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drinking???

B

benjim

New member
Hi, I'm new to cornsnakes and already have a concern. I've had my snake for 10 days, he is 9 weeks old and eating great (3X already). My concern is hydration. I've never seen him drink (water's in a dog bowl). Once I saw him rub his snout on the tank when I misted and tonight I think he was licking the wet paper toweling, so he must be thirsty? The breeder suggested lowering him into the tank over the water so he knows where it is, and I did. Any other tips? I'm worried because he has calmed down extremely fast for a new baby and I know dehydration will slow them down. Would he be dead by now if he wasn't drinking/can he survive on the misting? I spray the tank twice a day.
Oh, and while I'm ranting, at what age can I expect his first shed?
I thank you all in advance for your help.
 
I've seen my corn drink once in 7 months. Unless you've got a baby corn in a 100gal tank I wouldn't worry at all about it finding water. Unless you're staring at his enclosure all the time , you really won't see him drink often.

You can expect him to shed within 3 weeks.
 
I honestly cant help you with the shedding due to the fact that im still waiting for my 3 month old to shed lol. But with the water bowl i use a doggy bowl but i have aspen a few inches to were the doggy bowl were its tall and wide maybe 4 inches by 10 inches and i have the aspen to the point on the doggy bowl were its only about a centimeter or about 1/2 centimeter. Occasionally i lower her in i have her above the water bowl but other than that your snake is probably drinking at night.
 
I think your baby is fine. You do not notice snakes let alone babies drinking that often. I do put my snake down with their head right over the water dish when I put them back in their tanks that way it kind of works as a reminder. Sometimes they drink and sometimes they don't. If you are misting the tank daily then yes your hatchling would be able to live off of this water.

As far as his shedding. He is only going to shed as fast as he is growing. I usually see my babies shed anywhere from 4 to 6 weeks. So it is hard to say when you will see the next shed but if you know when the breeder saw the last shed then that will give you and idea of when you should start looking for it.
 
Ok I've see my snake drink once a week, but I'm sure he drinks more then that and I just never see it. Every time I feed him I put him right in front of his water bowl and he starts gulping it down like he's never drank before. When my little one was a hatchling until now (16 months) he sheds every month. When he goes in to shed most likely he'll go in to hiding more, reject feeding, and then he'll go in to a blue phase (color will fade & eyes will turn milky/opaque). After a couple days of the blue phase he'll go back to normal color and then a couple days after that they will shed. Don't worry I'm sure your snake is drinking and your just missing it!! I would take the advice from Sacr3d blood and make sure your snake can get to it easier. Good luck!!!
 
He'll probably drink when you don't see it, no worries.
Snakes that age shed onces every 2 months give or take, some shed once a month on that age some every 3 months.

benjim said:
I've had my snake for 10 days, he is 9 weeks old and eating great (3X already).
Click to expand...

Wait, do you feed him very 3 days? Or am i misunderstanding something here? I think the recommended feeding schedule is once every 5-7 days. If you have a way to weigh the snake you can follow the munson plan, can't give you a link but you'll probably find it by the search function on tis forum.
 
I wouldn't be too concerned, I got my corn in september and I saw him drink for the first time this week lol, its actually pretty interesting; I didn't think it would look so... normal?
 
Drinking???

Thanks for all the replies, I'm probably worrying over nothing. I'm relieved that they can survive on misting because tonight I lowered him in over the water bowl and he fought his way away from it, but then ran along the tank walls licking at the drops from the misting. Besides a thick cover of aspen around the bowl, I also have sticks and a climbable hide next to the bowl. This is a snake that I found crawling along the crevice between the screen and the top of the tank LOL. I think he can crawl over the edge of a water dish.
About the feedings, I was counting the feedings from the actual time of purchase, which was more like 15 days ago. The breeder was holding my baby in my viv to get him used to it and to give him one more feeding before letting him go to my home. So that's more like every 5 days. Even then, he eats in seconds and seems to be looking for more right after. I'm thinking of waiting 7 to 8 days for the next feeding and offering 2 pinkies. Thoughts on that? (No, I don't have a way to weigh him).
 
Yeah I wouldn't stress out to much. He may just prefer drinking the mist. Are you still noticing a lump in his belly after he eats? If you are noticing that the pinky is the same width as the snake then I would go ahead and do double pinks. You can go every 7 days. I feed every 7 days even on my babies just because it is easier for me to have a set day.
 
I bet that your snake is drinking out of the water bowl. He probably likes the water droplets, too- but I bet he is drinking out of the bowl. They are really sneaky about it as babies.

Be careful if you are misting that the humidity doesn't get too high. Corns can get scale rot if it is too wet. I didn't know if you have ever heard about that.

Isn't it amazing how high those little snakes can climb?!?
 
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