The 3's

[Jay_Bunny]

I purchased Zim back in December of '06. I figured she was an '06 baby since she was about as big around as a ball-point pen. Now, she is approaching 300g and I'm going to try and get a length on her today. So I figure she is 300g, definitly more than 2ft long and is a little probably approaching 2 years old if I guessed right when I got her.

I could get some comparison pictures of my three corn snakes to show her size.

The reason I am asking about all this stuff is because I'm wanting to know if she is ready to breed? I know the rule of 3's says 3 years, 300g and 3ft long. So I'm trying to see what she still needs to measure up to in order to be ready.

[Jay_Bunny]

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The tub is 24" long round about. So that shows you her length, and she is coming up on 300g. A few more meals in her will put her up there.

[Blue Apple Herps]

I haven't seen a snake that was healthy weigh more than 300g and be less than 3 ft, so I don't think you have to worry about the length. And I don't think age is that important either (assuming they weren't power fed); most will be breedable their 2nd year. For me the most important factor is that they are nice and lean (not fat!) and are close to if not over 300g.

If I ever have any doubt about breeding a female because of her size, I always wait until later in the season if not next year; I never push it.

[Jay_Bunny]

Well this is my first adult corn, so I was unsure of breeding size. She was never powerfed. When I got her she was on mouse fuzzies. After a few months she went up to mouse hoppers, then onto weanlings and now she is downing full grown mice or 30-40g rats. She only gets fed once a week, skipping a meal only when in shed, and sometimes not even then (she loves her rodents).

I have been looking for a full grown male for a while now. I am hoping to find an amber male.

[Blue Apple Herps]

Well this is my first adult corn, so I was unsure of breeding size. She was never powerfed. When I got her she was on mouse fuzzies. After a few months she went up to mouse hoppers, then onto weanlings and now she is downing full grown mice or 30-40g rats. She only gets fed once a week, skipping a meal only when in shed, and sometimes not even then (she loves her rodents).

I have been looking for a full grown male for a while now. I am hoping to find an amber male.

Sounds like she's just about set to start breeding then. An amber male would just give you normals in the F1, and even the F2 wouldn't produce anything amazing, as anery masks caramel.

What about an anery or amel blood or stripe to pair her with? Just some suggestions; at the end of the day, you gotta do what you want to though.

[Jay_Bunny]

Ah, I don't know much about corn genetics. I would love to produce some blizzards though. What would I have to pair her with for that? I think its called a charcoal, right? Oh and I know I won't produce blizzards the first go around.

[Blue Apple Herps]

If you want blizzards, I would get a blizzard and breed it to your snow. That will give you amels het charcoal and anery. Breed those back and you will get amels, snows, blizzards, and anery blizzards. But if you bred just a charcoal, you'd get normals het amel, anery A & B.

[Jay_Bunny]

Thanks. Where do you learn all this? Now I'm on the lookout for an adult blizzard male.

[Blue Apple Herps]

I actually learned a lot of it taking genetics in college. All of the corn morphs (so far) are recessive, so once you understand simple Mendelian genetics, its a breeze. You just have to know what makes what (i.e. anery A + amel = snow).

Here are some good sites to help you out.

Genetics basics: http://www.serpwidgets.com/Genetics/genetics.html
Morph Info: http://www.serpwidgets.com/Morphs/morphs.html
And a great book to own: http://cornguide.com/the%20guide.php

[Jay_Bunny]

Thanks for the links. I know enough about genetics to do ball python punnets, but I'll have to learn what makes what in corn snake genetics.