| Moppet |
Posted - 19/12/2014 : 19:15:11
Eeji's link is a good one. Most people put corn snakes through a cooling period to get them ready for breeding (called brumation).
However I have had successful clutches two years in a row without brumating because my corns are kept in a room which has natural light and drops a little in temperature when it gets colder. They seem to be able to use this to time their breeding cycles correctly. I use behavioural cues and time of year (seems to be around February-April dependent on weather) to determine when they are ready to be put together. When they are ready to mate, the males (and often females too) become more active and may refuse food. I put them into a separate container lined with white paper for 1/2hr to 1hr. Usually I can tell by behaviour whether they're likely to mate or not after the first 10 minutes or so. If the male is interested, he will try to put his body on top of the female's and push his tail under hers to get her to lift it for him to lock with her. He may also twitch his body on top of hers. If she is interested, she will twitch also and lift her tail. If she is not interested, she will avoid his attempts by moving away, thrashing her tail or pinning it to the ground so he cannot mate with her. After they have separated (it can be a little while, 15min-45min in my experience), the female normally moves away first and they separate. The male's hemipenes should return to his body then I put him back in his viv. I check the excretion left on the paper, I have had an occasion with a young male where there was a little blood in it but was assured that it was normal for a first time young male mating. I like to repeat the pairing twice, normally a week or so apart, just to make sure the job is done properly. Then the long wait to see if the female is gravid :D
Hope I helped :) |
