incandescent
New to Snakes
My name is Incandescent, and it's been one day since the last time I bought a corn snake.
Corn Snakes Anonymous: "Hi, Incandescent."
As seen in the CSA group scenario above, I'm Incandescent. My real name is Natalie, but I tend to respond faster to my usernames in print. I've been lurking on the edge of corn snake ownership for around three years. For the first year, I was living with my snakes-are-vermin parents, and for the final two of those, I was living in a dorm (so no pets). I've been in my apartment for eight months now, and I think I'm finally making up the deficit on pets. I'm currently mediating in the arguments between two nine-month-old Australian Shepherd puppies, being accused of abandonment by two incredibly needy ferrets, trick-training five rats, mostly-ignoring my boyfriend's two geckos and (as of yesterday) proudly setting up vivs for my new corns.
I decided I was going to get a corn snake in July or August, when Repticon came through Columbia. But I was still living with the in-laws (who despise snakes), and I knew I'd be getting puppies within the month when I moved out, so I decided to wait for a little while. "A little while" ended up being yesterday. Saw the corns again at Repticon on Saturday, fell head over heels for a lovely butter, and it was settled. When I got home from work (5pm), I immediately sat down in front of the computer and buried my face in a handful of websites. Of them, this has been vastly the most helpful. I don't learn very well from FAQ pages or Basic Care Sheets -- I love to hear experts arguing about tiny little details and learn what I need to know from that. I was still reading threads at 3am, when my body decided that sleep was not, after all, an optional activity. I've got around 14 hours of face-in-text studying under my belt, but I'm certainly open to suggestions.
So far, my corn snakes are as follows:
Pierce: male Butter motley
Trinket: female (popped) Golddust motley
Kismet: female (probed) Amel
All of them are approximately 15 inches long and they seem to be settling in nicely. Pierce and Trinket had to share a viv last night (one of mine had a hole in the lid that I hadn't noticed), but they'll be separated as soon as I can get to a pet store (likely this evening) for a new lid. I figured they were the safest, since the person who sold them to me had each in a small enclosure with siblings during the show, but Kismet was displayed alone.
So far, all three seem to be settling in very well, but particularly Kismet -- she can't stop exploring her viv. Pierce and Trinket have done some brief exploration, but it was mostly while they were searching for which side of the tank was warmer. Once they found the side with the heat pad, they stretched out and basked, but Kismet was still trying to explore every single piece of aspen in hers (and the ceiling, and the walls, and the water dish..).
I was told that Trinket and Pierce were both around seven months old (from an August '09 hatch), and since Kismet is of comparable size, I'll assume she's of similar age -- I barely got to speak with the exhibitor who sold her. Are they on-track as far as size goes? I don't want to grow them particularly quickly (I'm fine with a smaller snake), but I also want to make sure they're healthy.
I'm trying to keep them relatively secluded for the first few days. My apartment is a madhouse with the dogs, the ferrets and the rats, so I'm hoping the corns will settle in better if they're kept slightly away from the insanity. I intend to keep them in the "animal room" (see also: huge closet), but since Pierce and Trinket are currently in the same viv, I didn't want them too close to the smell of the rats until I could get them in separate tanks.
The boyfriend's Nikon will probably be dusted off for some pictures by the end of the week.
Corn Snakes Anonymous: "Hi, Incandescent."
As seen in the CSA group scenario above, I'm Incandescent. My real name is Natalie, but I tend to respond faster to my usernames in print. I've been lurking on the edge of corn snake ownership for around three years. For the first year, I was living with my snakes-are-vermin parents, and for the final two of those, I was living in a dorm (so no pets). I've been in my apartment for eight months now, and I think I'm finally making up the deficit on pets. I'm currently mediating in the arguments between two nine-month-old Australian Shepherd puppies, being accused of abandonment by two incredibly needy ferrets, trick-training five rats, mostly-ignoring my boyfriend's two geckos and (as of yesterday) proudly setting up vivs for my new corns.
I decided I was going to get a corn snake in July or August, when Repticon came through Columbia. But I was still living with the in-laws (who despise snakes), and I knew I'd be getting puppies within the month when I moved out, so I decided to wait for a little while. "A little while" ended up being yesterday. Saw the corns again at Repticon on Saturday, fell head over heels for a lovely butter, and it was settled. When I got home from work (5pm), I immediately sat down in front of the computer and buried my face in a handful of websites. Of them, this has been vastly the most helpful. I don't learn very well from FAQ pages or Basic Care Sheets -- I love to hear experts arguing about tiny little details and learn what I need to know from that. I was still reading threads at 3am, when my body decided that sleep was not, after all, an optional activity. I've got around 14 hours of face-in-text studying under my belt, but I'm certainly open to suggestions.
So far, my corn snakes are as follows:
Pierce: male Butter motley
Trinket: female (popped) Golddust motley
Kismet: female (probed) Amel
All of them are approximately 15 inches long and they seem to be settling in nicely. Pierce and Trinket had to share a viv last night (one of mine had a hole in the lid that I hadn't noticed), but they'll be separated as soon as I can get to a pet store (likely this evening) for a new lid. I figured they were the safest, since the person who sold them to me had each in a small enclosure with siblings during the show, but Kismet was displayed alone.
So far, all three seem to be settling in very well, but particularly Kismet -- she can't stop exploring her viv. Pierce and Trinket have done some brief exploration, but it was mostly while they were searching for which side of the tank was warmer. Once they found the side with the heat pad, they stretched out and basked, but Kismet was still trying to explore every single piece of aspen in hers (and the ceiling, and the walls, and the water dish..).
I was told that Trinket and Pierce were both around seven months old (from an August '09 hatch), and since Kismet is of comparable size, I'll assume she's of similar age -- I barely got to speak with the exhibitor who sold her. Are they on-track as far as size goes? I don't want to grow them particularly quickly (I'm fine with a smaller snake), but I also want to make sure they're healthy.
I'm trying to keep them relatively secluded for the first few days. My apartment is a madhouse with the dogs, the ferrets and the rats, so I'm hoping the corns will settle in better if they're kept slightly away from the insanity. I intend to keep them in the "animal room" (see also: huge closet), but since Pierce and Trinket are currently in the same viv, I didn't want them too close to the smell of the rats until I could get them in separate tanks.
The boyfriend's Nikon will probably be dusted off for some pictures by the end of the week.
