Cooling... A Must?

[Ryan Harvey]

Hello,
I am quite new to breeding Corn and have a proven pair to try my hand at it next year... I have my concerns for the snakes well being if i cool so I would rather wait until I have some more experience with them to do it. Will they still breed even without the cooling period?

Ryan,

[CamHanna]

They can breed without cooling but I've never tried it. I'm going to give it a go this year with one female who is just a little to small but will hopefuly grow up over the winter.

Cooling is really not a difficult procedure. Last year was my first try and my temps fluctuated from 45F-60F. Forty-five is certainly on the low end of the acceptible range but all the corns came out fine. This year I'm going to try a different spot in the basement and hopefully avoid the extremes.

[Hanneys'n'Corns]

Last year at this time, I had to make a decision. I had potentially 3 females who I knew were breeding size for 2005 and I had 3 males who I knew could do the job. I read everything I could get my hands on about whether or not I 'had' to cool down my 'breedable' adults. I emailed several breeders, took into consideration their thoughts about the subject, looked at their geographical location and winter temperature fluctuations, and decide I would continue a regular routine right thru last winter....now I did make some environmental changes to 'season' them out, but I didn't cool them.

As 'spring' approached, I introduced my males. Nature took its course.

If your pair is already proven, I don't think you will have any problems.

"Fertility" has always been associated with cooling....hey, I am not out to break any records with #####'s of offspring produced, so I personally don't care if I only get 10 - 15 eggs in a clutch as long as I am near 100% hatch rate and all those hatchlings are healthy and good eaters. This year my 6, yes 6, not just the original 3 I thought would be ready, females produced 86 hatchlings from 88 eggs. I have no complaints about those statistics at all.

Am I going to cool down my 'potential breeders' for 2006? Nope, I am going to do the same as last year. "If it ain't broke, I'm not going to fix it!"

Just my humble opinion, for what it's worth.

Ruth Hanney

[vanderkm]

Last year at this time, I had to make a decision. I had potentially 3 females who I knew were breeding size for 2005 and I had 3 males who I knew could do the job. I read everything I could get my hands on about whether or not I 'had' to cool down my 'breedable' adults. I emailed several breeders, took into consideration their thoughts about the subject, looked at their geographical location and winter temperature fluctuations, and decide I would continue a regular routine right thru last winter....now I did make some environmental changes to 'season' them out, but I didn't cool them.

As 'spring' approached, I introduced my males. Nature took its course.


Ruth Hanney

Hi Ruth - just wondering if you would expand a bit on the 'seasoning' that you put your corns through last year prior to breeding. I have a couple 3 year olds that might benefit from feeding over the winter if I intend to breed them next spring, so I have been debating skipping the brumation for them.

thanks,

mary v.

[Hanneys'n'Corns]

I use 'lighting' mainly Mary....

My snakes are in a basement room all to themselves. I can control the amount of both natural and artificial lighting that the snakes receive. My lighting system is all on timers, so I can automatically adjust the amount of 'daylight' to suit the outside environment. Seasonally right now the sun comes up and it's daylight around 8 a.m. here. It starts to get dark in the afternoon around 5 p.m. My lights are adjusted accordingly. As spring approaches and the sun rises earlier and sets later, I make changes.

The temperature in the snake room of course is 'cooler' than it would be if the lights were on for 14 hours instead of the now 9 hours, but not at all 'cool'...try working down there for 5 hours.

Since the winter can be very dry here, I tend to add extra moisture with humidifiers. Since the snakes are still eating on a regular schedule, they are still shedding, so I want to ensure there is enough humidity in their environment. We also tend to drop our feeding schedule to once every 10 days, rather than weekly.

In early February, I begin lengthening the 'daylight' hours; I also begin to 'count' my sheds of my 'wanna be female 'breeders. First spring shed doesn't count....it's the second shed that signals the start of breeding activity around here.

This will be year #2....it seems to work for me anyway. Good luck with those females. I find I can tell my 'potentials' at this time of year...I keep them on a 7 day feed all winter and then reassess them in the spring. Some really fill out over the winter and are ready for the first cycle in late February/early March. Some I hold out for April/May matchups and give them the extra 2 months.

All this talk about getting them ready......oh, I wish it were spring.

Ruth

[vanderkm]

Thanks Ruth - figured it was lighting related. We have some control over day length - am thinking I will give it a shot with the girls I have almost ready. Have had great luck with males being ready to breed despite no change over winter, but have not bred unbrumated girls before this year.

Know what you mean about wishing for spring,

mary v.