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Couple Newb questions

Brandon29

Brandon29

New member
I looked briefly in this section and couldnt find all my answers, so here it goes. Sorry if its the 4,000th repost :)

First question is re: feeding. I fed my 5 month old corn on Sunday with no problems. He ate, lay there for a bit, and went back in his hide within 10 or 15 minutes. Should I be feeding it in a separate container or its its regular enclosure ok if it eats there?

Lighting - the spot in our living room where the little guy is isnt very well lit by natural light. Should I be running a lamp the odd time, at regular intervals? or let him enjoy the dark? or move him?

Misting - apparently our house is fairly dry, and Im a bit concerned when I spray the substrate that its overly dry. On the other hand obviously I dont want everything to be soaked. I have a small unit to check temperature, but would like to upgrade and get one for temp and humidity. Should I be misting every day?

Thanks in advance all. Im sure the lady covered all this when I bought it last week, but she was talking 1000 miles a minute. :)
 
Welcome!! First off I would recommend feeding in a separate container. By feeding in its home, he/she might associate your hand with food so every time you go to take he/she out, he/she will think..feeding time and may try to tag you.

Corns are nocturnal so they enjoy the dark. With that being said, some natural light through a window across the room is a good idea. Never put a corn by the window..greenhouse effect..could kill it. As long as it isn't actually dark all of the time, you should be fine.

You didn't mention your heating...in case you don't already have it, get an UTH (under tank heater) and not overhead lighting. Corns need belly heat in about a 1/3 of the tank where its hide is located. And you will need to regulate the heat with a dimmer-you can get a simple light dimmer at Lowe's or Home Depot for about $10. If the heat isn't regulated, the mat could get in the 100 degree marks.

I wouldn't mist the substrate too much..it can mold. If the sheds are in pieces or not complete, then you can use a humid hide during the shedding time.

As far as a temp/humidity gauge, we use the indoor/outdoor type that you can get at any garden center and I bellieve even Walmart for less than $15 and it also has a min/max button on it so you can see the times of days when the heat and humidity increases and decreases. The little stick on types are usually way off..for instance, we used them when we first got our corns and found out about the dimmer on here. The stick on read 75 when it was actually closer to 85-90. And without the dimmer, it got up to 110!!

Good luck and you will find a wealth of info on here!!
 
4riscorn (I feel so bad, you've been around awhile and I can't remember your name :awcrap:) just about nailed it! The only thing I would add/change is that feeding outside the viv is really a personal preference, for both you and the snake.

I feed all of mine in their enclosures (granted, I'm feeding 60+ critters, so it doesn't make much sense, time-wise or space wise, for me to put them all in feeding bins), unless they prefer otherwise. Casanova, my Leucistic Texas Rat, needs to be put into a small separate tub in order for him to eat. As long as the prey item is really dry, there isn't too much of a chance for substrate ingestion, although if that concerns you, you can always use a paper plate or something to put the food on.

I always hand feed mine (with tongs for the bigger guys), wait until they take the mouse and coil, then sorta slide the front part of the snake onto the PVC hide tube (my 'substrate prevention'), and then put the tub back in the rack. If a snake is refusing to strike feed, and I know they are a reliable feeder, I'll just lay the mouse on the PVC and check back in 15 minutes or so. Those who aren't quite reliable and aren't strike feeding for whatever reason that day, I'll pull them out and stick them in a separate feeding container to eat. Sorry to ramble, that probably didn't make much sense, but I hope it helped a little. :)

Oh, and I've never had any of my snakes associate my hand with food. Yeah, I have a few aggressive kids that always strike when I open their bin, but they were like that from the beginning.
 
Hallie my name is Gini, but don't worry, I doubt I used it much!
We were wondering how we were going to feed ours once we reached the 25 mark and we are already at 17!! And , I agree to feed where you are most comfortable. I just would rather not take the chance on the substrate ingestion..paper plate idea not bad. You are brave to hand feed! I am still worried that I will get bit one day...Mike got bit at a pet store once....glad it wasn't me. I am still a sissy!!
 
1. I personally feed my corn outside her cage in a shoe box because I don't want her eating any aspen. Feeding in a shoebox also allows you to watch your corn eat better than if s/he were in their normal viv. And another pro is if the corn doesn't want to eat right away, all you need to do is close the lid on the shoe box (or other box, a plastic bag that's stapled shut well works too) and leave the corn alone in the dark for a few hours.

2. Most people will probably say to have a lamp going for 12 hours and have the viv be dark for 12 hours. I haven't got a strict routine like that going on in my bedroom where my corn is, but my corn doesn't seem to mind it whatsoever.

3. I squirt two mists over the 20gal viv my corn is in (one squirt on each side) twice a day; when I get up, and before I go to bed. Another good idea is to put the water dish on the warm side of the viv. The water will evaporate because it, and even if you need to refill the dish more (which you WILL need to do), it gives off humidity.
 
First question is re: feeding. I fed my 5 month old corn on Sunday with no problems. He ate, lay there for a bit, and went back in his hide within 10 or 15 minutes. Should I be feeding it in a separate container or its its regular enclosure ok if it eats there?
Click to expand...
It's about a 50:50 split on here - folks feed in the tank and in separate containers. There are pros and cons to each technique and neither is right or wrong. Just depends what works best for the snake and you. Personally, I feed in a separate tub - I like to have the chance to search the main tank for "stealth poop" and do a thorough spot-clean. Just my preference though.

Lighting - the spot in our living room where the little guy is isnt very well lit by natural light. Should I be running a lamp the odd time, at regular intervals? or let him enjoy the dark? or move him?
Click to expand...
As long as there's some natural light, then he'll be fine. Unless he's in a completely dark basement, he'll still be able to sense night/day even from indirect sunlight through glass. You don't need a lamp.

Misting - apparently our house is fairly dry, and Im a bit concerned when I spray the substrate that its overly dry. On the other hand obviously I dont want everything to be soaked. I have a small unit to check temperature, but would like to upgrade and get one for temp and humidity. Should I be misting every day?
Click to expand...
The substrate should be dry, otherwise you risk mould/fungus/scale rot. The only time at which humidity is significant, is immediately before and during a shed. You can make a humid hide and put it in the tank when he goes blue, then take it out again after he sheds.

I live in a centrally-heated flat and during the winter this must make the ambient humidity quite low. However, I rarely see a bad shed and to be honest, I can't remember the last time any of mine needed a humid hide. They mostly shed in one piece with no extra help. Wait for the first shed and see how it goes. If you don't have a problem, then trying to fix it might cause more trouble.
 
Something else I do is right after they turn clear from blue, I give them a gentle bath. So far, every one has had a full, complete in one piece shed since I starting doing this and just to be sure every piece has come off, after the shed I take a wet rag and gently wipe down the body for any small pieces that we may not be able to see. Once, we had one who had a tiny piece right on the tip of the tail that we didn't see.

And I too use the feeding time to clean out the vivs/tubs. That way when I get them out to play with them at other times, I can just do the quick check for poop which I seem to always have in Zara's tub...jeez she seems to crap 2x a day!
 
Thanks for all the info everyone, VERY helpful. Ive had pets before, but just seem to be fussing more, being my first snake. :) I dont want to annoy it, but also hope its comfotable! If it could talk Im sure it would tell me to beat it and leave me alone! haha
I think its starting the shedding process too now. Its color has gone fairly pale, almost blue-ish?
 
Brandon29 said:
Thanks for all the info everyone, VERY helpful. Ive had pets before, but just seem to be fussing more, being my first snake. :) I dont want to annoy it, but also hope its comfotable! If it could talk Im sure it would tell me to beat it and leave me alone! haha
I think its starting the shedding process too now. Its color has gone fairly pale, almost blue-ish?
Click to expand...

.... as 4riscorn just mentioned, thanks. :)
 
Hi Brandon..just in case you aren't sure what "in blue" actually means..the eyes actually turn blue--it is really cool then a few days after they turn back to their normal color, they shed...we have had a couple do it the same day! If they have red or pink eyes, sometimes it is hard to tell. From my experience, they get a duller look too. And lile you said the skin color sometimes gets duller and not as smooth too.

One thing you will learn...corn snake ownership is a great addiction..just thought I'd warn you!! :)
 
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