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Amyshizzle

New member
Are cornsnakes low maintenance pets? I am trying to find a pet that I don't have to clean the cage that often or anything like that. I plan on getting a tarantula but I would like a pet I can hold without risk of dropping and breaking it.

Do the heat lamps have to stay on all day and night for the snake?
How often do you feed the snake?
What to feed? I'm assuming frozen/thawed mice?
What substrate?
How often do you clean?
And what kind of water dish?

Please let me know if I should consider this pet, again. If you know of another pet that doesn't need cleaning often please let me know.

Thanks guys.

-Amy
 
Yes! Cornsnakes are low maintenance but can be handled. Most of us use heat mats (under tank heaters) and they stay on 24/7 but use about 4W of power (compare to 50-150W for an incandescent light bulb) so are cheap to operate. Babies are fed every 5 days, subadults and adults every 7-14 depending. They eat appropriately sized frozen/thawed mice. Substrate can be aspen shavings, papertowels, newspaper. Cleaning depends on the substrate. If it's aspen, spot clean when you see poop, dump & replace monthly if it is a small enclosure like a 6Q rubbermaid for a baby, dump and replace every 2 months for big enclosures like a 20G aquarium for an adult. Water dish is anything cheap the snake can't tip over. Many people like dog water bowls for bigger snakes. I use anything handy, like soup bowls from Walmart ($1 each) for adults, and little tiny cups meant for condiments for babies (4/$1 at Walmart). Water should be dumped & replaced every couple days, and I clean out water bowls, rather than dump & refill, once a week, because water bowls always get slimy. If they poop in their water bowl it will need cleaning sooner. So basically you have to attend to their physical needs about 2x weekly, and handle in between. The cleaning part takes 5 minutes. Feeding takes longer but most of that is thawing the food item, and while it is thawing in warm water you can do something else, then run really hot tap water on it, let it sit 2 minutes and serve!

They are the easiest pet I've ever kept. I have had cats, dogs, mice, hamsters, gerbils, and LOTS of tropical fish.

Edit: they don't need special humidity. If it's not too humid or too dry for you, it's probably fine for corn snakes. They don't need the cool side of their enclosure heated. They need a warm side at about 84F, and the cool side is fine at a temperature that you consider comfortable for shirtsleeves, like 70-75F. Mine even seemed fine with the 68F in my apartment over the winter. They don't need special UV lamps. They don't even need as much or as full-spectrum of lamps as keeping aquarium fish requires. They don't need a lamp at all for their health if they live in a room that gets indirect natural light, the only lights you might want are so you can see your snake.

I couldn't possibly have so many (see my sig) if they weren't easy care!
 
Thanks so much for the useful info! I read the sticky on here about care. Still going to do much needed research. Do you recommend any books?

I love exotic pets. I hate being with out pets in my room to keep me company, it's so lonely. So I am searching for something low maintenance that I can care for easily. Sounds like a corn snake will be nice. And I can handle them so thats good.
 
Oh, and we have several breeders here who have some very nice snakes for sale. Don't be afraid to buy a snake that will be shipped to you. Almost all of mine were (except for 6) and it's been fine. PM me if you have questions.

Edit: Kathy Love's book, available at her website
http://www.cornutopia.com/

and Don Soderberg's book, available at his website
http://www.cornsnakes.net/

Are great useful books. I'd get both, if possible, but either will give you the info you need to get started as a corn snake owner.
 
I am not afraid for snakes to be shipped, I know all about that. I am going to have my tarantula shipped to me when I get it eventually. Thank you! Hopefully, my parents won't have a problem with my exotics. XD I still live with them unfortunately.
 
Oh good, I was worried when I started. Shipping sounded so dangerous.

Seriously, corn snakes are low maintenance high enjoyment pets. I wish I had gotten started years ago!
 
It can have its risks, but buying from a petstore is worse in my opinion.

Do you know of any good books about corn snakes?
 
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