• Hello!

    Either you have not registered on this site yet, or you are registered but have not logged in. In either case, you will not be able to use the full functionality of this site until you have registered, and then logged in after your registration has been approved.

    Registration is FREE, so please register so you can participate instead of remaining a lurker....

    Please be certain that the location field is correctly filled out when you register. All registrations that appear to be bogus will be rejected. Which means that if your location field does NOT match the actual location of your registration IP address, then your registration will be rejected.

    Sorry about the strictness of this requirement, but it is necessary to block spammers and scammers at the door as much as possible.

1st Corn Snake

A

Andry

New member
We finally gave in to buying my daughter a snake. She's been wanting one and she loves the orange corn snake. Not sure what kind it is yet, maybe someone here can tell me. I had thought of researching first then buying possibly at the repticon in town at the end of the month. But we were at a flea market on Saturday and there were some reptiles and she saw the one (color corn snake) she wanted and he was a baby so my mom bought it for her for her birthday.

So, here I am researching every possible detail as quickly as I can. I know it ate on Wed. a day old pinky, according to the lady selling and she said to feed it once a week. I don't know why, I feel like such an idiot for not asking, but I did not ask how old it was. I know it was obviously a baby, but how many weeks months? I will hopefully see the lady in a month where I will ask her more questions. I'm sure she'll have her stand once again. For now, I measured it and it's 10 inches long.

I have my concerns with this snake. It seems to be weak and not very responsive as I thought it would be. It tends to just stay wherever I leave it or else moves slowly and curls up on top of the rock and stays there. No exploring so far. I only have little experience with frogs, but none with snakes. I don't even have and never have had a friend with snakes. So, zip, nada.

I've learned from reading on this forum and some care sheets:
- I know I should feed as early as every 4 days if weak, and it certainly looks weak to me compared to some corns I went to visit at the pet store after buying this one. So, I am buying a pinky tomorrow on the 5th day since it ate last and trying to feed it. I think I've read I need to feed him in a separate container like the butter containers?
- habitat - I know to keep it in a small container the first few days until it is acclimated. It's in a plastic sterilite container with fiber glass mesh in a cut out square on top glued with glue gun. I bought today some mammel aspen bedding because I got a bigger bag for cheaper and I read somewhere it was okay to get the one for mammels. I have a hide rock (kinda big maybe for it's size) on one end and a toilet paper tube on the other end. I have a rock type water bowl with dechlorinated water (actually the water in it right now is well water from my dad's farm). I have a UTH but I have not yet added it because I do not have a dimmer which I read I need to lower the temp of the heater. I have two digital thermometers in the tank one on each end. One reads 77 and the other 73, not sure why the difference so I switched the therm's to see if it is just that they read differently and not very accurate. I plan on moving the snake to a 10 gallon that I already have and then next year (or possibly sooner if I find a used cheap one) getting a 20 gallon at the Petco sale.

Here are some pictures. I was concerned with two things. It having some irregular shape to its body. Like some flattened parts and some skin overlapping. Not sure if this is normal. I also noticed some dark spots under it and the lady said it was because he had just eaten two days ago and the mice was still digesting. There are a couple of darks spots on the belly part. I did not get a picture of this. He tends to not grip on to my hand strongly and slides off kind of easily. That is why I think it is weak.

Should I bring him into my bedroom to see if he's active at night or leave him be in my kitchen?

We named him Bamboo.

Any advice would be grateful. Thank you!

931553989_XKzT5-M.jpg

931554463_DkEdE-M.jpg

931554765_5MUqk-M.jpg

931555597_GErAX-M.jpg

931555903_pZcVV-M.jpg
 
He's either an amel or a reverse okeetee, and he doesn't look very healthy at all... The way his skin is isn't normal. The first thing I think of is dehydration, but I'm by no means standing by that. I'm sure someone will come along with better info soon. Good luck.
 
Thank you, I didn't think he looked normal either. I hope someone can tell me what to do. I'm thinking if he lives until next month, taking him back to that flea market person who sold it to me and ask for a refund or for another one. I doubt I'll get either, but I could try. They set up only once a month and I didn't get her number.
 
I'm not sure what that skin indicates; dehydration, bad shed or a deformity?

It's not a good indication if he just stays where you put him and doesn't attempt to hide. It's completely normal not to explore; he's very, very stressed out right now. The best thing you can do is leave him completely alone as much as possible, including putting his container somewhere dark and quiet. If the seller specifically said he was eating a "day old pinkie", that probably means he's very young and that could possibly have been his first meal, since you would normally feed a hatchling a day old pinkie for his first meal. They should be fed every 5 days at that age, but you shouldn't really feed them until you've had them for at least 5 days, but you could go with 4 days and feed him Wednesday. If you feed him when he's highly stressed, he might regurge (throw up) his food and that's a whole other set of problems.

Good luck with this little guy.
 
It's good that you're researching care for the new snake. I have to say, that baby looks very unhealthy apart from the skin issues. Its spine is visible and its neck is tiny compared to its head. It looks generally emaciated. Although babies often hide a lot and may not be seen much when they're tiny, your description of poor muscle tone and sluggish movement sound like a very sick animal. To be brutally frank, you should prepare your daughter for the possibility that her new pet may not live.

I personally would not purchase/trade for another animal from the same dealer. A baby in this condition should not have been put through the stress of going to the flea market followed by rehoming. It's bad practice to handle them (other than gently moving them, say from feeding bin to viv) within 48 hours of feeding. A responsible breeder wouldn't feed a baby one day and haul it off to sell the next day.

To give this baby its best chance you'd need to see an experienced reptile vet. It's very unusual to see this combination of symptoms in one so small. Whatever happen, I hope you'll stay with the hobby. Corns are normally healthy, beautiful, gentle, easy to care for, and a real pleasure to have around. You're getting a tough introduction to corn keeping and I'm sorry. Please keep us updated.
 
I'm not an expert, but the little baby corn looks just like my first snake, Pineapple, a little while before he died. He had stopped eating for several weeks and his spine started showing, and his skin got wrinkly/folded. He became very weak... when I picked him up he would barely respond, acting like a noodle.

I realize you just got this corn, and I think it was really irresponsible/ignorant for the lady to sell you a baby in that state. I agree that you should not get another snake from that lady. In my case, Pineapple had been not eating for several weeks (4+ weeks) before he looked that emaciated.

Also, to me, the little lump in his back (in the last 2 pictures) looks more like a kink, which is a physical deformity, rather then a sign of recently having eaten. I'm pretty sure snakes with kinks can live to be big and healthy if the kink doesn't impact their ability to eat and digest.

I'm pretty sure the type of morph/color of you corn snake is amelanistic. It's normal in lighter corns to see dark spots under the belly, they could be organs or digesting food. This worried me at first also!

Like Caryl said, I wish you the best for this baby snake, but if the worst should happen I really hope you will give corn snakes another chance. They are really wonderful, beautiful pets.
 
I told her when we first took it home that the snake looked way too tiny and not in too good shape. I did warn her right away that I hope it made it okay. I kept repeating that I just hoped it didn't die. I am happy that it did start to hide a little more after putting him back in it's enclosure. I took him out briefly and put him back in and he went under the rock. Then when I went to take the pictures and put him back in he again went under the rock. This looks better to rather than just staying in the spot where I put him.

I also, after seeing the deformities, told my daughter, you see, you should have waitied for the repticon. I told you to wait. But another factor was that her dad had agreed to her having it so I think we all jumped for the opportunity to even have one. :-(

Now I'm not sure whether we should give it a chance or if I can try to rrehome it to someone willing to try and get it in healthier shape. I do not want a sick snake for my daughter's first experience owning one. That would not be great.

I know it's not the best practice to buy from petsmart, so I won't get the one that I saw there that was just beautiful. But the guy who showed them to me really looked like he knew what he was talking about. He explained that the bottom part of the Fancy Corn snake was all white and that that was rare. He showed me how the regular's had a pattern on their bellies. I loved the fancy corn snake and I know my daughter would too. They were more juvenile, strong and healthy looking. The little guy rattled his tail at me. He was on sale for $48 from like $65. The guy offered for me to bring our snake in for him to see it. I might do that today when I go buy the pinky.

Sweetseraph: You mentioned feeding it 5 days after I get it home. So, should I wait? Today is 5 days from when he ate last. I should wait until Wed, 4 days from when I got him and 8 days from when he last ate?

Thanks to everyone for all your help.
 
Does your snake know where it's water bowl is? Make sure and show it, by slightly dunking his head... it looks seriously dehydrated and has probably never eaten... some baby corns just don't make it. The lady probably lied about it having eaten on wednesday. Be prepared for it die. :(

If it will eat, feed it, but I bet it won't eat.


Petco: Rare, white bellied corn snake! Those petco guys are generally idiots, but they can smell someone who is new to snakes...
 
Looking at the photos some more... he looks seriously injured or deformed. You got taken by the flea market lady.
 
Yes, my thoughts were that he was injured and we sure did get taken. I don't know how to tell my mom, she was so nice to buy it for her for her birthday. :-(

So, what should I do. I really wish I didn't have to watch it die. Should I try to rehome it and warn people in my ad about it's status? Maybe someone else can give him his last chance at surviving. I don't want to be the one. Or should I get my dad to put it out of its misery? My dad kills snakes all the time on his cattle ranch. Not sure why he kills them, but he does.
 
And for his water bowl. I tried to introduce it to him by putting his tail end in, but he hasn't seemed to touch it.
 
Poor little guy... he's obviously so ill, and visibly deformed. Looking at him, I wouldn't give him much chance at survival, but who knows? I'm certainly no expert by any means, having got my first snake only a few months ago! Who knows, maybe you'll both get lucky and he'll survive--but I doubt it :-(.

I'd give him every fighting chance, though, rather than ask your dad to kill it. Even if it's going to die, who would want a creature's last moments to be the smack of a shovel or whatever, followed by decapitation?

If you don't mind a suggestion--if the baby dies, you may want to consider purchasing from one of the very nice and knowledgeable breeders on this forum. I believe there are some in Texas, which could mean you would be able to pick a new pet up in person (yeah, I know--Texas is BIG, and I don't know anything about who lives where in relation to you). Maybe a slightly older young one. I think that many of the breeders would be able to provide you with a healthy, relatively inexpensive amelanistic snake like your current tiny little guy. Certainly, they would be happy to assist you in making a good choice, and giving you all the information and answering any question you might have about keeping a new pet snake.

Good luck to you all and that baby. If he doesn't make it, I'd blame the lady who sold it to you--she was irresponsible in selling it to you without fully disclosing its condition, or giving you any good advice. Sounds to me as if she just didn't care about anything but making a buck off of that baby before it dies....
 
:( I'm really sorry for your predicament. I got a petsmart snake about 2 months ago and I agree that you would be better off getting one from a breeder. While my snake is fine now, he did take 6 weeks before he would eat for me which was really scary.

If you do end up getting one from a petstore ask their return policy. I know the petsmart I got mine from was 14 day back guarantee no questions asked. My idea was to bring him back if he didn't eat w/i those 14 days but ofc I got attached. :p
 
Welcome to the forum and the addiction.

It does sound and look like the lady who sold you your snake either did not know what she was doing, or just blatantly sold you a sick animal. You may get lucky and with some good care, it might make it - but I wouldn't get my hopes up.

As for the "extremely rare white belly" at the petstore.... white bellies are not extremely rare. It is usually indicative of the snake either having a motley or stripe pattern or being a bloodred/diffused morph. All of which are quite common actually.

You would be much better off buying a snake from a reputable breeder.
Good luck!!
 
Okay everyone, I got lucky and a lady came all the way across town to pick up the little snake to care for it. She said she was willing to take it to the vet and that she rescues other animals. So, she took it away and told me she would keep in touch to let me know how he does. So, now that that had a happy ending. My daughter was very sad.

So I did take her to see the snake I saw at Petsmart and I just loved the pattern and she as well fell in love with it. So we bought it. We have never bought from petsmart and didn't wish too but we wanted him replaced immediately before my husband changed his mind. He is okay with it after telling him the whole ordeal.

This snake is just beautiful! It was labeled Captive Bred. It is approx 8 months old according to the attendant. Because he says they received them in December 09 and they get them approx a months old. He said it ate last Tuesday, so I bought pinkies and the guy said he thought it should eat today or tomorrow. Should I still wait 4 days after bringing it home?

I will take pictures but not until we absolutely have to handle him to move him to his enclosure.

I have set up a 10 gallon tank and put the UTH and I bought the dimmer and the thermometer with probe and stuck the piece to the center of where the mat is. I'm trying to get the temp right before we move the snake. I also brought a branch in from outside and washed it with 10% bleach and have baked it. So, I think it's ready to go in after I take off a sharp point. I also have a water bowl and two hides one on the warm side and one on the cool side. I will take pictures of it as well so you all can tell me if everything is right for it.

Will be back with all the pics. Thank you all for your kind support and all the great info you provided. I hate that we had such an experience with our first snake, but at least it didn't die on us. I wish it well. And I hope we have a good experience with this snake.
 
When do snakes reach their full adult size? I was surprised to hear the snake we got was only approx 8 months old because it still seemed so small. But I was envisioning they get full length at a year, I must be very wrong.
 
Andry said:
When do snakes reach their full adult size? I was surprised to hear the snake we got was only approx 8 months old because it still seemed so small. But I was envisioning they get full length at a year, I must be very wrong.
Click to expand...

Someone can correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe snakes grow throughout their lives, so there is no "full adult" size.
 
I think most corns reach their maximum size at around 3 years, but it varies between snakes. I'm glad you found someone to take care of him, but sorry that your first try at corns started out so bad. I myself have a Petco corn snake, and while most don't really agree with pet store snakes, I think as long as the snake is healthy and eats well than it shouldn't be too bad.
 
kyyyle said:
Someone can correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe snakes grow throughout their lives, so there is no "full adult" size.
Click to expand...

I think they do keep growing, but they stop... REALLY growing at around 3 years. Do you get me? Once again, this is I an I think. I say this because that's the most accepted age when they start getting bred, so they must be at about the right size then.
 
I'm glad you found someone with experience to take your first baby.

On to the new:
Buying from Petsmart isn't usually financially the best thing to do, but if your family really liked the particular snake and its genetics aren't important to you it isn't necessarily bad, either. My first corn is a Petsmart snake and he's never been anything but healthy. A quick replacement isn't necessarily a bad thing, especially where a child is concerned.

You asked about size. Growth rate in snakes is dependent more on food supply than on age. Individual genetics also plays a role. For example, I have several yearlings. If I were to put the largest, the smallest, and a middle-sized one in the same picture you might be shocked that they're all very close to the same age. The smallest one was a nonfeeder I took in from someone, the largest is apparently genetically programmed for really fast growth, and the middle sized one is, well, average - though I don't really like that word. Most corns on a normal feeding regime reach adult proportions in about 3 years. Snakes have what's called indeterminate growth, meaning that they continue to grow throughout their lives. The growth rate does slow after they reach a length of 3 feet or thereabouts.

As for feeding schedules, please wait before feeding your new baby. A healthy snake can go weeks without food, even a very small one. Give it a minimum of 3 days to settle in its new home with no food and - here's the really hard part - no handling. Corns are territorial; feeling secure in its home is the most important part of showing a good feeding response, comfortable handling, low stress, and good health. With care and luck this snake can be part of your family for years. I know it's hard, especially for children, but "hands off" for at least 3 days is the best thing you can do for your new baby. A first feeding after 3 days ought to be fine, since this one isn't a new hatchling.

It sounds like you're cleaning everything well. We look forward to seeing pictures of the new baby once it's settled in. I'm glad for you and your daughter that a snake is going to be part of your household. It sounds corny, but I really don't know what I'd do if I didn't have them. I've always had many assorted animals, and only had corns since Feb. '08 - but there's really something special about them. There's LOTS of great info here and lots of great people to interact with.

Best of luck with the new baby!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top