New to snakes. Help us be patient!

My 11 yr old DD has wanted a snake for quite a while now and when it was the *only* thing on her birthday list and she'd done research and decided a corn snake would be best to start with, we decided to go ahead with it. She's pretty responsible, but I've been doing lots of reading too and will be very involved in helping her take proper care of him.

We picked up Popcorn from a local breeder on Saturday, got the quick pic below when we first put him in his viv, and he's been under the aspen since. I can see under the tank since the stand is open and he's moved from the cool side to the warm side, but other than a tiny bit of his head that peeked out yesterday evening, we haven't seen him at all. I know we should leave him alone, but we're really anxious to make sure he's ok in there. Should we really not peek at all?

He's not a tiny baby (hatched early last July) and we have him in a 20L Critter Cage. We've got an Ultratherm UTH and Zilla thermostat keeping the warm side 84-88 on the glass. Cool side has been in the mid to low 70's. There are 3 hides, but I don't think he's even checked them out yet. We've got some plastic plants around as well. Everything seem ok with the set-up?

Looking forward to learning more about snakes and heading out on this new adventure!

Welcome! I know how hard it is to leave them be when you first get them, but it really is the best thing. I'm sure if you were to just gently peek in on him once a day it wouldn't hurt, but I'd definitely leave handling and feeding off the table for now. Give him about a week
Corn snakes also like to hide. I have noticed that once mine get older, they come out much more often when I'm in the room.

^^ agreed. I've also found with Kaa that the more decor you have the more comfortable your snake will feel moving around.

He is probably feeling a bit shy because of the size of the tank, he was probably kept in something a bit smaller.. Just be patient and give him a few more days... It's very likely that he may come out at night when everything is quiet.

Welcome to the corn world!

Have you done any reading about corns? Besides adding a little bit more ground cover, you look like you are set up well!

If you haven't, take the next week to get a couple of books on corns. Two of the best were written by members of this forum, and will get you in the know on everything corns.

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias=aps&field-keywords=corn snake kathy love

http://www.amazon.com/Corn-Snakes-C...r=8-1-spell&keywords=don+soderbeg+corn+snakes

Are you ready for feeding with the proper size mice? I am glad you got him from a breeder, they will be a lot of help too since they know your snake personally.

Here is a good guide for feeding corns, when to move up in size of prey. Most of us here use it, some think it is a little aggressive for younger corns so there is room to wait until Popcorn gains even 5g more than the chart says.

http://www.medusa-corns.webs.com/feedingchart.htm

Lastly, if you don't already have one, you need a digital food scale to weigh your corn and the prey. Almost all corn info is taken in grams, this is one I recommend.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00FJFJDGS/ref=oh_details_o04_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I keep a journal on all my corns, I weigh each before feeding, look them over for any injuries or anything out of the ordinary, then feed. I record the date, the weight, what they ate (or didn't), when they are blue, when they shed and any other things to note.

I hope this helps, and if you have any more questions don't hesitate to ask!

Thanks everyone!

I peeked in last night at about 10:00 and found him with his head peeking out of his log hide so he did come out in the dark. Looking at the bottom of the tank this morning there are tunnels everywhere so he must have been busy checking things out. Of course I can't see him anywhere now though. He must be buried not all the way to the bottom somewhere. I also need to change his water today because he also dragged a bunch of aspen into it last night, and it looks lower. Glad to know that he was active and probably drank at least. I assume that's a good sign.

DD does have the Kathy Love book on her Kindle. I've only flipped through it, but she's read most of it and told me about it (I think she skipped the breeding part...no plans for that). I've done most of my reading so far online, but I do plan to get to the book as well.

We do have pinky mice from Big Cheese in the freezer. I got a pack of small and large. I figured I would start with the smaller ones to be safe and go from there. I do also have a digital kitchen scale that I think might be accurate enough. I'll have to look at it and see. He's been fed on Mondays so far, but I'm fairly sure I shouldn't try yet today....maybe Friday or so? What time of day is best? Also, I'm still a little confused about whether or not to take him out and put him somewhere else to feed. Seems to me like that would be more stressful. I saved the deli cup he came in...should we just use that? I'm also planning to get a Sterilite box to put him when we clean his viv. Would that be better for mealtime?

Thanks again!

Hello and welcome!
Feeding inside or outside of the cage is one of those topics with fairly passionate proponents on each side, but really, it is also one of those things that doesn't matter. There isn't a right or wrong way there, just personal preference for the keeper and sometimes snakes have a preference that might need to be taken into account. I personally usually find it easier to put them in a feeding bin but a number of ours are also fed in their cage. If you feed in the cage, just be careful that the snake doesn't swallow any substrate.

I agree with Tavia, some feed in and some feed outside of the viv. I am an "in" feeder, it's just how I have always done it. Like Tavia said, if you feed inside, place the mouse on the lid of the deli cup (or in the cup) and set it in the viv. This lessens the chance of substrate sticking to the mouse. And if you do feed outside the viv you can spot clean or do a full cleaning easier. I spot clean daily and before feeding so my hand isn't in the viv while they are eating, they are more at ease and there is less chance of regurgitation.

I am a night person anyway, so I usually feed about 2 or 3am, after I get home from work. They are usually awake at this time. And yes, I would wait a few more days to feed since you just got him.

Good luck!

I feed all but three out of 50-some snakes in separate containers (and up to 100 hatchlings, during the summer!). I have several reasons. First, the snake comes out and gets weighed. I have a good idea of growth, with routine weighings. Also a baseline for breeding, snakes that stop eating, whatever.

While the snake is out I can do a thorough cleaning of the viv. I can also remove the water bowl, scrub and disinfect it, and replace it- without a helpful snake!

I also would like to prevent substrate ingestion if at all possible. I don't want one of mine to be the one in a hundred or a thousand or whatever that has a problem that could have been prevented. Sure, you can place the prey on a napkin or plate or bowl. The snake can and will also just drag it away.

And I remember the days of skimming over the breeding sections of Kathy's and Don's books. And I was glad to have them available when that info became relevant!

Nanci said:

And I remember the days of skimming over the breeding sections of Kathy's and Don's books. And I was glad to have them available when that info became relevant!

Click to expand...

I did the same thing! I never plan to breed, and I just skimmed over those sections. Maybe someday they will become useful to me!

Thanks all!

I think we will try taking him out when it's time to feed and see how that goes. DD is anxious to handle him a bit anyway. He was out prowling last night so I wonder if he's getting hungry. It was nice to finally really get to see him even if it was in the dark with the help of a red led flashlight

He has also taken to just hanging out in the tree stump hide during the day instead of staying buried so hopefully he's getting more comfortable. I had bought the last one of those that our Petco had so I went to another store today and found another one so he can have a warm one and a cool one. The other hides we have are a lot more open so I don't think he likes them as much. I also did a little tank rearranging and stuck in a couple more plants. We kind of had everything pushed to the back before so he'd have more room not realizing he actually wouldn't like that. Does it look better now?

It looks great now! He should be happy with that.

It looks great! They really do love their cover, so in a corn's life the more clutter the better!

First handling session!

He seemed to like her bracelets

He's beautiful. So is your viv, it's quite impressive.

Your viv looks great!

Thanks everyone! We think he's pretty too...I was initially quite surprised at DD's choice of color (I promise she's not a pink girly girl in the least!), but he's very striking.

As for the viv, I tend to get into these things a bit. Glad it looks good to all the experts!

Welcome. It sounds like you have a very responsible 11 years old. An animal hobby is a great thing for a kid to develop. I love to hear about kids that do so much research. Hopefully, this snake will lead your daughter into great future things.