First-time snake owner

[SnakesMcGee]

Hello!

As the title says, I'm a first-time snake owner. I have a little girl (she hasn't been sexed yet, so I'm just running with that) named Princess, because she acts like one - very haughty and disdainful of any intrusion on her royal chambers by a lowly commoner like myself Her full name is actually Princess Garnet Til Alexandros XVIII, if you get the reference. But mostly I just call her Snakey, or Snakes McGee; don't ask why because I have no idea.

She's a bloodred corn, born 8/14, and is doing fairly well - we had a few issues, including an overly-large meal that caused a regurge and a bad shed as of late, but she seems to be recovering just fine. I waited ten days to feed her after the regurge and she wolfed down half a pinkie, striking me in the process as if to say "I HAVEN'T EATEN IN TEN DAYS. BACK OFF, THE MOUSE IS MINE." That was last night; I'm (and I never thought I'd say this) anxiously awaiting her poop

As for the shed, I had my ceiling fan running and it's winter here so I think the apartment was just a little too dry for her. I'll be running to the garden store this weekend to grab a hygrometer and plan on monitoring/adjusting humidity, especially around future shed times. Her temps seem fine - my place is fairly warm due to the heating system, so it's about 75-80 on the cool end and 85-90 on the warm end, but she actually spends most of her time on the WARM end, so I don't think it's too hot for her.

She's growing accustomed to me fairly quickly, I am happy to report. She doesn't want to be handled but once she's in my hands she calms down immediately, becoming very inquisitive. After a couple of good handling sessions she even grew calm enough to sniff out my cat without getting defensive! Of course as soon as I put her on the bed she bolts away... naughty girl.

Usually I just pick her up from under her hide, but the last time I handled her I took her hide and lay it on its side on my bed. I gently touched her/put my fingers in the hide so she could see that I wasn't a threat. She took that very well and calmed down quickly, and what makes me happy is that she calmed down on her terms - she was still in her hide, and I was making no attempt to actually pull her out. My hopes are that she will eventually learn to seek me out when I open the viv up to handle her, but who knows if that will happen - from what I've read, some snakes will do that and some just won't.

I'd post some pictures but she's pretty skittish still and my phone takes terrible pics, so I'll have to wait until I have a nicer one/she calms down a bit. She is BEAUTIFUL already, and from what I understand of the bloodreds she's only going to grow more gorgeous with time.

I have to admit, snake-keeping is addicting. I'm already planning out my next snake (a royal), although that will be months if not a year or more from now. I want to give myself time to get acclimated to Princess first though; snake-keeping is very different from other types of pet-keeping, as I'm learning. Lots more anxiety with all the different things that can go wrong!

Anyway that was a fairly long introduction. I'm just a little over-excited about my new baby girl, if you can't tell

 

[SnakesMcGee]

After rereading that - just to be clear, she has hiding spots all over the damn place. So if she wanted to hide on the cool end, she easily could. She's just like her daddy; she wants to soak up the heat and screw the cold weather!

 

[Tavia]

Hello and welcome to the forum and to the addiction!

 

[SnakesMcGee]

Thank you, Tavia!

 

[enoreg]

Another addict, good choice of addictions and welcome.

 

[Amel_momma]

I am also a first-time owner, as well as a new member here. I went into a small family owned pet shop with the intention of purchasing a boa, but I wanted a baby. I wanted a snake that I could bond with as a child would with a new puppy. I came across a small tank with two beautiful predominantly red tiny snakes. The shop owner pulled the darker of the two out with a small hook and placed him in my hand where he sniffed a bit wrapped himself around my fingers then just relaxed. The shopowner was amazed saying he was never that mellow with anyone and I immediately fell in love with Neiko. The (insert not nice words here) I was with at the time hated the idea of me getting a snake, and thought that by being difficult and trying to get me to get the other one instead, then trying to make me feel guilty for separating him from his brother, so in spite of him I got them both. Our firs year and a half was wonderful with weekly feedings of frozen mice until they were big enough to handle full grown feeders. I am so hypnotized by the feeding process, proud as can be when my boys capture their prey. The only thing that has now caused concern for me, I am beginning to suspect that they were not sexed by the shopowner. He told me they were boys and I didn't question it. I now suspect that Neiko's brother Brutus, is actually a female and possibly pregnant. I never separated them because they always seemed so comfortable together, had Neiko not been a few shades darker I would he trouble figuring out where one ended and the other began in the tangled pile on their driftwood branch.

 

[SnakesMcGee]

Aw that is an adorable story! I hope Brutus isn't pregnant lol. One unplanned baby is enough... but ten?

Also, Princess ate half a pinky and kept it down! I'm waiting for a few more feedings like that before I relax, though.

Has anyone else had to feed a half a mouse? I thought it would be really gross but... not so much. Just chopped it in half like any other piece of meat. The things we do for our snakes...

 

[smigon]

Aw that is an adorable story! I hope Brutus isn't pregnant lol.

Unfortunately it isn't as adorable as it seems. Corns shouldn't be cohabbed ever, the pet shops do it to save space but there is no positive side to it.

Corns are known to be cannibalistic and what seems like "cuddling" is really jockeying for the best spot. THIS link hopefully gets you to separate them immediately and if she is pregnant, how old is she, how long is she and what does she weigh? If she is too young or small it could be disastrous.

Let us know what is going on as time progresses, and you might want to start looking for a reptile vet just in case. Also I would get some books on corn snakes, two of the best were written by members of this site, Kathy Love and Don Soderberg. Also, read all the stickies in each topic and as many threads as you can. I hope everything works out well for her, but better safe than sorry!

 

[smigon]

Has anyone else had to feed a half a mouse? I thought it would be really gross but... not so much. Just chopped it in half like any other piece of meat.

Yup, it is done quite often. I prefer a sharp pair of scissors, but as long as the knife is sharp then it isn't as messy as you would expect.

 

[Tavia]

Especially with the smaller mice, it works best to cut them up while frozen, in my experience, at least.

 

[smigon]

Especially with the smaller mice, it works best to cut them up while frozen, in my experience, at least.

Yes, or boiled. They aren't as messy either way. Good point!

 

[SnakesMcGee]

Welp I experienced my first escape last night... had her in a feeding tub that's at least as tall as she is, let her sit with her mouse (she's a shy eater) and put the screen from the viv over it just in case... came back after a smoke and the cat was staring at the tub, with the snake nowhere to be seen.

Found her about fifteen seconds later on a nearby shelf, but those were among the fifteen scariest moments of my life. Note to self: Corn Snakes can apparently climb sheer plastic walls as tall as they are. I wish I had seen it happen; I'm impressed that she was able to get out of there!

 

[SnakesMcGee]

And now she's beginning to grow up... been a few months since I've had her and between her growth and the plastic foliage I've put up, she's starting to feel secure enough to explore her viv (finally!)

Is there anything cuter than scouring the viv for your baby snake, only to finally find her curled up on top of some fake foliage, hiding amongst the leaves? So adorable!