohabbing is for corns, maybe this will. Please separate us!

Also, why are you sure they are slugs? If you saw them possibly copulating, they could be fertile and if she isn't big enough you may have a real problem on your hands.

I'm sure they are slugs because they were yellow in color and the shell was very soft. The egg could be bent with minimal pressure applied to it. I candled them and they were a consistent yellow throughout with no signs of anything inside. (Lacking veins or an air pouch) They were also dented in.

Here is a picture of my female. (Eating a fuzzy.)
The eggs were not as thick as her body either.

14jt4zq.jpg
 
To answer your questions...yes there could be more slugs in her. Yes her whole clutch could be slugs. If you want to breed her she should be at least three years old and can be bred once a year.

Now you are going to hate what I have to say.....
Please consider separating them. Snakes are not made to live together and do not form emotional bonds. They compete for resources but to us it looks like cuddling. It is not. Left together he will be constantly harassing her during the breeding season and that combined with the stress of living together can cause her to go egg bound, which could kill her.

In nature a snakes territory is about the size of a football field, and they stay far away from each other, only coming together to mate.

Forgot to quote you so you could see what I wrote! ^^
 
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