How to Breed a Nest of Snakes

Creepy, crawly critters like snakes have been the antithesis of a "pet" to many people for hundreds of years. However, as herpetoculture (reptile enthusiasm) blossoms, snake owners have taken not only to raising snakes, but to breeding them as well. If you have recently come into possession of a nest or clutch of snakes, you may eventually decide that you want to breed them. Though difficult, breeding snakes can be done if you know enough about the snakes and their behaviors.

Things You'll Need

  • Separate cage for every snake
  • Nest box for each female
  • Incubator
  • Food and homes for baby snakes
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Instructions

    • 1

      Wait at least 3 years from the time your clutch of snake eggs hatch until you begin to breed them. Breeding age varies from species to species but three years is a generally accepted amount of time for most breeds of pet snakes. During this time, get them regular check-ups and monitor their health closely. Only very healthy snakes should be bred.

    • 2

      Feed your females a calcium rich diet (important when developing eggs) and keep all snakes in their own cages. This is important right up until breeding time, as cannibalism and territorial aggressiveness are common in snakes.

    • 3

      Introduce your snakes for the first time after their first shed post-brumation (period of hibernation/overwintering for snakes). Keep introductions to 24 hours, two to three times a week for three weeks. During this time, the snakes will breed if they are compatible. By the end of the three weeks, the female should begin to show signs of being gravid (egg-heavy). The mother's diet should remain heavy on calcium during this time. Calcium deficiency during pregnancy is virtually certain to cause death to both mother and eggs.

    • 4

      Prepare a nest box for your mother snake. This can be as simple as a margarine container, washed out with a hole cut in the side for access, filled with a few inches of moss and dirt. Keeping the temperature gradient constant during this time is important. Your mother snake's health should be of paramount importance, especially as she starts to look for a place to lay her eggs.

    • 5

      Leave the mother alone when she lays her eggs. This is very taxing on her and if she is disturbed her eggs may bind inside her and kill her. The process will take up to three days for large clutches and she will not emerge from her box or eat during this time, which can be anywhere from a month to three months after conception, depending on the species.

    • 6

      Remove the eggs to an incubator once the mother has emerged to search for food. Feed the mother lightly at first, gradually building up to large meals again as she regains her health. Temperature and humidity in the incubator should remain high, and dead or infertile eggs should be removed from the clutch as they become evident (yellowish tint, very small in size). Do not rotate, shake or separate the eggs as you move them to the incubator. Snake eggs are naturally adhesive to one another and rupturing a shell will cause the baby inside to die.

    • 7

      Move the babies to their own enclosures once they hatch, or when they are born if the snake is ovoviviparous (live-bearing). Immediately after birth, the snakes are independent and require nothing of their parents. In fact, the parents will eat left-behind snakes, so move them as soon as possible. They can immediately begin to eat small meals like pinhead crickets and the like. You may repeat the process as long as you have food and homes for all the resulting babies.