Things You'll Need
- Gallon-sized ice cream container
- Sphagnum moss
- Spray bottle for misting
- Incubator
- Food and homes for 9 to 15 babies
Instructions
Choosing the parents
Decide on a breeding pair during the "brumation" season (or, winter -- like hibernation for snakes). Breeders should be of age (2 years for males, 3 years for females) and in near-perfect health (no diseases, injuries, well fed). For these reasons, breeders must know their snakes well before choosing a breeding pair.
Feed the pair heavily in early spring, once they come out of hibernation. This will encourage the production of eggs in the female and will ensure that the male is ready to fertilize the eggs once spring comes.
The males will generally shed their spring skins first, usually in late March or early April. Wait for the female to shed her spring skin, then introduce the male to the female.
Leave the male in the container with the female for one day at a time, twice a week, until the female becomes visibly gravid (egg-heavy). Look for a bulge in the female's body a few inches in front of the vent, and an increase in the female's body weight.
Separate the parent snakes to their separate habitats. Continue to feed the mother snake until she begins to refuse food and starts to search for a place to lay her eggs.
Use a gallon-sized ice cream container with a hole cut into the upper side that is twice the diameter of the female snake. Invert the container inside the female's cage, and fill the bottom of the container with damp sphagnum moss. The moss should be damp, but not soaking wet.
The female snake should be ready to lay her eggs during the last two weeks of May, or in early June. During this time, do not attempt to touch female or the eggs. After laying her eggs, the female will rest for a few days to a week.; and then she will begin to resume her normal eating habits.
Once the mother has resumed normal feeding, remove the eggs and place them in the incubator. Snake eggs are naturally adhesive and can stick to one another naturally; do not turn, rotate, or attempt to separate the eggs, since you may damage the egg and the baby. If the mother appears protective of the eggs when you try to remove them, remove her to a temporary box first.
Keep the incubator at a high humidity and around 80 degrees F. Use a mist bottle or a water tray to keep the ambient humidity up, but avoid spraying water directly on the eggs, which may cause a deadly mold.
Remove any infertile eggs as you notice them. Infertile eggs tend to be yellow-tinted and smaller than the rest of the clutch.
Watch for the eggs to hatch about a month later, usually in July. Do not forcibly remove any snakes from their eggs, as they are very delicate and will emerge when ready. Lightly mist the baby snakes to keep them damp. The baby snakes will not need to be fed until after they've shed their first skins.
As soon as the babies have shed their first skins (usually two weeks after hatching), begin placing the baby snakes in their separate habitats and start feeding them newborn mice. At this point, the babies should begin to live life as normal snakes do.