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Is he just: (a) SHY, (b) a DUD, (c) a SHE?

CornBoy

CornBoy

New member
Last summer we answered the ad "free snake" and were delighted to receive a beautiful adult normal corn, who's owner had gone to college and mom and dad were feeding a subsistence diet of 1 FT (is that the correct jargon? :) ) every 3 weeks. They told is it was a male. He was our 4th corn, and my son named him King Wrath, probably due to his impressive size. He is about 55 inches today. We were planning to breed him with our Amel femal (J-Lo) in the spring. He escaped his viv in the fall and survived on his own for 3 months! He has now been found for 1 month and has eaten 2 FT every 6 days (8 total). Yesterday he shed (I got to watch! - real cool, re-entered his shed, kept on going and burst out of the tail). Then he explored the new tube and basket hides I had recently provided. He seemed ready to introduce to J-Lo!

So last night I put him in her large viv, and long story short: nuthin!
At first they seemed a bit agitated by each others presence, then they calmed slightly, but "HE" coiled in a corner. And when "she" tried to get close, she would send him running again. This took about 40 minutes to transpire.

This is our very first breeding attempt. Should I keep trying? Should I use more romantic lighting :), or should I go to plan B (another male).
Thanks a lot!
Rob
 
Hi there a question, why are you feeding an adult corn 2 f/t (?) every six days. A rough would be feeding it a adult f/t mouse every ten to fourteen days. That will vary of course. I go by the general rule of feeding it a food item that is 1 1/2 time the snake girth, so go my weight too.

Anyway you might want to get the snake sexed, probe, to help determine if you have a male or female. Then go from there.

What are you pairing ""him''' up too!!
 
Thanks Lennycorn,
I think you're asking why am I overfeeding? To help him fatten up again from being lost for three months, he was really thin!

So how hard is it to determine the sex myself? Any experienced members near Albany NY?

Hope to get pictures up soon from our menagerie. I tried pairing him to a 3 year old amel. Fairly certain the seller knew that she was female - but I understand this is also a possibility for wrong sex. Could be two boys...
 
I don't know of any breeder close to you but i haven't search it yet.
There is a video on Kathy Love site on probing I think.. but you might want to have someone show you in person.

What's the weight of the snake?
 
You could have 2 males or 2 females. They could just not be ready yet either. Has she shed yet? It is still early in the breeding season so I wouldn't be concerned yet. If fact I have not had any hook ups yet this year. At least not that I have witnessed. I would just stick them together once a week till they do show some interest.
 
I would say your female is not giving off the right pheromones(if he is a male). I would also get the suspected male snake sexed properly. Call around to your local vets to see if they could probe for you, if you do not fell comfortable enough to do so. You can order probe kits on line or pick them up at local shows.

Also, just be careful when trying to bulk up an escapee or under weight snake. You might over load him and make him sick. The best way to bring a under weight snake back up to par is to feed more frequent, normal size meals. I use a digestion rule: after feeding the under weight animal a couple of small meals(usually every 5 day, pending on the situation) for a couple of weeks. Then bump him/her up to an appropriate size item, when the snake deficates, then feed another appropriate size item. repeat until he/she fills back out, then slowly go to a 7 day schedule and then 10 day day schedule if you feel comfortable. (I feed mine every 7 days as long as they are not gaining to much weight). Sounds like he did okay on your feeding schedule and thats great.

Be patient when it comes to breeding, not all snakes have the schedule we want them to. :)
 
I have also found that unbrumated snakes wont even be ready to breed until late March or even April. There are a lot of factors in this, but I think your first step is to get him properly sexed.
 
If your boy is indeed a boy, he sounds like my Dexter. We had Dex confirmed as male, but he does pretty much the same thing when put in with my proven butter girl, Medusa. Medusa ended up striking at my other male when I put him in to test her, so we figured she just isn't ready yet and Dexter was picking up on that. Your boy may be the same. Medusa is in shed right now, so hopefully after she sheds she'll give off more of the pheromones to get Dexter going.
 
Thanks again to Lennycorn, yes I would love to meet some breeder in this area. Meanwhile, I'll work on getting King Wrath sexed!

Thanks to Christen, Buzzard, Angela, and DragonsDenSerpents! All great advice.

The room they're in goes from 65 down to 50 by morning, so if that counts as brumation, they have been brumating. :)

And the former 3-month escapee :) was found in a 35 degree basement, so I think this can be considered over-brumated!?

Just as you guys suggested, the female is due to shed in the next week or 2!
So it all sounds good, I will continue to try the pairing each week for now. :)
Thanks again
Rob
 
ratsncorns said:
I have also found that unbrumated snakes wont even be ready to breed until late March or even April. There are a lot of factors in this, but I think your first step is to get him properly sexed.
Click to expand...

My two unbrumated corns bred the third of January ;-)

But a lot of people I know haven't had any luck yet.
 
I think Denmark is a litter different than here, your season is probably different than ours ;). (photoperiod, temps, and such can all be modified at your house too) I know people who breed snakes in the winter.
 
ratsncorns said:
I think Denmark is a litter different than here, your season is probably different than ours ;). (photoperiod, temps, and such can all be modified at your house too) I know people who breed snakes in the winter.
Click to expand...

Of course you are right, but it was still VERY cold and very dark and there were absolutely no sign of spring anywhere. So, if anything, they should probably breed later.
 
ratsncorns said:
I have also found that unbrumated snakes wont even be ready to breed until late March or even April. There are a lot of factors in this, but I think your first step is to get him properly sexed.
Click to expand...

I already have one clutch that is going to hatch in 25 days or so, and a 2nd clutch that was laid a week ago. Never once have I brumated.

So I think that just goes to show that you never really know with snakes! They always surprise you. I had one female lay last year while she was in her pre-lay blue phase!

To the OP, one thing that you might really want to watch out for is Respiratory Infections. If your corn was in a 35 degree basement for a long period of time, an RI is a good possibility. Keep your ears open for any wheezing/popping/clicking noises coming from your snake while he's breathing.

Is 50 degrees the regular ambient temp of the room? That is far too cold for corns, which might also be why you're having a problem getting them to lock up. If conditions aren't correct, they probably won't breed for you. I keep my snake room no cooler than 72 degrees.
 
See my second post where I stated a lot of factors have to do with this. Sorry for making a blanket statement, but it all depends on where you live and how much light you have in your home, and your house temperatures. I said that "I have found" which pretty much means "In my experience". I apologize for any confusion.
 
When you do find someone to probe your snake make sure they have experiance with corns. I bought a male sunglow from petland, the lady who sold him to me breeds ball pythons and she probed him for me. She must have punctured something because he is not a male at all... I had a friend who use to bred corns probe him and he is 100% female. I am lucky that my snake survived! And now I know why "he" showed no interest at all to my female... LOL
 
Thanks Katia and Susan!

Respiratory infections - uh oh! I haven't heard any of those sounds, but he seems to have acquired the habit of opening his mouth as wide as possible once in a while since we found him. Maybe he's yawning? :) But it seems like he's doing it less frequently now...

On cold nights in winter the temperature in the room can and does often dip down to 50 by morning, and heats up to 65 or 70 during the day. Of course, each viv or tub has it's own heat pad with warm hide over it, as well as other cooler hides. Many mornings I find one or more snakes will have chosen the cooler hide overnight, so it is obviously not too cold in the room for them.

So what about popping? Is that just for juveniles?

Thanks Again,
Rob
 
Opening the mouth is a sign of respiratory infections as well, so definitely keep your eye on that and I'd bump up the ambient temps in the room too. RIs can be contagious too.

Popping is best done on babies; probing would be your best bet now.
 
Thanks Katia!

In hindsight, it makes a lot of sense. He must have been sick all this time, because for the first two weeks after being found, he was definitely spending most of his time in his warmest hide. As I mentioned, he has been getting around his new viv more, and spending his time more in the cooler hides during the day. So I'm pretty sure he has access to enough warmth now, since he slept outside the door to his hide last night. I'm so glad that he improved on his own, I wasn't even aware that he had a cold! I only saw that he was finally showing some increased activity, and it led me to think he was ready to try pairing. I hope the female didn't catch it!


And thanks about the answer to the popping question. I'm trying to hook up with someone with experience probing corns. So far I've asked people at pet shops if they know someone, but no luck.

Rob
 
Umm...I had a male corn snake last fall that had a pretty bad Upper Respiratory infection and I had to take him to the vet to get meds....he was sick for like 4 months but he finally got better and is fine now. You should definently, bring the room temp up some, even when the snakes have their own individual heat pads if the room temp is too cool or cold then it still isn't all that great for them overall. I'm glad you found your snake....I had one that was gone missing for 7 1/2 months from August 18, 2009 to March 29, 2010 when our neighbor/maintance guy found her underneath our trailer. She was very cold, almost stiff to the touch although she striked out at me at first when I went to pick her up. She warmed up and ate for me within two days of having her back and I was handiling her within a couple of hours of having her back home :). She's very healthy today, and is the only female that I have that has sucessfully laid 19 eggs last summer in July and all hatched for me.
Anyhow, though just look for a vet that has been properly trained to sex yr snake..I think that is probably the best thing you could do for it.
 
Thanks for sharing your similar lost & found experience, wildlifephotographer!
My son described that same moment when he found our lost King Wrath, and how he feebly tried to strike, and how cold and stiff he was! Glad to hear yours got well again too.
 
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