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Just got a tiny baby corn, now what???

L

lorireptile

New member
Hey there all you slithery people! I just purchased this weekend an albino motley corn snake (female). She is just the lovliest thing I've ever seen. And so docile and curious about things around her. There is no fear or stress in this snake at all. But, I do have some questions about keeping her happy.

1) Her body is tiny. DOB is supposedly Sept. '03. She is about maybe 10 inches now. No matter how I look at them, pinkies just seem waaaay huge for this tiny little creature. Are they? And if so, what should she eat??

2) I seem to have found lots of conflicting advice on various web sites regarding the need for heat and UV. I am in Ft. Lauderdale, FL. In this relatively humid and warm climate, is a heat source necessary? And what about the UV issue? Do they need it or not? Some sites say yes, some say no, and some ignore the subject all together....

3) I am experienced with mostly lizards of one form or another. This is my first snake. Is calcium and vitamin supplementation necessary with them? I suppose this question really ties in with the UV question, since reptiles use UV to utilize calcium and vitamins.

Any advice is appreciated. Also, what is the proper term for "albino"? I was reading and noticed that actual word never used....:confused:
 
At ten inches it can most definitely handle pinks. Uv is not needed with corns and the vitamin issue is up in the air some say you do some say you don't but I personally think they don't hurt especially when you are feeding pinks because the have no actual bone mass only cartilage so a dab of Repti-Cal may go a long way in it's first year of life toward growth.

Heat is a must unless your reptile room stays at around 80 it is essential for the digestion of corn snakes.

Most people use Amelanistic or just Amel when referring to a snake that lacks back pigment do to a genetic occurrence
 
Thank you h0mer. You are precisely right. I forget not everyone already has that book.
 
I have been keeping my current collection in a room with no uv and no direct or indirect sunlight for about three years now and havn't had any problems.
on the issue of vitamins I've never used them and havn't had any problems, but would be currious how man do use them.I wouldn't rule out using them myself if someone I trusted where to recomend them.or even if it where the general consensus.

p.s. HomerSimpson, do you have stock in the "corn snake manual" or are you just Kathy Loves brother? Just kidding.I noticed you have recomended it a few times in threads. It's a great book. I read it all the way through once, Have used it as a reference many times ,and would like read the whole book agian when I have more time to make sure I didn't miss any thing the first time.
 
I have the Cornsnake Manual sitting nearby just in case I need a reference for something. If I can't find the answer there, I post it here! Kathy doesn't recommend vitamins for every feeding if you intend to use them.
 
griff, I was waiting for someone to say something like that...

No, no relation to Ms. Love, just trying to level the playing field and get people educated about reptiles. It's in everyone's interest to have the depth of understanding Kathy provides in her book. Every single irresponsible reptile owner is one ding against all of us and our fight to maintain the right to own reptiles. There are many states and cities with "no reptile within city limits" ordinances due mainly in part to irresponsible owners scaring the lay public and starting mass movements against us reptile owners.

I suggest it for the love of the animals and the maintainence of the hobby for us all...
 
CONGRADS ON UR 1ST SNAKE BRO

:D as far as the pinky isue goes a 10 inchers got no prob eatn a pinky hell be fine, but i hav ehad one struggle a little before but he downed it anyway it was all good. if ur still not all about pinks then u can feed him crickets to they work great. I have heard from many manuals that a snake that size needs to kept between 80 and 90 degrees for healthy eating patterns and healthy digestion. the UV light is not nesccesary for survival because they are subteranian in the wild and dont requier alot of sunlight. Iv got a UV light on all my snake and lizard cages cuz it does give ur snake proper nutrition, helps bone growth, and helps them keep their color (keeps em lookn perty).

GOOD LUCK WITH UR FIRST SNAKE:D

-LATA-:cheers:
 
Stop the Train

Please do not recommend crickets as snake food. This is simply incorrect information and does not need to be recirculated among new hobbyists.

Cornsnakes do not require UV A/B lighting like a lizard. Snakes do not depend on natural sunlight (UV A/B) in order to operate the necessary metabolic functions to produce calcium. Snakes digest the bones of their prey to get. Most lizards are not whole prey consumers, therefore additional calcium supplementation and UV B lighting is a must. Without it, the lizard will start processing their own bone calcium to meet daily needs.
 
even if you can attain 75-80c u still need a temp gradient so how about running a heat mat off a mat stat? also get the corn snake manual from www.amazon.com its the bible of the corn world
 
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