Corn snake overview

Can someone give me the jist of how you house your corns? I have my friend's snakes eggs in my incubator right now and they're due to hatch in a couple weeks, I need to make sure I'm ready to care for them properly.

The pairing was an albino male x amber female. I'm assuming the babies will be amber het. albinos? (Just guessing the genetics work the same way as ball genetics do)..

And how old/heavy do they have to be to breed? I'm thinking about keeping one for myself and breeding some corns on the side....

Thanks!

(A future corn snake care sheet sticky would be AWESOME.)

Assuming the pair had no hets, all the babies will be normals, Het Caramel, Hypo, and Amelanistic (AKA Albino).

Corn snake gentics are a pain, LOL, almost all their genes/morphs are recessive. Amber is the trade name for a "Hypo Caramel"

I'd suggest checking out iansvivarium.com there is a really comprehensive and frequently updated breakdown of all confirmed Corn Snake Morphs. Also in the links at the top, there is a really awesome page (the CornCalc) where you can punch in the genetics of your male and female and it will give you the projected offspring. really convenient stuff.

as far as breeding size, the generally accepted rule is 3 years OR 300 Grams. but of course that's the accepted bare minimum weight. Bigger is always better.

oh forgot, Housing, really simple stuff. Most use aspen shavings or paper towels as substrate for hatchlings. Small water bowl, hide, they don't need much space at that stage, less is actually better to reduce stress. Separating the hatchlings reduces stress and even though Corns aren't considered cannibalistic, it has happened. Most breeders agree that a hatchling is fine in like an 8 qt little sterilite container. temps do well 80-85 degrees.

Thanks so much! I'll post pictures when they hatch!

For my corns, I house babies in 6qt tubs on paper towels. When they move up to larger tubs, I switch them to aspen. I don't keep them very warm. Their "hot side" temps are about 80-82. Corn snakes are pretty much idiot proof. It is really hard to mess up with a corn. You basically have to TRY and mess up. In all honesty, I have kept them at room temperature (75) before and NEVER had a problem. They ate and pooped just fine and behavior didn't change either. Not that I recommend this, but just letting you know. Even if the power goes out and you have no heat. Corns will be just fine.

Corn snakes are also eating machines. They eat just about anything and at any time, as often as you'll offer. This is why corn snakes can become obese. I figure they are like the dachshunds of the snake world. Always want to eat.

As for breeding, the general recommendation is the rule of 3. The female should be at least 3 years old, 3ft long, and weigh at least 300g. For males, I've heard 200g is a minimum but my first and only time breeding snakes, my male was 250 (he fathered 8 babies). My female is 550g right now, so I'm just waiting for one of my males to get to 200g and then I'll try him out.

What should I use to keep the tank at the right temp for them? I feel like a heat lamp would make it too hot for 'em

A UTH (Under the Tank Heater) under one section of the enclosure(s) is what I have used. Ideally, you want a temperature gradient within the enclosure so the snake can thermoregulate as needed. I have used human heating pads (low setting only) and they have worked well for one or two enclosures. If you have more than one or two enclosures you may want to consider using Flexwatt Heat Tape. The heat tape should be used in conjunction with a dimmer switch so it doesn't become too warm.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KRdwPlqn0Zg

They are hatching

Awesome! Can't wait to see what you get!!! I have got my fingers crossed for hidden hets!!!!!!!

PICTURESS NOWWW! Please? <3

They are sneaky little boogers but I caught one before it slipped its head back in the egg (;

congrats on the pip.

On heating, UTH (under tank heaters) are best, but I have used heat lamps in the past. I used the a 25w red heat bulb and it worked just fine for my corns. Humidity is not as big of a thing with corns as it is with ball pythons. My corns have had perfect sheds with humidity around 30% before.

possible albino??

this is awesome!!!! always a winning post if ther are pics asap

well we definately have hets!!! I see Amel and Hypo for sure, wether they are "amel caramel" (butter) and/or "hypo caramel" (amber) not sure yet. waiting for out-of-egg pics to see for sure! SO EXCITING!!!

Hatchlings 2,3, and 4 all look basically the same. 1 is very bright and 5 I believe is amel. What do you think? Still waiting on two to come out but here they are thus far:

Hatchling 1


Hatchling 2


Hatchling 3


Hatchling 4


Hatchling 5

for now I am guessing all Hypos except for #5 guessing Amel.

2, 3, and 4 have me teetering between amber and hypo but I am leaning towards hypo until they shed, I've seen a lot of folks thinking they had one thing, and then the shed revealed something different. One particular one still has me baffled. A baby someone posted on CS.com looked like a perfect snow, like an obvious no doubts at all snow! after 2 sheds though, it was obvious that this was an Amel that was just REALLY washed out when it hatched!!!

Seven:


Eight: