Hectic Schedule!

Ok I have 50 minutes before I need to start feeding the Royals, so thought I'd squeeze in a very quick blog. As you may have gathered, I'm very busy lately - looking after 65 hatchlings, plus the other residents of the snake room really takes it's toll on my free time (free time? What?), with something needing doing pretty much every night, and usually most of the weekend too - usually feeding and / or cleaning.

On the subject of feeding: It's pretty common to get a few none feeders out of a clutch of Corns, and hatchling Royals are notoriously difficult to get feeding - well that's certainly been true here! Of the fist clutch of Corns which hatched, most of them took their first feeds without a problem, and as the weeks rolled by more and more caught up too. Except one. Stubborn little number 8. After two months (and all the other clutches had hatched and mostly fed in this time) he had still not fed of his own accord, so I was forced to take matters into my own hands, and resort to force feeding him. This was after trying just about every trick in the book with scenting and prepping pinkies, to no avail. I initially started off force feeding him bits or rat tail and chick legs, before moving up to small pinkies. The first attempt actually wasn't as dreadful as i was expecting, and he took to being force fed with no real issue, and kept it down too. Unfortunately I'm still continuing with this on a weekly basis, but it gets easier (and I think less stressful for him) on each attempt, so I'm hoping he'll strike or drop feed of his own accord any day now. The second clutch to hatch also produced 3 none feeders - this is hardly surprising and actually a lot better than I was expecting, due to the large number of hatchlings from this clutch (27) and their tiny size. The three none feeders had their first force feed this week, which again, went without any real issue. They are a lot smaller than #8, so I'm really glad I've had the opportunity to get the practice in first on a slightly larger hatchling, as I think I may have struggled here without a little prior experience. The third clutch however have been great and all feed with regularity, so no issues here.

The Royals, however, are being little buggers...typically. I shouldn't complain, as it's to be expected, and what I've come to learn is that a lot of breeders actually get their hatchlings started off on live mice - but it's not openly spoken about all that often. I'm really not comfortable with the idea of live feeding, so this will always be a last resort option for me, for if all else fails. Two are actually strike feeding reliably and are now ready for their new homes. Another one sometimes strikes, but often doesn't, so it's work in progress with him. The other 5 however, are being assist fed at the moment. It's not actually that bad, and again, gets easier with each occasion - a couple of them actually constrict my hand when they're feeding too (which is kinda cute). I'm confident they will strike feed soon, it's just a matter of patience, and trial and error in terms of prey type and size. Now that they've all had a few feeds, and can give drop feeding another go, so we'll see how the next few weeks turn out. All of the hatchlings from this clutch have been reserved, with some very anxious people looking forward to receiving their new snakes, so I'm hoping I don't have to keep them all waiting for too long - but it takes as long as it takes.

And on the subject of sales (that was handy wasn't it!): It's going pretty well! I mentioned in my last post that many people have difficulty selling Corns, and this is true - they are cheap to buy and easy to breed. Right now there are lots of people in my local(ish) area alone that are also selling hatchling Corns, so it's easy for people who are wanting to buy one, to find one. I'm quite fortunate in this respect - I make a couple of sales a week, and to very good homes too. Most of the first clutch have all been rehomed now, and a few from the other clutches too. Again, there's no rush here, and I even turn some sales away if I'm not confident in the persons experience or knowledge in keeping snakes - I'm certainly not desperate to sell them as I can house them for many months yet, so I won't just offload them to anyone who asks. If it means that they go to good homes where they'll hopefully live long and healthy lives, then once again it takes as long as it takes.

Well that pretty much wraps it up. I do have some news to share in regards to an influx of new additions a couple of weeks ago (and a hectic week in setting up homes for them), but I'll save that for another day when I have more time and some decent pictures of them. Right, must dash, feeding to do. Ciao :)

End of Season

Now that everything has hatched for this season, and the incubators are empty and switched off for the year, I thought now would be a good time to have a little catch up. This season - my first breeding season - has gone brilliantly as far as I'm concerned. The breeding process for both the Royals and the Corns has been like clockwork, despite the initial delay in confirmed locks between the Royals - eggs were laid exactly when expected, and I was able to predict with relative accuracy when each clutch would hatch. Out of a total of 65 eggs laid over 4 clutches (one from the Royals, and three lots of Corns) only one egg was lost, giving a successful hatch rate of 98.5%. The total countup for the season is;

Corn snakes;

• 6 Carolinas
• 6 Amels
• 36 Anerys
• 8 Snows

Royals;

• 6 Fires
• 2 Normals

I am obviously really pleased with the overall result, and am pleased to say that most of the hatchlings are doing well. There are one or two stubborn feeders that are proving to be difficult to get started on frozen/thawed pray, but this is really to be expected with large clutches, and the none-feeding blues is a topic I'll touch on another day. Additionally, all the mothers are doing great, are in fantastic physical condition - in fact you wouldn't even know that they'd been through the trauma of egg laying! Monty (female Royal) is back up to the weight she was before she laid and is feeding with continued aggression, and might be back in for another season next year. The Corns are preparing themselves for their annual brumation at the moment, but will be given next year off from breeding.

It's been a hectic year all in all, and a massive learning curve - plus the rush and expense of getting everything set up to accommodate such large numbers of snakes - but all in all I really have very few errors to iron out, and I don't think I'll be doing anything much differently next season, with the exception of delaying the pairings of Royals until a little later.

For now however, before the next season begins, I'm extremely busy with the results of the season gone - or more accurately, the routine of feeding, cleaning, and selling of 65 little snakes. I think it's important mention this, as it's not something that's often spoken about, and I feel many people wade into breeding without much thought as to what happens after everything has hatched. My daily chores have gone through the roof, at the expense of my free time. Looking after 65 young snakes on top of my original snake room residents keeps me very busy, with something needing doing pretty much every night - hence the lack of updates recently!! Corn snake hatchlings require cleaning and feeding twice a week, or every 4-5 days, so there is always paper to fold and waterbowls to scrub. Of course, pinkies are consumed by the 100 in a very short time - and certainly initially at least, I was paying for these out of my own pocket.

Corn snakes particularly are arguably over-bred in captivity, mostly by hobbyist breeders such as myself. Unfortunately many of these are by people woefully under prepared to house and feed large numbers of snakes, sometimes as a result of co-habiting mixed sexes, and as a result the market place is quite saturated. Often people will wade into breeding with a completely unrealistic view of making money - the reality is that many people often struggle to sell or even give their young snakes away - resulting in petshops and rescue centres bursting at the seams with them. I have been lucky in this aspect - the Royals were all reserved as soon as I had sexed them, and with the Corns I sell 2 or 3 a week, most weeks. It's certainly not a quick process - I put a lot of work not only into looking after all the little snakes, but also into listing them for sale and responding to advert enquiries - as well as vetting the people who have contacted me. I can't force people to keep snakes exactly as I keep them, and nor would I want to, but I can make the decision as to whether I want to hand over one of my animals to them, and unfortunately, sometimes the answer is no. I have sold quite a lot at this point, and I still have many to go, so I imagine I'll be looking after lots of hatchlings for quite some time yet.

It's important to remember that by choosing to breed your snakes, the results are your responsibility - to house them appropriately (separately), provide heating, feeding, and cleaning. This will all be at your own expense, both in terms of time and cost, certainly initially anyway. It will not be an overnight thing - expect to house hatchlings for many months, and don't get too carried away with illusions grandeur of making much (if anything) in the way of profit either. It's not all fun and games - these are completely dependable animals we play with.

But this makes it all worthwhile ;)