hello everyone

hello all.

First off, some very brief info about me.
I'm 18, currently living in ontario, canada.
I first got interested in snakes quite a while ago when there was someone at my school showing a few different kinds of snakes. They had a few corn snakes and I just loved them. Of course i was just a kid at the time, and my mom wouldn't let me get one... so my dream of owning a snake died.

But recently I've been thinking of getting one again (now that I can... lol) and came across this site.
I hope there's some friendly people here who can help me out a little bit. I've done some reading about corn snakes, but it seems no matter how much reading I do before starting into something... I always seem to discover something important after I dish out the money.

my basic plan is to get a glass aquarium with some sort of mesh type locking top, under tank heating mat, either that "reptile bark" stuff or aspen as bedding (prolly whatever makes my snake easier to see), some fake leaf type things to put up around for some cover, some sort of rocks/bark around... and whatever else i find out is safe and works out in there.


A few questions I had... might as well just list em

1. apparently it's not good to get snakes from chain pet stores due to lack of proper care form them (apparently or w.e) and most people seem to recommend getting your snake from a breeder. I don't know of any breeding in my area, but I'm pretty sure there's a reptile store with snakes within my range... are places like that usually a problem?

2. I want my terrarium (or w.e term is used with snakes) to look nice as well as be a place for my new buddy to live... definitely something more then corn flakes boxes and a rock, and even those plastic "rock" hides at the pet stores look like crap IMHO... what other options are there out there? could someone please post some links to some nice looking set-ups?

3. I have music playing around where I was planning on keeping my snake pretty much 24/7 with a fair amount of bass most of the time (not booming and things falling off the walls... but there's some vibrations). would this bother a snake?

4. what do I have to do to make things from outside safe for my snake? also what sort of things do they like? was thinking maybe a nice flattish rock for the warm area, maybe some type or bark/wood... anything else to watch out for here?

5. still not at all sure what morph or w.e I want... maybe you all could help me out a little with some suggestions was looking through some pictures
I like the look of the charcoal/black/anery type ones... tho they almost seem a little boring (like the normal ones).
also the albino/snows caught my eye... I like the ones with red eyes a lot.
other then that I kinda like some of the darker caramel and redish type ones.
also I was thinking of possibly breeding in the future... that in mind is there anything i should take into consideration when choosing a snake?

6. I'm fairly sure that the feeder mice should not be feed to a snake frozen... tho I haven't actually seen it said anywhere. someone want to confirm either way for me please?

7. how do you all monitor the temps in your snakes enclosures? apparently those stick on things aren't good, and I wouldn't really want to leave an electronic thermometer (or glass, or metal... all not too good sounding) sitting in with my snake. do you just use some sort of probe thermometer to measure the temps periodically and then adjust things acordingly?

8.Anyone have any good experiances with dogs and snakes together for brief periods? Should I be extra careful when my dog's around? escapes = extra bad news? lol

Well guys/gals... I think that's all for now.
If you hung on through all my questions, thank you.
if not... at least don't start flaming me :s

Thanks for any help that anyone might be able to give me, I really apreciate it

can't figure out how to edit posts... but forgot to ask.

I read your not supposed to get a large area for a snake when it's small, but would it be ok if there was a lot of stuff in there to hide amongst and/or it was divided into a smaller area until the snake grows up?

again, thanks a lot!

I can't answer all you're questions, but i will try my best.

1. There is a risk with buying snakes from pet stores, a lot of the time, they have no idea what kind of shape the snake is in, they sell sick snakes without even knowing. And they tend to have no idea what morph their snakes are, so you could buy an "amel" and find out its just a normal.. if you don't know what you're looking at. Some people have lucked out, with finding rare breeds for low prices, because the pet store didn't know, but again, you'd have to know what you're looking at. Also, don't take the advice they give you, they give out a lot of false information.

2. If you don't want to use the ceramic rock hides.. you'd probably have to make something yourself, unless you have a store nearby that does that sort of thing.. not too sure, i went with the ceramic ones.

3. The music probably isn't a good idea, they are sensitive to vibrations. It just depends on the snake. It could totally stress them out, or they could just adjust to it.. but you can't be sure.

4. For branches and things like that, I've heard it's good to bake them in your oven, to kill any parasites that could be living on it. Not sure for how long, or what temperature.

5. The morph you pick is totally up to you, if you look at the photo gallery, there are a lot of different morphs posted up all the time, there doesn't really seem to be a favorite.

6. Yes, you store your mice in the freezer. When it is time for feeding, you have to thaw out the mouse. You can leave it to thaw, but it is quicker to put the mouse in a sealed baggy, and just place it in warm/hot-ish water.

7. To monitor the temps, it is easiest to buy a thermostat. You can set the thermostat to whatever temperature you'd like to maintain. It is also best to use a probe thermometer. Just set up the probe on the heat mat, plug the heat mat into the thermostat, and the thermostat will turn your heat mat on and off periodically to keep the temperature right.

8. Snakes seem to have no issues with dogs, however your dog may be the one who causes the problems, if he is too curious and doesn't give it some space. But your snake will never just go after your dog for no reason.

9. Yes, if you have a big tank, and a small snake. You should give the snake plenty of hides so that it does not feel like its out in the open. At this age, they are very defensive because they are so small, and in the wild, would have lots of predators seeking them out. When they get older, they are a bit higher up in the food chain and are more comfortable in defending themselves. This is why the young ones are so squeamish, and the older ones are much more relaxed.


Hope this helped!!

thanks for your input lisaward

I knew some of the risks in buying from a large pet chain (tho didn't think they ever had anything that interesting), but are stores more specialized with reptiles usually better to deal with? (i've seen a few independant ones here and there)

I figured any problems with other animals and snakes would most likely be with the other animals, i guess it's an individual thing?

also I just spent a fair amount of money not too long ago on a nice sound system and would really hate not to be able to use it, tho I would hate to put a snake in a horrible situation because of that. anyone with some further info, please don't stay silent
could always turn the bass down if i had too.


once again, thanks

If you buy from a store that is more specialized, you can be more sure that you won't have any surprises when you come home. ie. your snake is on it's death bed, and you've had it for a day.. However, there is no hope for getting a killer deal on a more expensive morph, its not that common anyways.

It's not really an individual thing, the snakes health is a direct result from how they are caring for it. But it is true, some snakes do have weird little illness' that are completely unique to them. Sometimes you can't help it.

I'm sure your sound system is fine, if you find a place for your snake that is in a different room, and as far away as possible. But I think having it in the same room is unacceptable. They are quite sensitive to that sort of thing. & if you have friends over, you will more than likely have the volume turned up high, so more reason to try and keep the two seperated.

Hello there and Welcome. There are plenty of people like myself who are friendly and helpful.

1. The reason why we don't encourage getting snakes from the "large" chain like pet stores is because they usually don't know where the snakes came from, what genetics it might have (helpful if you ever want to breed them) and they don't usually give them adequate food and care. Smaller privatly owned pet stores take better care of their snakes and generally know the breeder of the snakes and know how to feed and care for them. It's just a way to ensure a healthy snake. Plenty of people on here have purchased snakes from Petco, Petsmart and they are doing just fine. So its really up to you.

2.It's good you want to make a nice set up. When you only have one it's easy to do. Some of mine have recycled boxes and toilet paper roll hides with fake plants and water bowls that came from the dollar tree. Keep in mind I have 9 snakes, and while quality is nice, the snakes don't really care what they hide in or what the water is in. Here is a link to some pics of a few of my friends vivariums she has for her snakes.
http://www.cornsnakes.com/forums/showthread.php?t=97066

3. The snake might get used to it. But I would try to keep the bass vibrations to a minimum. It could stress the snake out and stress can cause bad sheds and regurgitation of meals.

4. I'm pretty sure people bake things they bring in from outside. On a low temperature in the oven for a short amount of time. I have never done it. Also about the rock on the warm side. Corns don't bask on rocks like some reptiles, they don't need a heat lamp for that reason also. If you want to put it in there then go ahead. My snake loves the vine I put in her viv she climbs on it every day.

5. When your first starting out, I recommend getting the morphs that you like the best. I personally love Motley patterned corns (check out my pic album on my profile pg. scrool down right side) I get the snakes I like the colors and patterns of, then consider what a good partner would be for them.

6. We purchase the mice frozen so we can store them in large quantities. Then thaw them out for the snakes to eat. Freezing also kills harmful bacteria that may be present in the mice post mortum. I put my mice in a plastic baggie then fill a container with warm water and put the baggie in the water to thaw the mice, that way they don't get all water logged.

7. I'm going to let someone else answer this one. My snakes have UTH's and I generally keep the room they are in above 70 degrees and they do just fine. As I said before when you have one or a few snakes it's easier to accurately monitor temps with fancy gauges, but the more you get the more expensive it gets.

8. A dog should be okay. I would be more concerned if there was a cat in the house. Especially if a snake escapes. Lesson being don't let them escape lol.

Your second inquiry about having a large tank to start out with. It should be fine if there are plenty of hiding areas for the snakes to hide in that are spread out in the tank and the temperature is warm enough.

Also I highly recommend the following books especially if you are thinking about breeding in the future.

*"Corn Snakes A Comprehensive Owners Guide" By Kathy and Billy Love it is full of information about where the different morphs originated from as well as breeding and basic care information.
And the
*"Corn Snake Morph Guide" 2010 By Charles Pritzel

I own both these books and love them. I consult them frequently and they are very helpful to have as reference. Glad you got a lot of questions out there for starters. Please keep us posted on what you decide to get

Hello and welcome to CS.com. Well you came to the right place for your questions. I'm not going to try and answer all your question as I am no expert, I still use the site to learn from. Use the search option at the top of the page for finding info, there is tons of it. Like Rene said books are also a great place to start. As for your choice of what morph, thats totally up to you, as you can see most of us have many because we couldn't decide on just one. Good luck with your new addiction.

I'm still somewhat of a newb myself, but I'll try to answer some of these too.

1. Honestly, it's way hit and miss! You can find someone who really knows their stuff at a large chain (but they might not have the "product" you're looking for, ie. a certain morph). A store that specializes in reptiles is probably a better bet, but not necessarily. Probably the best thing is to go in and talk to some people in the stores in your area and see which ones seem to know their stuff. There are also some shows in Ontario you could go to to find breeders.

3. Just an opinion, but I wouldn't think it would be a good idea to have the snake too close to the stereo. As others have said...snakes are very sensitive to vibrations.

4. You can bake wood at 150 for a couple hours. Someone said not to bake rocks, but I'm not sure why. If it's not a porous-type rock, you could probably bleach and rinse well or even freeze it. Guess you could freeze wood too. I've also heard of nuking stuff, but I think you have to soak wood in water first or there's a danger of it catching fire!

5. Yeah, that's totally up to you! Check the photos section and I also find this site helpful: http://iansvivarium.com/cornsnakemorphs.php

7. Others have mentioned the thermostat thing and that's a good option. Another option is to get a lamp dimmer (under $15 at CT or Home Depot) and use it to control the temp of the UTH. A probe thermometer is good. You can keep it in there or just have the probe part in there and the readout part outside the cage. This option requires more fiddling because you have to watch the temps and move the dimmer switch if the temp changes, but it's cheaper.

8. I have small dogs and they dance around like I have a treat when they notice I have the snake. I've never tried letting them close... Probably depends on the dog and his level of prey drive. What kind of dog do you have? My cats love to sit beside the tank and watch the snake (as well as my beardies).

Small snakes and big tanks: I think the issue is him being able to find his warm spot and water. I'm not sure how you'd divide it effectively, but that might be a good idea. Just be aware that snakes are extremely good at either escaping or squishing themselves behind or over dividers. Are you familiar with the Exo-Terra vivs? They have a styrofoam backing made to look like rock in them and my snake loves to squish himself behind it. They also have tiny holes at the top near the mesh meant for threading cords through for heaters or whatever. When mine was a hatchling he escaped out one of those holes! Big hides would also not be comfortable for him, so make sure they are tiny if he's tiny. In regard to your question about cereal box hides, you might want to consider using found stuff like that when he's small instead of having to buy tiny ones now and then bigger as he grows.

P.S. You can't edit posts, but I think you get that ability if you donate to the site.

Sweetseraph said:

4. You can bake wood at 150 for a couple hours. Someone said not to bake rocks, but I'm not sure why. If it's not a porous-type rock, you could probably bleach and rinse well or even freeze it. Guess you could freeze wood too. I've also heard of nuking stuff, but I think you have to soak wood in water first or there's a danger of it catching fire!

Click to expand...

I asked about safeguarding outside decor as well - Nanci told me that rocks can explode when you heat them! There's another threat on here where someone built hides out of popsicle sticks - very cool!

Thread, not threat! LOL

I'd say exploding rocks are a threat! LOL

first off I want to thank you all for your replys!
great stuff.
I'm gonna have to figure something out for my sound system... prolly turning the bass down (no one else in the house likes it much anyways ) since theres other people around who are very afraid of snakes... so its pretty much gotta be in my bedroom :/

If i remember correctly when i was asking around, one of the chain type pet stores near me doesn't carry snakes, but can order them in for people (from some breeder i would imagine) which sounds like a possibly good way to go... tho I would imagine the choices is a little slimmer.

There's some highway work going on not too far from me, maybe i'll take a little walk sometime and see if i can find a good rock from the blasting (hopefuly one of the ones they drilled a hole in, even better if its split in half down the hole )

anyways, I'll be sure to post some nice pics when i get my snake

also about the rocks...
I doubt they would explode.
only way I could see that happening is if there was an air pocket in it or something...

I know you can boil rocks safely tho (anyone ever made rock soup? lol), so that's always an option

Hi James! It is great you found this site before getting a snake... it can save you alot of headache! I never had internet and had to read alot of books over the last 3 years - lol.

I would suggest going to a reptile expo to purchase your snake. There will be alot of different breeders and more animals to pick from then most stores. Another option to to find a breeder in your area. I am not sure what part of Ontario you are from but you can try talking with HanneysCorn. I picked up one of their hatchlings in 2007 (stripe het snow) and am very happy with that snake!

I would love to go to an expo to get my snake, but unfortunatly that isn't an option atm
I live about 4 hours north of Toronto, near Huntsville (if anyone knows where that is ).
If anyone knows any breeders in the area, that could be an option.
I just looked at hanneyscorn website and it doesn't look like it's been updated since about 2006-2007... so that doesn't look that good.

Im pretty sure I'm going to get my snake from a reptile place a couple hours from here.
here's their website if anyone's interested: http://www.thereptilewrangler.com/Animals.htm
I remember them being there for a while now, so hopefully that's a good sign.

Hello & welcome! I think most of your questions got answered, but here's a link to a thread that tells most of the ways to disinfect things. http://www.pangeareptile.com/forums/showthread.php?t=27341&highlight=alcohol
(it is to a different forum, sorry I didn't want to take the time to cut & paste it)
Hope that helps! Good luck finding your new addition, they are wonderful pets!

Just one quick comment on the website you linked to, kingjames. I know very little about the different morphs, but I do know that creamsicles are not just a cornsnake. They are a cross between corns and greater plains rat snake (?), so just the fact that they have creamsicles listed under cornsnake and not saying it's a cross....

Not that this might not be a good place to get a snake, but make sure to ask questions.

Sweetseraph said:

Just one quick comment on the website you linked to, kingjames. I know very little about the different morphs, but I do know that creamsicles are not just a cornsnake. They are a cross between corns and greater plains rat snake (?), so just the fact that they have creamsicles listed under cornsnake and not saying it's a cross....

Not that this might not be a good place to get a snake, but make sure to ask questions.

Click to expand...

mmm...
well I went there today (as well as a couple other places) and they seemed to be the best overall, tho the guy I talked to still had a couple opinions that people on here would say are totally wrong...
for example, he said you could house 2 snakes together as long as you don't feed them together and that a thermostat was useless... but nothing totally retarded. and they were the only place I went to that actually had aspen bedding... lol

I looked at a couple petvalus and one had a couple random baby snakes for like $140... then went to the reptile place.
unfortunately they only had 2 labeled as "albinos" for about $90 each and a "creamsickle" for about $100 (which looked almost exactly the same as the albinos, but apparently gets more color when it gets older)
So... I decided to get the lighter albino they had, which has a very nice pattern goin on IMO.

also got a starter kit they were selling (enclosure, UTH, water bowl, a piece of wood, a hide, a small plant, and enough substrate to cover the bottom) and a couple more hides and plants so my new little buddy has more places to hide. also a couple months worth of pinkies ofc

well I think that's about all there is to say... I'll start another thread in the pictures forum with some pics I just took, and post a link here when I do
thanks a ton for everyone's help

looking at some morph pics now... I think their "albinos" were amels and the "creamsicle" (which looked nothing like the pic I'm lookin at) is prolly some amel cross that, like i said, looked almost the same. (aparently it was breed in the store)

Albino and amel mean the same thing. Sometimes also called red albino.