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Wanting to bread my corn snakes, but not sure if it's the right time?

Lacie_Michele

Lacie_Michele

New member
I just got my corn snakes earlier this week, I'm not going to lie I never thought i'd be a snake person. But now that I have them, I just love them. The people I bought my snakes from said that my male and female are a breading pair. I've been researching them a lot and i'd really love to be able to bread them, but i dont want to do it too soon and possibly loose all the babies or the mom. Any helpful tip would really be appreciate.
 
Well, if you bread them make sure you add some salt and your favorite seasonings while you're at it :)

Just kidding. As for breeding them, get Kathy Love's (or another) great book on corn snakes or search around on the forums for what info you'll need to know. It's hard to give too many tips without specific questions.

What kind of corn snakes are they by the way? How old/big?
 
Lol, thank you for that correction.
Uhm, i'm not really sure what kind my adults are, the previous owner is bringing me all the papers on their genetics tomorrow, but if it helps any if you look at my picture my adults are the two orange and white ones. And theyre both 3.
 
Spend one year with them learning as much as you can about corns, the hobby, snakes in general etc. If you havn't listed them on craigslist by then you will have learned there's nothing to breeding corns; they do all the work ;)
 
The only reason im asking is bc the previous owner already took the time to brumate* her. And I dont want to waste the work she's put into them
 
Honestly, I would wait, I would return them to her & let her breed them, & then get them back. Big responsibilities come with small things.
 
Caring for hatchlings is a bit of a different ballgame to caring for established adults. It's great that you've fallen for Corns so hard (welcome to the club!) but I would also urge a little caution. I think a year or two's experience as a Corn owner would stand you in good stead as preparation.

You also need to make sure that you can sell any hatchlings where you are. There must be a reason why breeders have sold a breeding pair. That's definitely worth some additional research. Watch places like Craigslist over the next few months, to see which small breeders in your area are offering what types of Corn, and whether they sell or not.
 
Wait a year. Make sure you are comfortable with all the in's and out's of snake care.

Also, do not house them together. Not sure if you are or not, just throwing that out there.
 
You have a breeding pair who is 3 years old. Have they bred before?
Do you have a scale(little digital food scales work great)? Females should be 3 years, 300grams and 3 feet before breeding.
The best advice is do lots of reading. Ask around your local area and find out how many corn snake breeders are near by. Ask your petshops if they would be willing to take babies if you can't sell them privatly.
 
the female is at least three foot long. shes pretty big. and im not sure if they have been breed before or not. ill ask the previous owner today.
 
Three feet long is actually not fully grown for most Corns. At that size, I'd be very surprised if she's been bred before.

When Corns are sold as "a breeding pair" this normally implies that they are proven breeders. This is may not be the case with yours which I suspect are more "a potential breeding pair". Definitely best to check with the previous owner.

If the female *has* laid eggs at three feet long, she may need some TLC and a year or two off to make sure that she's in tip-top physical condition again. However the previous owner will be able to give you that info, so you'll know what to do for the best.
 
Finding out her age is really key to your decision about breeding and you can't really tell that from her size as they grow at such different rates. Some are also naturally smaller or larger.

As for length, a rough guide is to measure her shed skin when she sheds next, and then deduct a third (the old skin stretches during a shed). It's not accurate, but it's better than a complete guess.

I think I'd also want to confirm with the previous owner, whether she actually has laid fertile eggs before without any problems. It's not vital, but it would be good to know that she has a track record.
 
bitsy said:
Finding out her age is really key to your decision about breeding and you can't really tell that from her size as they grow at such different rates. Some are also naturally smaller or larger...
Click to expand...

mentioning the age.. is there actually a way to determine their age? as i've been looking everywhere..
thanks
 
is there actually a way to determine their age?
Click to expand...

Not unless the previous owner can tell you I'm afraid. Before they become fully grown they can put on length and width at different rates, even on the same feeding regime. Six month olds can be a few inches, or a foot and a half, or longer. As for adult Corns, I have one in his 20s and he doesn't look any different than he did aged 5.
 
bitsy said:
Not unless the previous owner can tell you I'm afraid. Before they become fully grown they can put on length and width at different rates, even on the same feeding regime. Six month olds can be a few inches, or a foot and a half, or longer. As for adult Corns, I have one in his 20s and he doesn't look any different than he did aged 5.
Click to expand...

ok thanks... i'll just start the clock from when i got them plus 1-3 months as they werent very small...
0.1 Ghost 34gr, >1 feet, 0.1 Golddust 22gr >=1 foot, 0.1 Charcoal 27gr >=foot, 0.1 amel motley 15gr, =1 foot
roughly measured by eye :p
 
I would follow the advice here and wait until you have some experience with the adults. Breeding corns is fun and can be challenging. You have to be ready to do some not so nice things when he babies come out and are deformed, never eat or have other problems. Caring for 20 or so babies also is not an easy task. And then there comes the part to where you have to be able to let babies go to thier new homes no matter how cute they are.
I really don't think it is a waste of past work if you don't breed just because they were brumated. It gave the breeder a break and gave the snakes some down time.
Best of luck with your new snakes.
 
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