I am wanting to start breeding corn snakes. They are my very favorite snake species, and make such nice pets.
Fellow corn snake folks- how would you best start? I have a mature male proven Sunkissed corn, and 2 yearling female normals, unknown genetics behind them.
My thought was to find a very nice mature female that is a proven breeder.
Do you know if your male has any hets? I would look for a female who is at least het sunkissed, but ideally has a few of the other common genes, like amel, anery, motley, etc. Or take a look around iansvivarium.com and see what sunkissed combos you like the look of and pick a female that will work towards that (as a multi generation project).
Hi! Thank you! He is visible Sunkissed, but I am unsure of any hets he may have.
I will take a look at that site! Its hard sometime to imagine what a morph looks like.
Not a Cornsnake breeder here but I do have experience breeding snakes in general.
I wouldn’t recommend breeding the 2 females unless you can somehow figure out if they have any hets. If you plan to keep offspring and don’t have any issues keeping their offspring for an extended period of time (possibly years) then maybe you could breed them, I say this because Normals really do not sell well on the market unfortunately.
Its just my preference and opinion but I would avoid breeding a female that you did not personally raise from a baby. Even if they have been proven you will never know the care they recieved in their previous home and that can play a big part in the quality of their health and clutches while breeding. There are exceptions to this but you’d have to get a female from someone you really know you can trust.
Have a plan in place for what genetics you want to work with and if you want to incorporate your proven Sunkissed male into the mix. Have a plan for housing their offspring for potentially years.
Start off with buying a baby female from a trusted source where you will know as much as possible about the snake before it ever gets in your hands so you won’t have to go through the hassle of figuring out genetics through unknown snakes.
Again I’m not experienced with Cornsnakes so someone with more knowledge could help you where I cannot, I believe @noodlehaus does have experience with them.
I share your love for corn snakes. They’ve been a source of great joy for many years in many ways, and breeding is a big part of that for me. Kudos to you for asking questions and looking towards plans before actually pairing animals. Not everyone does, and the animals can suffer as a result.
Figure out what you’d love to see, and work toward that. Just as importantly, if there’s a look you really don’t want, that’s something to consider too. Check out examples of adults here on MorphMarket by filtering your search for animals with “adult” maturity and availability of “all,” which will also show animals sold in the past. Peruse the Morphpedia. Look at iansvivarium.com and at the Facebook group Cornsnake Morph ID Help, which is solely about morphs and has many example photos.
Get familiar with how genetics work. If you understand recessive, dominant, and incompletely dominant you’ll have a handle on how an animal’s genes will fit into your goals. MorphMarket has a calculator here: Gene Calculator - MorphMarket . Once results appear, you can click on them and see examples if they exist in the system. There’s also a calculator on iansvivarium.com.
I strongly recommend against breeding any animal whose genetics you don’t know. There are many good, serious breeders who give you solid information on an animal’s genetics which you can use to make short and long term plans. Good breeders come in all collection sizes. A person who produces a clutch of two now and then may be much better about record keeping than a person who produces hundreds of animals yearly for mass market. Of course, you can look at visual traits and know some things. Depending upon your goals, that may be enough. If you want to produce Anery Motley beauties, you can look at the animal and know at least if it’s homozygous for Anery Motley.
Once you figure out a breeding goal, start looking for your foundation animals. When you’re considering animals for purchase, it is best to buy those who are closest to your goals. There’s nothing at all wrong with buying animals who have desired hets, and it’s a sensible way - sometimes the only way - to get to your goal. Do consider that it will take years to prove a hatchling’s possible het, during which time you’re feeding and caring for the snake. The difference in cost between a ph and a visual may be less than the cost of those years. I’m not saying not to consider price, of course. Just consider it sensibly for the long term.
If you decide that you love Sunkissed, working towards a long term goal with the male you have can make sense. Since any breeding goals are really a years-long commitment, if Sunkissed doesn’t fire your passion, it’s okay to consider another male. I would not consider breeding the classic/normal females with unknown hets. The only exception is, unless by classic you mean actual high expression Oketees. (I don’t mean typical classics labeled as Oketees, nor typical Amels called Reverse Oketees.) There is a market for high quality Oketees. If that’s the look you love, it’s also a project which can make sense.
Do plan to keep all your hatchlings for months, possibly years. Maybe you’ll sell the ones you choose to sell immediately, but if you’ve planned on them not selling, you’ll be prepared to feed and house them. It can happen.
Breeding corns is fascinating thing. Their genetics provide vast scope for beauty, and their personalities are intriguing. I love watching and handling mine. I love pondering possibilities. Hatching season is wonderful, though sometimes heartbreaking as well. It is lot of work to do this with thought and care. It’s also just a lot of work, lol. I truly wish you joy in the journey.
Thank you sooooo much!!
I don’t intend to breed the 2 normal color girls. They are just pets. I took them in from a person who was moving and couldn’t keep them. I believe they bought them at Petco so who knows what is in their background. And the likleyhood of them being WC is there too.
I really do love the vibrancy of Sunkissed. I think that sunkissed and stripe are both genetics I like and would love to work with.
I gotta tell ya that you came to the right place for advice/coaching for breeding corns because there are some super star breeders here who can see you through to successful breeding!!!
You’re welcome, of course! This really is a community who cares about people as well as animals.
Sunkissed and Stripe can make for some beautiful animals! Sunkissed is a pattern modifier as well as a brightener.
Are there any morphs to avoid? I am on the fence about scaleless because I’m unsure if this is a morph that could cause harm to the snakes. Are there any issues with any colors, like balls have with Spider?
As far as scaleless goes, I believe the only issue that occurs with them are shedding issues and needing to maintain a higher humidity. They are also a bit more delicate since they only have belly scales to protect their thin skin. Otherwise I’m not knowledgeable enough on Corn morphs to say if there are any gene issues or lethal genes.
Not many. Most morphs are pretty healthy. The morphpedia lists the issues that a few of the morphs might have, like bug eyes with palmetto.
Thankfully, there are no known lethal genes in corns. Scaleless corns are healthy, just have more delicate skin. There used to be terrible issues with kinking in Lavenders, but they have been outcrossed enough that this no longer seems to be the case with most lines. The Morphpedia gives oodles of good info. 