iHerp Answers: What is the best substrate/incubation method to use for corn snake eggs and what are the average costs to keep the babies properly after hatching?

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What is the best substrate/incubation method to use for corn snake eggs and what are the average costs to keep the babies properly after hatching?

Posted By:

anjeanettecorns28

Okay, just asking for future references here. I do plan on breeding a couple of my females to my male Bindi later down the road and want to find out how much it costs to breed cornsnakes...like how much it costs for the substrate materiels? the incubating devices or whatnot? The average costs to keep the hatchlings afterwards and what to do with them after they are a week old when they have to be seperated from eachother? Any certain things that I need to know before hand? Like what to do with my female who is getting ready to lay the eggs? Do I have to do anything different then usual? What materiels do I need to have ready to make her comfortable in her enclosure? Also what temps do I need to keep the eggs at so they do not die on me or become moldy and how do I keep them at the right temps and humidity levels? Those types of questions are what I am looking to be answered here just so I know ahead of time. Thanks for any honest and helpful feedback.

Diamond is my oldest female: Anerytheristic
Bindi is my male: Amelanistic
Zoe is my 2nd oldest female: Classic normal

I don't know if they are het for anything.

Attached Photos:


Points:	150
Topics:	Copulation , Egg Laying , Incubation
Tags:	Breeding, Breedingcosts, Cornsnakes, Eggincubationmethods
Administrative:	Show/Hide

Member Comment

4/10/2010 7:37:09 PM

FyreFocks

For serious, buy Kathy Loves book. I know i know, why buy what you can get for free? Its a handy thing to have laying around the house. Its answers all those questions and more!

Babies should separated once they all clear the egg. They will cost you whatever the cost is of 1 tub per baby. 1-2 pinks a week per baby (this number will increase steadily depending on how long you keep the babies). I use zoo med mealworm dishes as water dishes, so 1.49$ per baby. And i use papel towels for medium and toilet paper rolls for hides. Its up to you if you want to factor the last 2 items into your spending costs.

Member Comment

4/10/2010 10:12:01 PM

Mike@Outback

You can incubate the eggs using damp spaghnum moss or a 50/50 (by weight) mixture of water and vermiculite. If the eggs are dimpling, the humidity is too low. I keep them in a thermostat-controlled incubator at around 85 degrees, although corn snake eggs are very hardy and will hatch in pretty much anything other than your refrigerator...

I leave a box full of damp spaghnum inside my females' enclosures when they are close to laying and they crawl into the box to lay their eggs.

Your babies will cost whatever it takes in time, money, space, and effort devoted to housing, cleaning, watering, and feeding. I find that a baby rack of 20 baby corn snakes on aspen bedding probably takes me about 10-15 minutes to spot clean and change water, and I do this twice per week for every snake.

I feed live pinkies which I get for somewhere around 10-20 cents each.

Member Comment

4/10/2010 11:21:53 PM

shellboa

getting such a breakdown is going to depend entirely on the persons habits etc.

buy the book

prices depend n how much you have topay for metrials. i bred mice so pinkies cost me nothing but feed and time.

Accepted Answer

4/11/2010 8:56:32 PM

MegF

I use perlite for incubation. It holds moisture well without keeping water on the eggs themselves. Vermiculite will cling to eggs if it's too wet. It doesn't cost that much although it took me a while this last year to find some. Lasts forever though and you can reuse it if you want. Cost depends upon so much. How much you pay for your pinkies and how often you feed. I house mine in sterilite squares that I get at the dollar store. Usually it's 2 or 3 per dollar. I don't use an incubator for cornsnake eggs. A styrofoam icechest with a heat pad taped to the inside side wall and a thermostat is all you'll need if that. I generally keep the egg box in my snake room that stays in the upper 70's to mid 80's. well within the range of temps necessary to hatch...better cooler than hotter. Cost will also depend upon how long you end up keeping the animals. Sometimes you sell them quickly...sometimes not. I go to the shows and sell there quite often. The rest is internet. If incubating I use 80 degrees as my temps. They take longer to hatch, but in general the babies are much larger. When the female is getting due to lay, I place a laying box in her viv on the warm side. It's usually a largish plastic tub with a lid that has a hole cut out of it. I fill it with damp eco earth and sphagnum moss. They generally go right in there and spend a lot of time. Once they are ready to lay, they will bury themselves in there and dig a hollow for the eggs. I separate babies immediately. Keeping them together is a good way to have cannabilism. Once someone gets hungry they will eat a clutch mate. I've seen it more than once. It's also stressful to keep them together and ideally you want them ready to eat once they shed, not stressed out to the point they won't take food.I use paper towel roll to make a tiny hide in the back and use a small sample cup cut shorter for water. I second the suggestion to get Kathy Love's book. It was one of my first purchases and was very helpful to me when I finally bred for the first time. As far as breeding the corns, I generally put the breeding pair together in a plastic tub that is lightly misted. Once they've hooked up, I separate them again for a few days and then re-introduce. I find I have a higher fertility rate when I give the male a few days to replenish the sperm. Kathy suggested that to me when I spoke to her many years ago. I believe you're a member of the cornsnake forum, but if you're not, you should go there. It has a lot of people, including Kathy Love, on there to give advice.

Author Comment

4/14/2010 8:20:19 PM

anjeanettecorns28

Thanks for all the wonderful helpful suggestions and tips. So just to get things cleared up though so I understand I should use spangum moss for the laying box/nest box inside the actual snake's enclosure on the warm end so she can lay her eggs right? And when they are laid place them in exact or close to it position for which they were orginally laid in so they do not drown/die from changing positions? And I need to use spagnum moss/vermalite to use for icubating materiel and keep the eggs at temps between 70-85 degrees in a room dark perferably. If icubating them use 85 degrees as the temp right? When putting the eggs in the container with the spagnum moss and vermilite is that the container I use then to put in another container to be used as the icubator? Or is that one container good enough to use as the container to hold the eggs and icubate them properly?

Member Comment

4/14/2010 10:11:36 PM

MegF

I use perlite, not vermiculite and I only use moss to lightly cover the eggs to avoid any water condensation from dripping directly on the eggs. I feel it's safer especially if you've never incubated before. Vermiculite can coat the eggs and smother them if the water content is too high. Perlite won't do that...even if it's dripping wet in the bottom of the egg box. Do not allow the eggs to get in the water on the bottom, but the perlite won't cling to eggs. The laying box is eco-earth and moss. Gives them something to dig into. I incubate at 80. I prefer the low end rather than the high end. I get larger babies if I incubate at a lower temperature although it takes a little longer to hatch. 85 will yield babies earlier but in general they will be smaller and you risk a temp spike. Anything over 90 for any length of time will kill them.

Member Comment

4/14/2010 10:17:43 PM

FyreFocks

Meg, im curious as to your average hatch weight? I incubate at 86 and so far ive gotten a consistant hatch on day 52 with the average weight being 6 grams.

Member Comment

4/14/2010 10:36:15 PM

MegF

I've had 10-12 grams babies at 80 degrees and only 5-6 grams with babies incubated at room temperatures in my snake room which would get up to the mid 80's during the day and down to 80 at night. Hatch times for the 80 degree eggs: 69 days. 84 or so, 59-61 days

Member Comment

4/14/2010 10:45:01 PM

FyreFocks

Thanks for sharing. Maybe next year ill change how i do things.

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