Breeding corn snakes

[Jay_Bunny]

It's been a while since I bred corn snakes. I've only ever done one pairing and it took right away so there wasn't much effort in it. Now I want to breed my snow female to my ghost vanishing stripe male. Both are old enough and large enough to breed. I don't brumate my snakes and when I bred my snow before to a different male (I don't have him anymore) I didn't brumate or change their temp in any way. Just introduced female to male, they did the deed on the first try, and I got eggs. To be honest I don't even recall what time of year I bred them. Id have to go back in my records to find out. So my question is, when should I introduce them? I don't heat them so I have no way to lower temps unless I house them in a different part of the house. Reptile room stays above 75.

And yes you read right. I don't heat my corn snakes. I haven't in several years and I've never encountered a problem. My snakes eat, shed, poop, and grow just as well as they did when they were heated. I've experimented both ways and find not heating them works just fine. I always observe for signs of illness and I'm very aware of the health of my snakes.

[xcjumper]

You will probably get a lot more information and responses on Cornsnakes.com. The forums there are awesome! Can't help with breeding questions but I know you can find the answer there!

[AbsoluteApril]

Generally a good time to introduce is in spring, March/April time of year.
I never did brumation with mine either and they bred just fine.
Good luck!

[distaff]

Maybe I'm missing something. I'm member there, but I find the site difficult to navigate - just not worth the trouble, so I don't even visit it to read any more.

Much prefer this format. The Home Page has the most recent posts from all the forums, and you can go directly do a specific forum if you wish to only deal with certain subjects.

[xcjumper]

Hmm, I don't find it difficult to navigate at all but, I do agree, this format is MUCH better. I guess I started there with my Corns so it doesn't bother me.

[distaff]

All cornsnake and kingsnake books/care sheets seem to specify fairly high ambient temps. That surprises me. Those aren't the temps those North American snakes are going to find much of the time in nature. Maybe the wild ones spend a lot of time uncomfortably cold, and suffer for it. I really don't know.

My kingsnakes are from this actual area, and it is not all that warm most of the year. I posted finding fresh road kill Pittuophis earlier this fall - well after the weather had turned cold. What were they doing out?

I understand the need for a digesting hot spot with a useful hide - no argument there, and based on the books, I have made the tanks warmer than our room temps, but frankly, I question the necessity of doing it.

[Stewart_Reptiles]

You can introduce whenever, usually most people start introducing in early spring because they brumate their animals and spring is when temperature rise and animals come out of brumation, since you do not brumate and keep your animal at the same stable temperature year round you can start pairing any time you feel like just make sure to feed them well prior to pairing.

I brumate some of my colubrids but others I do not.

[Spiritserpents]

I start introducing my females to the males around february, but most of them aren't willing to take a male until March/April/May. I also do not brumate.

[Blue Apple Herps]

I start introducing my females to the males around february, but most of them aren't willing to take a male until March/April/May. I also do not brumate.

I'm almost the same. I don't brumate, and I live in TX so they don't get much of a cool season. I start pairing on April 1-ish and 80% lock first time. By May 100% have locked. I pair every 3 days for 3x pairings. Quick and easy, way easier than BPs (not that they're hard).