|
Q:
|
Female Cornsnake too Old to Breed?
|
|
At what age in a corn snake is considered too old to start for the first time mating/breeding them? My oldest corn snake Diamond is 4yrs old this April and I am thinking about waiting until Bindi my oldest male is 2 or 2 1/2 yrs old to breed him to her. I would have to wait another year or a little more to start breeding them together but I was wanting to find out if that would be okay to do since Diamond is going to be almost 4 now. Bindi just turned one in Dec. so I would have to wait until he was 2 or 2 1/2 right to start trying? Diamond is my Anery and Bindi is my Amel.
|
|
Member Comment
|
2/3/2010 12:07:43 AM
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Assisted Answer
|
2/3/2010 1:12:44 AM
|
|
shellboa
|
|
4 is not to old, its good even especially if she has good body weight. There are as many opinions as there are breeders but I think they would all agree that as long as she is healthy and has good weight she can breed.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Member Comment
|
2/3/2010 11:26:56 AM
|
|
JPG
|
|
They pretty much took the words right out of my mouth. There shouldn't be any problems with them breeding.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Accepted Answer
|
2/3/2010 12:18:02 PM
|
|
danicat83
|
|
Many breeders would want to breed their animals at the youngest possible age so they can produce offspring quicker. I'm not saying there is anything wrong with it at all because as long as the animal is fully mature and of a good body weight they can breed. I however have always waited longer, a year or two more than "breeding age" for the female usually. I can't explain exactly why I personally chose to do this, but partially so I can be fully sure I do want to breed the animal, like making sure that health conditions that could be genetic don't suddenly show up. I wouldn't suggest breeding an old snake for the first time, but 4 is still a young snake, and two more years to wait is nothing. I think it is fine. However if you did want to breed her earlier, the male is the one that is younger and my thought is that males expend much less energy during the breeding process so them being younger is alright usually.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Member Comment
|
2/3/2010 1:08:06 PM
|
|
Katie M
|
Not that I would necessarily live by this, but snakes are a species that breed till they die - they don't go through menopause like we do. I have a 16 year old boa that's breeding this year for the first time (Glove). She's in perfect health, big, and the vet says she'll be "able" to breed till shes 25-30 years old. So, as long as you look out for Diamond, responsible breeding as she ages isn't something to fear, but to get excited about - congrats!!
As far as the male needing to be 2 - most male boas only need to be 18 months, and ball python males can breed at 5 months... so I would investigate if your male is already old enough already
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Member Comment
|
2/3/2010 5:39:21 PM
|
|
EandJReps
|
|
If you can wait one more year would be good. The older the male( should at least be 2 yrs.) the healthier your baby corns will be and they will be better off for a long healthy life. Your female is at the start of her prime breeding age. Once they get up towards 10 years old, when you feed them you hopefully used thawed... put calcium powder in the mouth of the mouse or a liquid mix of powder to help your female keep her healthy bones, etc... Ball pythons are another topic of debate on the proper age of breeding. The female should be 30 inches to 36 inches and should be 2 to 3 yrs. of age minimum. Males should be the same if you want healthy snakes. If people don't care, they breed them early. Every time your female has to go thru this process of laying eggs, it takes a toll on her health and bone deficiency. this is a fact !
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Assisted Answer
|
2/4/2010 9:10:57 AM
|
|
JohnJohn
|
|
I agree with everyone on this one. Older is actually better for the female because you will be sure that she is proper weight, etc. Males can and do breed a little younger and it doesn't do them any harm. After all, the males have a one time job and then they're done. They don't have to produce eggs and all that. I think two is old enough for a male. But if you go for it, make sure you are truly ready, with an incubator, substrate, and proper tubs for the eggs and the babies. Most important, make sure you are ready for whatever you plan to do with babies. You have to house them and feed them nd then either keep them or sell them. Just make sure you're really ready for all that.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Member Comment
|
2/5/2010 12:15:15 PM
|
|
AbsoluteApril
|
|
I have an 8 year old corn I will be trying to breed for the 1st time this coming season. As long as the female is strong and healthy, you should be fine (male too of course). I also like to give my females an extra year (or two) to make sure they are mature and strong enough. Good luck!
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Assisted Answer
|
2/9/2010 1:12:55 PM
|
|
ssssinful
|
Your female, Diamond should be just fine to breed. It is strongly recommended to wait until a female is at least 300g for breeding. Typically a 3 year old female is over 300g. If a female is bred too small there poses a greater risk for egg binding. The loss of a snake or expensive vet bills aren't worth the risks posed by breeding too small/young.
Males are different. Some breeders have been successful with breeding a subadult male to an adult female with no issues. IMO, 1 year old is too young and like you stated, I would wait. Head over to www.cornsnakes.com and seach the forums. They have some very experienced breeders with excellent information.
It is good to have a digital scale (Walmart has some that are inexpensive) to weigh your snakes, especially if you are looking to breed. The advantage is that you can track weights on your female prebrumation, postbrumation, gravid and post laying. In addition, you can keep track of the weights on your hatchlings. In general, weights are good to have on your animals.
Good luck to you!
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Member Comment
|
2/24/2010 12:14:26 AM
|
|
Brandon Osborne
|
|
I've seen 20 year old females produce fertile clutches. I bet your male is ready now.
|
|
|
|
|
|
You are not logged in. If you would like to participate (it's free!), you must log
in, or Become a Member!
|
|
|
|
Most Popular Tags
Ball
,
Ballpython
,
Bci
,
Behavior
,
Boa
,
Breeding
,
Buying
,
Caging
,
Care
,
Chondro
,
Cornsnake
,
Crested
,
Crestedgecko
,
Eggs
,
Feeders
,
Feeding
,
Feedingproblems
,
Gecko
,
General
,
Genetics
,
GTP
,
Health
,
Heating
,
Humidity
,
Identification
,
Illness
,
Incubation
,
Infection
,
Leopardgecko
,
Mites
,
Morelia
,
Morph
,
Morphs
,
Parasites
,
Python
,
Regius
,
Respiratory
,
Shedding
,
Snake
,
Substrate
|
Latest Questions
|
|
|
|
points:150
|
|
|
|
points:100
|
|
|
|
points:250
|
|
|
|
points:100
|
|
|
|
points:250
|
More Questions
|
|
|
Latest Answers
|
|
|
|
points:250
|
|
|
|
points:150
|
|
|
|
points:100
|
More Answers
|
|
|