Feeling The 'New Mommy Shivers'

[Noename]

Okay, so my baby opal het motley comes this upcomming Tuesday. (internally jumps up and down)

As you can guess, I'm excited. But, I'm also scared. -Not of snakes, that would be silly. But I'm scared I wont do everything correctly. I plan on going out with my mom either tomorrow or Saturday and getting all that I need for my little girl. I've so far got this list planned:
-10Gal tank
-Eco Earth (compressed coconut mulch) for substrate, or if I can't find that brand, another brand of the same product.
-Heating Pad (though I'm not convinced Petco will have it, just because I don't trust them much)
-Water Dish
-Thermometer for either side of the tank
-Hideouts (I plan to make one for either side of the cage out of polymer)
-I've heard about thermestates used to regulate temperature? Yet again, I'm concerned with Petco's reliability, so if they dont have one, where could I get that sort of set up for a corn snake tank?

I think aside from that, I'm not sure about how to keep humidity in check and all that. Should I just rely on the water dish and then maybe put in a container with moss or wet paper towel when she starts to shed?


Last bit: (lol Sorry)

So I get her Tuesday from FedEx, then I put her in her home (probably stare in awe at her for a bit) and otherwise leave her basically alone for the first three days or so, right? Then when do I feed her? The fourth day? And then two days after I first feed her, can I start handling her a little bit?

My main concern is that she'll get stressed and either not eat, or other problems (regurge). And I'm verry, verry, scared for that to happen. Just because I'm not experienced with any situation like that and I know I'm gonna want to hold her, yet dont want to do so 'too soon'.

Okay, scared momma is finished. Man, I'm sorry about all this. No one will answer probably lol, but if you do. Thank you SO much. Really, I'll still be worried, but I'll feel tons better.

 

[Noename]

Lil Bump.

I just want to be sure that my 'supply list' up there is good enough for when my hatchling comes.

 

[bapkate]

Hi, Noe! I went through the exact same thought process as you before I got my corn (I've had him for almost a week now). I'll let the experts chime in on this, but it sounds like you've got a good list going. I use aspen bedding for Wade, but as long as you're not using pine, you should be ok.

You'll definitely need a thermostat. Petco should have all of the basics, but if you're not sure you could always call ahead and ask.

I think most people recommend leaving your snake for 7 days before trying to handle or feed, just to be on the safe side.

 

[Noename]

Hi, Noe! I went through the exact same thought process as you before I got my corn (I've had him for almost a week now). I'll let the experts chime in on this, but it sounds like you've got a good list going. I use aspen bedding for Wade, but as long as you're not using pine, you should be ok.

You'll definitely need a thermostat. Petco should have all of the basics, but if you're not sure you could always call ahead and ask.

I think most people recommend leaving your snake for 7 days before trying to handle or feed, just to be on the safe side.

Thank you!
Yeah, I was just doing some more looking online and I think I'll probably get aspen for bedding. I found a good thermostat online, so I'll try and get it from there if not Petco.

It's gonna be so hard leaving her for 7 days :laugh:! But I really dont want to stress her out, so I'll do whatever she needs.

 

[bapkate]

You can find amazing thermostats online! The internet is great. I ended up splurging and getting a herpstat with a night drop feature, but that's totally not necessary. I also ended up getting my mice online. I've heard some dodgy things about pet store frozen mice.

I feel your pain. I've had to sit on my hands a few times to keep myself from bugging Wade. It'll be totally worth it in the end

 

[Noename]

You can find amazing thermostats online! The internet is great. I ended up splurging and getting a herpstat with a night drop feature, but that's totally not necessary. I also ended up getting my mice online. I've heard some dodgy things about pet store frozen mice.

I feel your pain. I've had to sit on my hands a few times to keep myself from bugging Wade. It'll be totally worth it in the end

Yea, I found a thermostat on, lets see...bigappleherp.com as well as some other things I'll get there. I went to Petco today and got some stuff like tank, water dish, aspen, fake foliage, but I'm getting the rest online I think lol. I heard of The Mouse Factory being good to get mice from, so I'm probably going to use that site.

Aw what morph is Wade? I'd love to see a picture of your cutie lol.

 

[Buzzard]

Hey Noe, and welcome to the madness lol.... It sounds like your on the right path. Not that coconut is bad for the snake but I found it easier to use aspen. It cleans up so much easier and you can see the spots where the urine/urate is as well. However the coconut does make for a really look nice. Most brands of UTH(under tank heaters) are fine, but use the thermometer to check not to get to hot. If you have time set it up early and fool around till you get it right.

Humidity can be achieved really easy. Use a large water dish. Your looking for surface area not depth. If you use a substrate like aspen use a water bottle to mist it every week or so. This keeps the dust down and raises humidity. If it still stays to dry, then cover half or more (pending on situation) of the screen cover. If you feel nervous about humidity still I would be a plasttic container with moist(not wet)moss in the cage every time I see it was going to shed. I have one of my girls that lives in a 40 gallon tank Never has had a bad shed with weekly misting and a large dish of water.

Oh and if you can afford and/or have the room go ahead and get a larger tank. It beats having to go out and buy another tank later when the snake gets bigger, OR it might be good to get the small one and after buying the larger tank later, you would have to fill the smaller tank with another snake hummmmmmmmm

 

[Asbit]

Buzzard is right about the bigger tank eventually she will need it, once she gets larger she should really not have smaller than a 30 gallon long (which is 3 feet long). Some little snakes get stressed in the larger tank right of the start some don't. It does save money in the long run, unless like Buzzard says, you are going to fill the 10 gallon with another baby later once she gets larger. I am pretty sure this will happen as it is almost impossible to have only one.:laugh:

 

[Noename]

Hey Noe, and welcome to the madness lol.... It sounds like your on the right path. Not that coconut is bad for the snake but I found it easier to use aspen. It cleans up so much easier and you can see the spots where the urine/urate is as well. However the coconut does make for a really look nice. Most brands of UTH(under tank heaters) are fine, but use the thermometer to check not to get to hot. If you have time set it up early and fool around till you get it right.

Humidity can be achieved really easy. Use a large water dish. Your looking for surface area not depth. If you use a substrate like aspen use a water bottle to mist it every week or so. This keeps the dust down and raises humidity. If it still stays to dry, then cover half or more (pending on situation) of the screen cover. If you feel nervous about humidity still I would be a plasttic container with moist(not wet)moss in the cage every time I see it was going to shed. I have one of my girls that lives in a 40 gallon tank Never has had a bad shed with weekly misting and a large dish of water.

Oh and if you can afford and/or have the room go ahead and get a larger tank. It beats having to go out and buy another tank later when the snake gets bigger, OR it might be good to get the small one and after buying the larger tank later, you would have to fill the smaller tank with another snake hummmmmmmmm

Thanks I actually did a little shopping today and decided on aspen anyway. So I'm glad that was a good choice. Hopefully everything I need for the tank will be here a day before my snake comes so I do have the chance to double check things and let them set up for a while so I can make any necessary adjustments. The thermometer I wanted wasnt at Petco (which I'm starting to think is more of a Cat/Dogco because it's not really as well supplied as I would hope in the reptile department. So I'll probably get that online. With a heating mat and the rest.

Thank you for the humidity info, I appreciate that greatly. One thing- I've heard from someone that sometimes misting isn't too great because it can leave the substrate too moist resulting in increased bacterial growth. From what you said, I would mainly mist only if I guess a) humidity is really low in the tank, or b) if she's shedding and needs the extra mist. Would I be right in that? (talk about paranoid mom :nope

My parents are okay with letting me buy a larger tank once she needs it, so I did get the smaller one. And I'll let you know that I too had the idea in the back of my head, 'well, when she grows out of that and moves into a larger tank...I could use it as an excuse to get another :laugh:'

So definatly liking that idea. lol Even if my parents wont let me, I'll be moving out in a couple of years, so it'll give me that tank to have in my inventory of snake stuff and one less thing on the list that I would need if I were to get another (which I most certainly will at some point).

Thank you for the help, I'll be posting pics of my snake when I get her, so be on the look out for those lol.

 

[Noename]

:

Buzzard is right about the bigger tank eventually she will need it, once she gets larger she should really not have smaller than a 30 gallon long (which is 3 feet long). Some little snakes get stressed in the larger tank right of the start some don't. It does save money in the long run, unless like Buzzard says, you are going to fill the 10 gallon with another baby later once she gets larger. I am pretty sure this will happen as it is almost impossible to have only one.:laugh:

Yes, I'll probably get another one at some point. Most certainly actually lol. It was hard enough to pic out just ONE kind that I REALLY wanted. The only way I could was to tell myself, 'heck, you'll be getting more, so just pick the one at the top of the list and work your way down'. :laugh: So in a year or so when I move this snake to a larger tank, the smaller one will not be left useless. I shall begg my head off for my parents to let me get another lol. That or set up my own Paypal and just secretly get one Now that a snake will be in my room, I can pretty much bet my mom's not going to be in there often/ long enough to notice.

 

[Leonore]

I was you a month ago - the worried snake mom. I still kinda am, but our girl is finally getting settled and just fed again tonight! yay!
we had a few minor bumps in the road, nothing serious - a couple refused feeds - but everyone here was of great *great* help.
The hardest thing was/is giving her that space that she needs in the beginning; but worth the wait and so important to make sure that she gets off to a healthy and happy start.
Best of Luck!