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Hello...newbie here.

R

reptilelover

New member
Hello fellow snake lovers... I am new to this forum and do not have a corn snake yet, but I am seriously considering one. I have had a bearded dragon, chameleon, gecko in the past plus other small animals such as rats and hamsters. I am just gathering information at this stage. Looking to possibly get a snake after the first of the year. I have been to a Reptile Show and saw many different morphs there. One of my favorite are the Candy Cane morphs and the albino reds mix. Just wanted to introduce myself to everyone.
 
Hey there, and welcome! I can't say I'm an ounce as experienced as some of the people here, but everyone's really friendly! Hope you join the corn club soon!

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Welcome to the forum! You've come to the right place to learn everything corn snake. Please read the stickies, older posts, and feel free to ask questions.

Corn snakes actually have individual personalities and are very responsive to their owners/keepers. While formal studies in intelligence are pretty lacking, corn snakes have a lot more to them than science generally recognizes. Some day I hope the science backs up what many here have experienced with these great animals.
 
Thank you Nimbuzz and DollysMom. Looking forward to joining the corn club, in the mean time I will be following that threads through out the forum. :D
 
Keeping a cornsnake will be a piece of cake after keeping a bearded dragon! Where to start- simple heating, no lighting, only feed once a week, then once every two weeks, and cornsnakes aren't picky! Only one poop every one to two weeks, too. Double the lifespan.

Don't get me wrong, I LOVE dragons, but snakes are so much simpler.
 
Hello everyone, I have been doing a lot of research here on the forum and other sites. I do not have my snake yet, but do have an enclosure and heat pad for it ( got a great deal on CL). So now all I need is a snake. My may concern is getting a healthy snake with no mites or other issues. Also, are mites a big problem with snakes?? How do they get them? Any suggestions about where to get a good snake baby or older would be great and any comments on the mites or other health issues would be good too. Thanks
 
Do you have a thermostat to control your hear pad? It'll regulate the temperature so it doesn't get too hot [emoji4] also, look into getting a digital thermometer (or a heat gun, I find this useful) so you know what the temps are! I've never had to deal with mites so I'll let someone else answer that. If you get to see the snake before buying handle it and check to see if they are alert and active, and that there is no stuck sheds. Also, look to see if they are a 'triangle shape' (prominent spine) as this is a sign a snake is underweight. They should be load of bread shaped. Ask for feeding and shedding records, always useful to have. I can't help with breeders since I live in Scotland but I hope that helps you a bit! [emoji4]


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Mites can be a problem. They are sort of like "Ticks or Fleas" in human and dog terms, and if a dog has just 1 flea somewhere on its body, and it comes into the house, 6 months later everyone will be scratching and you'll be setting off a flea bomb trying to get rid of them all.

If 1 snake has mites, and the breeder or pet shop is not aware or careful, then you can assume all of their snakes could have mites.

Mites are very small and can be hard to see. They are about the size of a "period" at the end of a sentence and can be seen crawling in the cage and on the snake. They can burrow under the scales of the snake where they suck blood just as fleas and ticks do.

There are treatment remedies for mites, but some of these treatments can actually be dangerous for the snake so care should be used. Sometimes snakes will spend a lot of time soaking in their water bowls as this is actually how the snake rids itself of mites, they will drown. If your snake is soaking for long periods of time, it doesn't necessarily mean the snake has mites, but it would be worth looking into.

How does the snake get mites? From other snakes, improperly kept cages, unclean conditions, poorly managed pet shops or breeders, mites can come in on packages and feeder mice as well. You run a bigger chance of mites if you feed live mice rather than the frozen packaged type.

Having said all this, anyone who has kept snakes for a long period of time has either had to deal with mites first hand or has known someone who did.

I have had 5 different pet snakes in the past 47 years and only had to deal with mites 1 time. ironically (or not) the only snake I ever had with mites was also the first snake I ever owned, a Boa Constrictor which I bought from a local pet store.

I have had no mite problems in over 40 years and I attribute that to taking great care and weekly inspections and cleanings.
 
Welcome !
If no one here has any hatchlings or yearlings available then try these for starters......

http://www.srcorns.com/available.html

https://www.cornsnake.net/index.php?lang=en

http://www.reptilesbymack.com/index.aspx

http://www.bhbreptiles.com/Default.aspx


Here's one of the best care sheets in the business...

https://www.cornsnake.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=56&Itemid=143&lang=en

Don't worry about mites. Unlike flees they cannot jump from host to host.
The only way a new first time snake owner could have mites is by purchasing from someone with an infested group of snakes. If your snake comes in mite free then it will stay mite free.
If you come in contact someone else's reptile that is mite infested then there is a small chance a mite could latch on to you or your clothing and be transported back to your snake. Odds are small though.
"Mom & Pop" pet stores are more likely to have a mite problem just because they tend to have returned and abandoned reptiles coming in more frequently.
Be careful buying used stuff from reptile owners. Tanks and objects can harbor dormant mite eggs. (craigslist purchases ;) )
:)
 
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Thank you all for the info. So I should probably bleach the enclosure very well and rinse thoroughly?? Or is there some other way to sanitize a used enclosure?

Thanks :D
 
Take 1 cup bleach to 1 gallon of water solution and spray all surfaces and let sit for 10 minutes to disinfect. Rinse thoroughly with clean water.
If you got items and/or décor then do the same to clean and disinfect. Since mites and eggs can be in the tiniest crevasse the best way to guarantee the items are mite/egg free is to submerge them in water for about 15 minutes. Mites and eggs will drown.
If your enclosure is a tank with a plastic rim on top and/or screen sliding top then fill your bathtub with 3-4 inches of water and put the tank in upside down. This will drown any possible mites/eggs that could be in space between the glass and plastic. You can do the same for the bottom plastic trim.
:)

Here's a good natural cleaner for maintenance cleaning .....

http://www.petco.com/shop/en/petcos...dor-control/natural-chemistry-healthy-habitat
 
Hello and welcome!
There is a plethora of information on this forum! Using the "search" function will direct you to what you are looking for, and if by chance, you cannot find what you are looking for, be sure to ask!

There is a lot of combined experience on here, and with some parts of reptile keeping, there is not just one way to do it, so try not to get frustrated.

I like to get my snakes from "smaller" breeders, who can give you more personal service.
Even though he is one of the biggest breeders, I still consider Steve Roylance one of those who gives personal service. He produces amazing babies (twice a year!). I have a number of snakes from him.

Depending on what you are looking for, there will be someone (breeder) here who has or will have what you like.
Nanci (SnickerSnakes) has some of the best Candy Cane babies!
I got this male from her last year.

Mites can be a problem, but if you are careful, you shouldn't have to worry about it too much.
Be careful at reptile expos, you can pick them up there. Sometimes, a vendor will have them on animals they bring, or sometimes people will bring their own pets (they're not supposed to). I always wash my clothes and shower after one, before going into my snake room.
They can be picked up and transported on your clothes from any source that has mites.

Check your new snake very carefully when you get it. It can be a good idea to keep the new snake on paper towels at first, so you can easily spot them.

I don't mean to scare you, but you should be vigilant about it, even with just one snake. I had them once, on a snake I brought in. Luckily, he was quarantined, so my other snakes were not affected.

Getting your setup running before getting your snake is the best way to go.
Make sure to get a thermostat to regulate the heat source. UTH (under tank heater) is the most commonly used, but depending on the size of enclosure, and the ambient temps in your house, you may not need heat during warmer season, or may need to add an additional heat source such as a ceramic heat bulb if the house gets too cold.

I use F10 or Maxima 256 for deep cleaning (and wash with soap and water, rinse well after) but for quick cleaning, I use 50/50 vinegar/water.
I use paper towels for my hatchlings, and then aspen for the older ones.
I spot clean as needed, and then do a whole change out of substrate as needed.

Many use the Munson Plan for a feeding guide.
This is what I use:

Snake wght freq. prey size prey wght
4-15gr 5-6days pinks 2-3gr
16-23gr 5-6days dbl. pinks 3gr X2
24-30gr 6-7days sm fuzzy 5-7gr
30-50gr 6-7days fuzzy 7-9gr
51-90gr 6-7days hopper 9-12gr
91-170gr 7days weanling 14-20gr
170-400gr *7days adult 20-30gr
401+ *7days xl adult 30-50gr

I calculated out the snake weight X .2= prey size weight (approximate) adjust as necessary.

My males get fed every 2-3 weeks, depending on their body condition.
 

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Thank you for the replies. I am thankful for having experienced people on here to help and offer advice. I am excited to get my new corn when the time comes. I am going to be patient and wait for that special little buddy :D
 
Hello again, I have another question, here it is: I see where a lot of people get babies, what do you think about getting an older snake? Like maybe one that is around a year old or more?? Thoughts are appreciated
 
There are actually a lot of pros to getting an older snake. Babies are more fragile, even well started ones will sometimes simply fail to thrive and die, through no fault of the breeder or keeper, though the chances of that happening with one produced by a great breeder and well taken care of is greatly lessened, still it happens sometimes.

Once they are roughly around a year old, give or take a little, they will generally be out of that more fragile hatchling stage.
New hatched/born baby snakes are prey to all kinds of things in the wild, so where some species vary in biteyness/flightyness and individuals within the different species have different temperaments, pretty much all baby snakes start out believing that something is going to attempt to eat them at any given moment.
Generally, around the first year, give or take a few months, most snakes start to calm down and become more confident, regardless of how often or not they've been handled. Of course, one that has been handled regularly in a pleasant manner from the beginning, is still probably going to be tamer than one that was never handled or was handled badly. Corns as a species tend to be quite docile but there are some that never do tame down.
An older one might give you a more accurate look at what it's temperament is going to be like than a tiny baby.

Corns also change a lot in appearance over the first 3-4 years of their life. A possible pro for getting an adult is knowing exactly how they are going to look. A possible pro for a young baby is getting to watch the entire change in it's appearance. A possible good compromise between the two is a yearling, out of the fragile state, showing a good bit of what they are going to look like and yet still being able to see a part of the change.
 
Also, if you get one that's about a year old, they still have loads of growing left to do so you'll still get to see them get bigger and change and shed [emoji4]


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