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Zoo-pedia > Breeding Corn snakes and other Colubrid...

Breeding Corn snakes and other Colubrid snakes

Inside tips and tricks to succesfully breed Corns, Kings, Milks and other Colubrid snakes by Kevin Stevens

Introduction... Many people who keep snakes eventually start to think about having a go at breeding them. This is quite probably a natural progression and makes the pet keeper into a hobbyist. The challenge of breeding any species of snake is only bettered by the end result - your first sight of the hatchlings. Every year I still get a buzz from the first snake to pop out of it's egg, and that's many years from seeing it first happen!

The group of snakes called Colubrids covers many of the popularly kept Cornsnakes and Kingsnakes and these provide an ideal breeding challenge. It can be relatively straight forward, but keep in mind that like most areas within reptile keeping you will get better results by "sticking to the rules". Here at Coast to Coast we have bred these species for a very long time and are perhaps the best people to speak to regarding successful high yield breeding.

How We Maintain Our Colubrids... All our medium sized Colubrids are maintained individually in plastic "Contico" boxes measuring approximately 24"x18"x7" (WxLxH) on a rack system heated by heat cable. Each box sits on two lengths of the heat cable which heats the rear third. They are minimally furnished with beech chip as a floor covering and a water pot, nervous individuals are provided with a hide to ensure they feed better. Many species will breed in more elaborate vivariums, but as we breed on a large scale they are easier to maintain in this manner. One of the most important things to remember - it is best to house each snake singularly, you will get better breeding responses. Each day the vivariums are spot cleaned to remove faecal matter, skin and other debris and fresh water is given. Each week the vivaria are fully sterilised and the snakes are fed, the females more than the males. If you are rearing hatchling or juvenile snakes remember that they require more food than once a week to grow correctly.

Breeding Techniques... Now to the more interesting bits - the stimulus that makes them breed. In the wild many species hibernate in the winter, and these species require a cool "rest period" before they will successfully breed. First ensure that the species you intend to breed actually hibernate and tolerate cool temperatures. Certainly the bulk of the more commonly kept Corn, Rat and King snakes will, but some of the more obscure Colubrids such as Radiated Ratsnakes (Elaphe radiata) and the like will perish. If you are unsure please give us a call! Feed well during the summer months to ensure a good body weight, but do not feed three weeks prior to hibernation. The food will not digest and may rot inside the gut causing severe problems and likely death. You will need an area where temperatures are constant at about 10°C for about three months for many species. Some species require even cooler temperatures of around 5°C for even longer periods of time, again please enquire if unsure. Many people use an outhouse with a thermostatically controlled fan heater for this purpose. Remember Coast to Coast can offer a full hibernation service at our own facilities if required. Without this period of hibernation breeding is sometimes still possible (dependant on species), but usually it is inconsistent, with a lower amount of fertile eggs.
Copulation... Once back to normal temperatures in the spring feed well and introduce males to females after three to six weeks of normal temperatures. Males will usually start to twitch and show interest once paired with a female, the female will also do the same if she is "ready" (point of ovulation). Courtship consists of the male rubbing along side the female constantly twitching and the female if receptive will respond by lifting her tail and allowing the male to wrap his tail around and enter one of his hemipenes. Allow this to happen several times until the female rejects the male (usually seen as her darting around the vivarium trying to get away from him). At this point she will be "gravid". Some four to six weeks usually elapses and the female will shed her skin, this is called the "pre-lay" slough. Usually ten days will pass and she will lay her clutch of eggs, make sure you have provided an egg laying site some days earlier. This consists of something like a Tupperware tub with a hole cut in for the snake to enter half filled with damp peat, vermiculite or sphagnum moss.
Incubation... Anywhere from three or four eggs to nearly thirty (dependant on individual and species) will be laid and will need to be transferred into another box (this time just with air holes) half filled with vermiculite for incubation. An incubator kit is available for this purpose. You will need a constant temperature of 28°C and humidity of about 90 to 95% throughout incubation. The eggs should take about 60 days to hatch if provided with these conditions. The hatchlings will need to be provided with individual small "plastic box" type vivaria and with a bit of luck you might breed from these in about two years time!