True Love

Prince turned out to be an absolutely gorgeous "Okeetee" corn snake. They are named after the area in South Carolina that they come from. They are known for their beautiful red, orange and black coloration. I took this pic and Morgan edited it for me. He is quite a model. 

I had read up on breeding corn snakes, and gotten advice from a few people, but I was still amazed at how smooth everything went. I put them together every 3-4 days for about a month, and they mated several times.

I started studying Bill and Kathy Love's book on corn snakes to prepare for the anticipated egg-laying. I calculated dates and decided that the eggs could be laid anytime after May 27. I read that you can feel bumps in the female's belly if she is gravid (egg-bearing) and began checking Checker for any hint of bumpiness. Again and again I failed to detect bumps, and when Mark came over to deliver my new albino corn snake (yay!!), I asked him what he thought. He agreed that she didn't seem to have any. Well, there was still plenty of time.

When I adopted Blanco, I didn't have a tank for him right away, so I had to leave Checker and Prince together for about a week, so that Blanco could be in his own tank in case of any problems. I already knew that Checker and Prince got along, so I felt that was the best arrangement. But when Blanco got his own tank and I separated Checker and Prince, Checker began moving all over her tank frantically. I decided this was a sign either of: (a) Checker missing her Prince, or (b) Checker looking for a place to lay her eggs. I knew that reptiles don't really develop bonds for each other, so I decided it was time to buy a nesting box. I found a box about 11x16x6 inches and cut an appropriately sized hole in the top. Unfortunately, I was having trouble finding spaghnum moss with no fertilizer added, but I still had plenty of time, so I just put some shredded aspen in the box to see if Checker would even go into the box.

I placed the nesting box in Checker's tank and took the opportunity to check Checker for any signs of eggs. She was definitely not as big as she had been last year just before she laid eggs, and I was feeling disappointed. She went into the box readily though, but didn't stay inside. She moved in and out a few times, and I checked on her several times every day. I gave Mark an update on the situation, to see what he thought, and he suggested that she might not even be gravid : (

I knew that I would be going to Arlington on May 21 for the DFW Herp meeting, so I made plans to look for spaghnum moss while I was up there. I still had a week to get ready. 
Then on May 18, I had to stay late at work, and didn't get home until 7:30. I looked in on Checker as usual, and saw that she had presented me with a huge clutch! I immediately sent a pic to Mark, Trisha and Morgan, then called Mark to see if he would come help me, since she hadn't used her nesting box AND I didn't have the spaghnum moss needed to keep the eggs moist. He didn't have spaghnum moss either, but brought some coconut husk which he thought would be good enough until we could find something better.  He brought his 2 daughters over, and we all watched, fascinated, while he candled the eggs.

They were definitely fertile! Poor Checker looked like a skeleton, and I was worried about her, but Mark assured me that she would be okay. He showed me how to pack the eggs in moist husk and told me to keep them around 80 degrees, which should be easy, since my air conditioner is on the fritz. He estimated about 30 eggs in the clutch - whoopee!!

Now comes the hard part - waiting 60 or so days for the hatching. We should  have some results sometime around July 18. I took Prince back to Trisha at our May meeting and regretfully said goodbye to him. I sure hope some of his babies look like him.

Mark brought me some vermiculite - another nesting material that many corn breeders use, and we transferred the eggs to the new material.