African House Snakes - Inspiration Exotics 2024 Adventure!

Colubrids
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Once the cooler weather starts coming through, I’m hoping that may trigger them to give laying a rest. I keep mine with heat tape that keeps their hotspot 86-87 and then just ambient room temperature, which in the winter can be in the high 60s/low 70s (which inside their sealed enclosures probably stays low 70s) so hopefully once the house starts getting consistently cooler, they’ll slow down a bit! Persimmon refused food a few days ago which could be an indication that she’s planning to lay again soon, or it could be a coincidence. I’d be surprised if I didn’t get a second clutch from Spitfire, but it’s always possible. Spitfire’s first clutch is on day 53 of incubation currently and Persimmon’s second clutch is on day 55 of incubation, so if they are going to lay again, I’ll expect eggs in the next couple of weeks.

Number four is my best eater!! Took f/t off of tongs on the first offering and has taken off of tongs every offering since. I’m pretty sure 4 is a female as well, so she’ll make someone a great snake and possible future breeder.

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I’ve gotten updates from both of the people who have house snakes so far - Emily said theirs eats ravenously, and the woman I sold one to at Tinley just left a review on my Facebook yesterday (very kind of her) saying that hers is a great eater and great with handling, too. I’m so glad they’re doing well!

Baby 4 sold a couple of days ago, so I’m shipping her out on Wednesday this week. Then I’m vending a show this weekend in Bloomington, IL and I’ll take at least two of the babies with me, possibly the last one as well depending on if he takes his next meal.

Baby #4 who’s getting shipped out Wednesday:

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And Persimmon’s second clutch is on day 62 of incubation, so due to hatch around Halloween! Spitfire’s first clutch is only two days behind.

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We have more new faces!

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So beautiful. Congrats!

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Woo hoo! You guys rock! Congratulations on such gorgeous babes! :pray::clap::+1::star_struck:

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Hooray for new babies! Those are the best treats I’ve seen for Halloween in a long time!

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Whoa, hello and happy halloween to these pumpkins!!

Do they look lighter/paler than the last or is that just the pre-first-shed look?

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This is the pre-first-shed look! The orange darkens quite a bit after that shed, right now they look much lighter.

All of the babies are out from clutch #2! Now just waiting on clutch #3.

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Well, I totally thought Persimmon was done after she laid a slug last week. She heard me and laughed. :joy:

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That bottom one is looooooooooooooooong :joy:

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She clearly took that as a challenge!

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Apparently she did. :joy:

Second round of babies are all hatched! All five from Persimmon’s second clutch hatched healthy, and from Spitfire’s clutch (six eggs) one egg went bad during incubation and one baby came out and then passed after hatching, so we have four from her. For the first round of babies I separated them all before first shed, but for these babies I’m going to keep them communally in the incubator until their first shed and then I’m debating keeping them in pairs, as with a lot of species it seems to help them with socialization and eating.

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I kept my CA baby boas communally until they all shed - I just counted the sheds! :blush:

I have heard of some breeders keeping baby corn snakes in pairs for awhile….

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I know a few breeders who do it for various species of rat snakes (of which corns are included). There seems to be anecdotal evidence that it helps with getting them feeding and quite a bit of evidence that it helps with temperament and socialization. My only hesitation is just that with the first clutch, it was easiest to get them started drop feeding, and I don’t know how to manage drop feeding when there are two of them in one container. I don’t know - might try it with a couple of pairs and see how it is. I keep baby ball pythons communally until they’ve had their first shed, but haven’t kept in pairs beyond that.

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Yes I don’t know about the feeding part unless they are put in deli containers inside their enclosure?

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I know Jess @noodlehaus keeps her corn snake hatchlings in pairs. I keep mine individually.

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I had no idea keeping them in pairs helped with socialization! I wonder why that is? And how old they can be before that apparent benefit is no longer present?

I’ve always sort of wondered if people underestimate how tolerant snakes are of other snakes just because they don’t have mammalian social body language – if it really does make hatchlings easier to socialize, I wonder if having another snake around lowers the stress response of youngsters in some way.

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I may be wrong here, but I think Snake Discovery has found keeping baby hognoses in pairs or trios really increases their early feeding behaviors (ofc you have to be more careful with hogs since they will eat each other sometimes)

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Been tagged, I do indeed keep corn snake hatchlings (juveniles, and adults [same sex only] :scream: ) in pairs, trios, or in some cases groups. I find it offers boosts on feeding, behavior, and handling in the long run.

As for feeding, I’ve tried several different methods and I frequently experiment with new ones. I’ll probably get some flak for this, but I don’t separate anyone out to feed. Yes, I’ve had snakes bite each other, bite me, try to steal feeders, etc. I’ve never had a serious injury or death because I supervise until everyone in each enclosure has finished, and intervene if there’s any stealing/biting/what have you.

This year I tried offering off of tongs first meal, and was pleasantly surprised to have success with the majority. Feeder has to be at a low angle, close to the substrate. Not sure if house snakes would be any different here.

If you want to try something more drop style, I usually place a feeder partially under whichever hide they have chosen (yes, they chose to group up) and wait until one of them takes it. Then I will lift the hide, and move hatchling + feeder to another part of the enclosure. Repeat until no one else wants a feeder or everyone is fed. Always watch them eat and never take your eyes off before everyone has the whole mouse down + about a minute after. If any of the hatchlings get mouse smell/fluids on them, gently wipe with a clean, damp paper towel so they don’t smell like a snack to their siblings.

Once everyone is feeding regularly, it’s pretty easy. I can actually do up to four bins with 2-3 snakes per bin now with no trouble. If one baby ends up taking a bit more time than the others, I just pull that one out and let it finish in another container.

I know I mentioned a lot of handling, and I’ll say this: I’ve not had an issue with regurges, period. Every snake I’ve produced can be handled during & after feeding without problem because they’re desensitized to it from a very young age.

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I have done this before and never had any problems either. But I was afraid to admit it :joy:

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