| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| austin_89 |
Posted - 29/02/2012 : 11:40:36
Hi I've got 2 young corns about 7 months old and have been told that they cant be sexed until they're about 18 months old so i was wondering if there's any differences between males and females that might give me a clue a bit earlier? We've had them for 3 weeks now and one of them has taken 3 feeds and the other refuses to eat, we were told that the reason its not eating could be because its a male and they stop eating around this time just like my royal has... At the minute we call them both girls cause they're really feminine and are too cute to be referred to as males lol  |
| 17 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| mort13 |
Posted - 05/03/2012 : 09:53:30
Aw glad she's taken her first feed for you now.  |
| n/a |
Posted - 05/03/2012 : 00:18:13
Cool congrats girl Fred or boy Sue lol - always good when they chow down on the first mouse! |
| austin_89 |
Posted - 05/03/2012 : 00:10:47
She fed yesterday, finally!! But thanks |
| mort13 |
Posted - 04/03/2012 : 23:46:52
Yep,can be probed when a little older than a hatchie. I've recently ha the first corn (my kids) probed as the kids really wanted to know what he was,thankfully he was a he as we've always referred to him as male.
Personally I think 7 months old is a bit young for a corn to stop feeding because of the breeding season,thats just my opinion though. I reckon its more of a settling in issue,I had a female corn that took nearly a month to take her first feed with me.
Good luck,I'm sure you'll get him/her feeding soon. |
| austin_89 |
Posted - 03/03/2012 : 20:44:41
I know i think id be lost without it! |
| Lotabob |
Posted - 03/03/2012 : 19:40:57
They can be probed when a bit older than a new hatchie, popped as new hatchies or you can look at the tail, its not fool proof but there are obvious differences between male and female tails. |
| n/a |
Posted - 03/03/2012 : 12:55:07
It's not stupid at all - I never knew for ages either, I mean, nobody would until they came across the info. I didn't have broadband until 2 years ago so I dutifully bought a book on corns and honestly, it's written by knowledgeable people with loads of pics but it doesn't really tell you much - like what does snake crap look like for instance (took me ages to find the first few lots in the beech chippings that came with the starter kit) and how shed skin stretches, and all sorts of things I needed to know. Thank god for forums like this eh? |
| austin_89 |
Posted - 03/03/2012 : 10:36:39
Ah as stupid as this sounds, I did not know that... Probably things I should know really! |
| n/a |
Posted - 02/03/2012 : 23:10:55
Ah they do sound too small to probe - a skin stretches as the snake emerges so the snake's not as long. And corns are so slender. Perhaps in the autumn they might be ready for probing - tantalising I realise, not knowing who they are. |
| austin_89 |
Posted - 02/03/2012 : 22:49:49
Not sure about the snow but when the butter shed we measured it and it was about 23" but they're just so small..! |
| marc_sg |
Posted - 02/03/2012 : 22:24:14
with my babies i pop them. its easy once u no how. but if u try ans pop then get some one to show u how. the smaller they are the better. also if done incorrect could make them unable to breed |
| n/a |
Posted - 29/02/2012 : 17:12:47
Very small corns are sometimes popped -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BJ1g_kv_jko
 - and fine if you're a top breeder like KL with years of experience! Not for the novice or the nervous!
I waited until Buffy, Spider and Spooky were about 2' long before probing - and they would have been under a year I reckon (sorry amendment, got mixed up!) but I didn't get any age guide for probing from their supplier. Spider tensed herself up so much that I was told that I might need to bring her back when she was bigger. I did do that with her and Spooky as they carried on so much in their first mating season that I wondered if they were both male, but they are female.
The rest of them I bought as female and with Cy I've never bothered as she's still tiny - although she has now finally eaten her first small mouse - at the age of 2!
It doesn't really matter to me as I don't plan on breeding but it is nice to know how to address your snake ...and yeah, it would be awful to find out you'd got a girl called Fred or a boy named Sue!
Hope she starts eating soon, sounds like she's interested, which is a good start. |
| Jayde |
Posted - 29/02/2012 : 16:37:47
I've never heard of them needing to be a minimum age before probing to determin sex. I bought both mine at around 12weeks (a year apart) and have had them bth sexed since just to double check to be 100% clear and the results were the same, and my female was you her than 18months when she was re-checked. It could just be. A store policy to not probed before that age, if it's a store who told you that. Breeder sex their snakes ready for sale so would 99% use a probe. |
| austin_89 |
Posted - 29/02/2012 : 16:33:01
Its well annoying cause the other day she seemed really interested in a fluff and we thought she was gonna take it but i moved and she freaked out and moved away from it! |
| jbarlow91 |
Posted - 29/02/2012 : 15:50:21
I can vouch for females fasting lol mine hasn't ate for four months |
| austin_89 |
Posted - 29/02/2012 : 13:52:58
Ok cheers Bats we'll just keep trying her, we hope she is a girl cause we don't wanna change her name! Lol do you agree with the 18 month age thing before we can get her probed? The butter eats fantastically, still no strikes... Just a gentle nibble and it's gone |
| n/a |
Posted - 29/02/2012 : 12:41:35
Hi, I have 6 female corns and a 'don't know' - that's Cy (although 'she' gets referred to as a girl too lol.)
Girls can fast (and be very inconsolable in their search for a mate) at this time of year, but I never saw this behaviour until mine were 18 months - not to say it doesn't happen before of course. Spooky's appetite was poor in her first winter with me but she's picked up since and is now a typical corn.
I'd hazard a guess and say that your young one's still settling in by the sound of it - at 7 months he/she won't starve for a while. My Cy is a poor eater (I was told this could be because of her disability) and for some reason has to have the back of the mouse's neck snipped open (although she hates them brained.)
It's pretty impossible to tell the sex of corns without probing, I'm afraid. Some people say that the length of the tail (from vent to tip) is longer in a male and I was certain Buffy was a male because of this, but on probing, no, a girl.
Hope your little one starts eating soon - and if it is a mating season fast, it doesn't last long - corns love their grub! |
