How do I know if my corns mated...

[Simon]

I have been asked by this question so many times.
"How do I know if my corns mated or not?"

This is what I always tell them.
They usually leave a yellowish mark behind. It looks kind of like jello...and those are called spillage or sperm...

Well tonight I saw two of my corns mating. I was going to take a photo of them copulating but I was a bit late already...and only saw the 'spillage' so I took a photo of it.

So the next time if you want to know if your corns mated or not. Try and look for this:

<img src="http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid93/p354c546bf19db2e6c77a6928ca4e4749/fa44c0a0.jpg">

<img src="http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid93/p0ec5db00771baef9d497ac3e1b675d68/fa44c097.jpg">

Oh and for those of you who are wondering why my corns are already mating..well I was actually cleaning the cages and didn't know where to put the male...so I just poped it in with the female...just a good 5 min of cleaning (not a through cleaning..just picking out poop and shedded skin) I was going to put that pair up anyways during spring...so I knew that even if they bred I'll be pairing up the right pair anyways...so why not just put him in...and he did his job....lol....o well...corns breed so easily.....they're too 'corny'....

[BoidKeeper]

It's a bit early Simon. You sure it wasn't just a wet dream? (jk)
That's one of the grosses herp pics I've ever seen!
Thanks for sharing,
Trevor

[ChristinaM]

Originally posted by BoidKeeper
You sure it wasn't just a wet dream? (jk)
That's one of the grosses herp pics I've ever seen!


Speaking of a wet dream LOL.
Will male snakes have "spillage" even if they don't mate?
Just curious.

And I agree with Trevor....that is a gross pic, but sooo informative.

[Removed_2815]

Yep, gross picture! We've all seen it in our collections though so it's not that disgusting to see it again.
To be 100% certain of a successful copulation I will use a sterile swab (we get these super cheap through our lab) and transfer some of the spillage onto a slide and bring it into focus under a compound light microscope. I can then do counts and look for any abnormalities (two heads, two tails, no head, no tail, etc).
Cheers,
RMB

[Dragon_Slave]

I was reading through this post and looking at those pictures while eating a grilled cheese sandwich... needless to say I lost my appetite, lol.

Very informative though! :)

[bailey]

That is completely nasty, but something everyone who is even entertaining the idea of breeding corns should know. Thanks Simon! :)
Denise

[SerpentLust]

Ok, I did NOT need to see corn sperm spillage while eating roast beef with gravy! lol

Jenn

[gonesnakee]

I recomend using paper towel or newspaper as substrate. If you don't actually see them the paper makes it easy to tell what happened while you were gone. For Bicheraddict, I had a friend who had a young male boa 2-3 years that for some reason, (was a girl close by) would spread "goo" from one end of the enclosure to the other. No looking for sperm plugs here. This guy had his goo spread everywhere more often than not. Very gross cage to clean, feel like the chamber maid after a Roman orgy LOL Mark

[Simon]

LOL...yeah it's a gross pic...but then I have been asked so many times on this little question...so posting a picture would always help~

and yeah like Mark said. I usually go with newspaper or paper towel too. Cause I have seen a couple of times when aspen actually sticks on to the male's hemipenes while its retracting it back and a peice of aspen is actually stuck on the vent. It was quite a bit pulling the aspen back out (plus trying not to hurt it...even worse with jumpy/nippy animals...) so I would highly recommand using paper towels or newspaper during breeding.

As I have mentioned before, this was only for cleaning and I had no where to put the male...so that is why I popped him in with the female...and he actually went for her (plus she let her do his job).....o well....

[Katt]

So Simon, what corns mated?

[Simon]

oh it was only a pair of anerys.
but this pair came from Stav (Coluboid)
and the offsprings where a bit odd since it had a few tint of greenish tone on it. I was going to get that batch of corn from him but he sold his 1st clutch and the 2nd clutch all went bad...so that is why I am pairing up the two together again.

I haven't really planned on what to breed with what yet...
I have good enough males...but tons of females and planning to breed them is a real pain...but expecting lots of good things this year...and even better in 2005. Sigh...I am already getting excited for 2005....hahaha