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I fell in love with a beautiful female

L

LittleSister

New member
Corn snake.... thought that would get your attention. Anyway, she is up for adoption at a pet store because someone was moving and couldn't bring her with them. She is about 5 years old, very healthy and sooooooo tame. It took me some effort to get my male amel as tame as her, and she doesn't even know me and she crawls all over me like he does. I waaaant her. I feel like I can't pass this up. Soooo, the question arises, do I want to breed my corn with her? What if I don't? I know I don't have that much time to take care of a bunch of babies too... But don't the eggs need to be incubated in order for the babies to actually be born? I am trying to make a good decision, but I want her sooo bad I am trying not to be blinded by that. How much work is it to keep and care for babies? Who can I sell them to? And how long will it take for them to be sold? Can I keep them all together in a plastic critter keeper after they are born? How much food would I need to buy to support all of them (around 30, right?)? Can I make my own efficient incubator? And also, of course, if I house my snakes together, will my original one become less bonded with me because he will become more attached to one of his own kind? I have a lot of questions that need to be answered before I make this decision. Please help me if you can. Thank you.
 
LittleSister said:
Corn snake.... thought that would get your attention. Anyway, she is up for adoption at a pet store because someone was moving and couldn't bring her with them. She is about 5 years old, very healthy and sooooooo tame. It took me some effort to get my male amel as tame as her, and she doesn't even know me and she crawls all over me like he does. I waaaant her. I feel like I can't pass this up. Soooo, the question arises, do I want to breed my corn with her? What if I don't? I know I don't have that much time to take care of a bunch of babies too... But don't the eggs need to be incubated in order for the babies to actually be born? I am trying to make a good decision, but I want her sooo bad I am trying not to be blinded by that. How much work is it to keep and care for babies? Who can I sell them to? And how long will it take for them to be sold? Can I keep them all together in a plastic critter keeper after they are born? How much food would I need to buy to support all of them (around 30, right?)? Can I make my own efficient incubator? And also, of course, if I house my snakes together, will my original one become less bonded with me because he will become more attached to one of his own kind? I have a lot of questions that need to be answered before I make this decision. Please help me if you can. Thank you.
Click to expand...

Aww, she sounds really cool! That's how I found my adult bloodred. His previous owner became disabled and couldn't take care of any of her snakes anymore so she sold him through the local pet store. I just couldn't say no to him!

As far as your questions go
Breeding is always a question best left to the individual owner. The things to take into consideration are (I know you've thought of most of them but I'm just reiterating the point). Some things to think about as well are, are they compatible genetically? Is the female just a normal corn or some type of morph? If she is all you would get from breeding is normals het amel unless they both have some hets your not aware of. I have not personally had any experience breeding corns but I know that they can have some large clutches (20-25 eggs), would you be prepared to take care of that many babies? I'll let someone with more experience answer the questions on incubation etc... but it is very easy to make your own incubator.

Oh also, I would definitely recommend NOT keeping them together except for when you're planning on breeding and after they are done you should always take the male out. There's just too many health/dominance issues that can arise from keeping any snakes together and it's so easy to set up a tank or a tub for a corn.

Good luck and I hope this helps ;D
 
OH also make sure you practice proper quarantine procedures, even though she might look healthy you never know if she's carrying any viruses etc.... general rule is at least 30 days in a room completely separate from any other snakes, don't use the same feeding tools, wash your hands religiously between handlings that type of thing.
Again good luck!
 
My first impression to your questions is...why are you worried about breeding? Just because you have two snakes of the opposite gender doesn't mean you have to even consider breeding, unless you're planning to house them together.
 
LittleSister said:
Corn snake.... thought that would get your attention. Anyway, she is up for adoption at a pet store because someone was moving and couldn't bring her with them. She is about 5 years old, very healthy and sooooooo tame. It took me some effort to get my male amel as tame as her, and she doesn't even know me and she crawls all over me like he does. I waaaant her. I feel like I can't pass this up. Soooo, the question arises, do I want to breed my corn with her? What if I don't? I know I don't have that much time to take care of a bunch of babies too... But don't the eggs need to be incubated in order for the babies to actually be born? I am trying to make a good decision, but I want her sooo bad I am trying not to be blinded by that. How much work is it to keep and care for babies? Who can I sell them to? And how long will it take for them to be sold? Can I keep them all together in a plastic critter keeper after they are born? How much food would I need to buy to support all of them (around 30, right?)? Can I make my own efficient incubator? And also, of course, if I house my snakes together, will my original one become less bonded with me because he will become more attached to one of his own kind? I have a lot of questions that need to be answered before I make this decision. Please help me if you can. Thank you.
Click to expand...

I own male and female corns and they will never be bred.
Are you prepared to lose your female if she becomes eggbound?

"And how long will it take for them to be sold?"

No one is going to be able to answer that.

"And also, of course, if I house my snakes together, will my original one become less bonded with me because he will become more attached to one of his own kind?"

Unless for breeding, its widely advised not to house snakes together. Snakes are cannibals. If you search 'co housing' on the forum itll bring up alot of threads for you to read.

Most people here, if they have 50 corns, they have 50 separate housing containers.

Why dont you just buy her and house them separately? Corns dont need a companion.
 
Don't worry about having to breed them just because you have a boy and girl. :) Especially if you don't think you can care for the offspring, though you may be able to sell them to a local petstore, that's never anything to be sure of.

And yes, you would need sperate housing for the hatchlings. There's a thread around here somewhere with pictures of hatchlings who have eaten other hatchlings. :(

If you want the female, go ahead and get her, just be sure to keep her in her own container. You also wouldn't have to worry about breeding until next year, IF you decide to breed at all. :)
 
You're questions don't really have solid answers, all I can offer is my opinion.

I won't breed animals. I'm just really jaded from volunteering with the animal shelter, and personal experiences with my own family and pets lead me to believe you can never really know how someone will care for your babies. Other than that, you will lose money, and there is really no point in breeding normal/low end corns other than what you will get out of it. Which will be cuteness, but it's also a lot of work and expensive - you will loose money. The only corns I see in rescue are normals and low end morphs, I truly believe if your going to create something to go for the highest quality you can (I'm just assuming it's a low end morph, so correct me if I'm wrong).

Keep them in separate vivs, and everything else is up to you. I once had to take a snake last minute and got a rubbermaid set up for him and I love it. They're so easy to move and clean, and cheap too.

And if you do get her, post pictures!
 
LittleSister said:
And also, of course, if I house my snakes together, will my original one become less bonded with me because he will become more attached to one of his own kind?
Click to expand...
I don't really think any snake could become less bonded to it's owner, with or without company. They're just not social animals in the accepted sense.
 
sounds beautiful. if you have roughly 3 hours of free time in the day you should be ok to breed them and it would make cool babies
 
You shouldn't cohab the snakes. We used to do it. My sister-in-law did it until she sold her snakes. Our reptile store cohabs them in the displays. But just because it's done doesn't mean it should be done.

We moved our corns from tanks to tubs with plans to put them in a snake rack by this winter w/ proper heat and thermostats. The tubs have been soooo easy to maintain and store.

We do breed ours. We don't breed anything fancy, so demand is less and it takes longer to sell. I'm particular and would rather make sure the person we're selling to is committed to caring for the snake for its' lifetime rather than us just making a quick sale. If I didn't care, I'd sell them at the local swapmeet. Last year, we had five hatchlings and we still have two! This year, we had 16 hatchlings, lost one, gave one to my sister, and still have the rest. They're two months old, and I barely have someone interested in three of them. I knew this going into it, though, and we're committed to caring for them as long as necessary even if it's for their entire lifespan.

As someone pointed out, breeding can be risky. You might lose your female if she becomes eggbound. Are you really prepared for that?

Eggs incubate for approx 60 days. Sometimes longer. They need to be incubated in an incubator, but if your house is warm you might just be able to stick the box of eggs in a closet as long as the temperature is constant. Our local reptile store will incubate for you and take the lesser 1/3 of the hatchlings. It's a good deal for people who only have one clutch a year and really can't deal with 20+ hatchlings. They'll also purchase them from you for cheap (maybe $5/baby for low end morphs/normals?) if you don't want to deal with them.

I would never keep hatchlings together. Some breeders do, though, without any problems. They can eat each other, and I would never chance it.

Good luck with your decision.
 
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