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Need advice...First Time Snake Owner

I dont know where the guy got him. I am sure it was a local chain store...I have seen these at Petco and Petsmart before. I was planning on buying from a breeder, because I wanted to get one of the black and gray ones, but I really liked the coloring on this one too. And you cant beat that price. I basically got him for free.

And he is very active...he has not used either of the hides I have provides. He has climbed on ever square inch of the tank (he can scale those fake plants too...I have no idea how, as the "leaves" bend down and cant support is weight...but he's doing it).

I have no idea what sex it is, but I have decided that it is a male by default.

The only reptile-specific store I have been too is one called Scales and Tails. They have a lot of neat stuff there, but it is pricey as hell. Before I came here I was going to buy my snake from them, but they was $120 for baby corn snakes. Breeders sell them for a fraction of that.

As for food...I saw that Petco sells pinkies 6 to a package for $1.99. Is there a reason I would not want to buy from there? The price is not a huge deal to me...I would rather get good quality. Ideally I would even like fresh-killed if I could find a pet store that does it. I cant bring myself to feed him live food...Having had hamsters for a long time, that just creeps me out too much. Since I only have one snake and probably wont get another one for a long time, food cost is not a huge concern for me.

That Eco Earth stuff is really cool...it looks and feels like soil. The snake (I haven't decided on a name yet) seems to like to dig in it. Also since it is dark colored it is a lot easier to see the snake against it than aspen.
 
It's a wild color, also don't go and search for fresh killed, only reason people feed that is to make the switch from live to frozen/thawed. The freezing process kills the germs and if you feed fresh killed you need to go to the pet store every week to get a new mouse. Fresh killed isn't better than frozen thawed and it's even more difficult than feeding live! You would need to get to home, get your corn ready to feed and get him to strike and begin eating it before the mouse his body temperature cools down, pretty impossible i think..
Just buy enough frozen mice to feed your snake a couple of weeks an than go to the store and buy new ones :)
Also the most humane way to kill pinkies is to freeze them so if you buy those fresh killed it's the exact same as frozen thawed xD
 
If you can find frozen pinkies for that price at Petco then you should get them as that would be a good deal. Our Petco charges closer to $9.99 for a pack of pinkies.

Your snake is a normal. The high priced ones at the reptile store were probably so expensive because they were morphs.

Enjoy your new baby! He will make you a good pet for years to come.
 
Couldn't help but notice that the only thing I don't see in that setup of yours is a thermometer. You should have a digital one with the probe stuck right on the glass in the middle of the UTH, underneath the substrate making sure that your baby doesn't get burned. Temps over 90F can be dangerous, and even small UTHs get REALLY hot like 130F easy, so make sure you have a digital thermometer and a rheostat to keep your snake healthy.
 
Really nice set-up! I like the look of the eco earth substrate. I use shredded aspen because its cheaper (I have 10 snakes) and they love to burrow in it. Bark doesnt work very well for burrowing and a personal preference I dont like the look of it. Being able to burrow in the substrate seems to be preferred than using the hides, at least with my snakes. But once mine burrow, I dont expect to see them out for a few days, lol.
 
Yeah that Eco Earth stuff is just awesome. Gives a "forest/jungle" feel to the vivarium. It has a moist feel to it that I like (and I assume this would help with maintaining humidity too maybe?). I love the look of it though.

Any danger from using plastic plants? They were basically new. I have been told that silk is best, but I didnt think plastic ones would be harmful. One of the things I really like about snakes (as opposed to fish or Hermit crabs or small mammals) is that I can use a wider variety of decorations because I dont have to worry about them eating it or chewing it up.

Once he gets established I plan on moving to live plants. Speaking of which...there isnt anything toxic about Lucky Bamboo is there? That stuff would be ideal since it is very hardy and easy to grow and the snake can use it to climb on. The ones you can buy now come in a bunch of complex shapes that would be easy for a snake to climb around on.

I provided two hides for him, but he still isnt using them. He slept out in the open last night...is this a cause for concern? I thought it was normal for them to hide after being moved to a new cage.
 
JeffDenver said:
Yeah that Eco Earth stuff is just awesome. Gives a "forest/jungle" feel to the vivarium. It has a moist feel to it that I like (and I assume this would help with maintaining humidity too maybe?). I love the look of it though.

Any danger from using plastic plants? They were basically new. I have been told that silk is best, but I didnt think plastic ones would be harmful. One of the things I really like about snakes (as opposed to fish or Hermit crabs or small mammals) is that I can use a wider variety of decorations because I dont have to worry about them eating it or chewing it up.

Once he gets established I plan on moving to live plants. Speaking of which...there isnt anything toxic about Lucky Bamboo is there? That stuff would be ideal since it is very hardy and easy to grow and the snake can use it to climb on. The ones you can buy now come in a bunch of complex shapes that would be easy for a snake to climb around on.

I provided two hides for him, but he still isnt using them. He slept out in the open last night...is this a cause for concern? I thought it was normal for them to hide after being moved to a new cage.
Click to expand...

I'm curious too about that bamboo.
Silk plans are advised for cleaning purpose but i myself use plastic plants, so no they aren't harmful.
I noticed you dug the hides in, maybe you put them in a bit too deep for the snake? or at an too high angle where he would feel exposed from above (at an angle)
 
Glad you've gotten some good information here. I will reiterate-- pet stores may keep more than one per tank, but it's mostly due to them wanting to maximize their profits. Same reason they cram 100 fish into a small tank-- they know it's a matter of risk/reward and hopefully they won't be keeping them around that long.
 
I noticed you dug the hides in, maybe you put them in a bit too deep for the snake? or at an too high angle where he would feel exposed from above (at an angle)
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I did, but I also made sure that they are hollow, and that there is a hole at the top big enough to get into. But the soil is so loose he could easily burrow if he wanted in there. I did it on purpose because I was told that the hides need to be opaque (no way to see him) for them to feel secure. The Hides are submerged at an angle, so that the top part is above the surface.
 
Glad you've gotten some good information here. I will reiterate-- pet stores may keep more than one per tank, but it's mostly due to them wanting to maximize their profits. Same reason they cram 100 fish into a small tank-- they know it's a matter of risk/reward and hopefully they won't be keeping them around that long.
Click to expand...

This is kinda off topic, but I am curious: Your avatar shows snake eyes with vertical slits for pupils. Is there a reason Corn Snakes have round pupils? I thought vertical pupils were common for nocturnal reptiles, and Corn Snakes are nocturnal, right?
 
Corns are active more at twighlight, rather than waiting for it to total dark. Might have something to do with it. But other than that someone else will have to add.
 
I settled on a name for him finally. I decided to name him "Strangles".

He finally used the hide next to the heat source last night. I am paranoid about him getting scalded, but while the UTH feels warm to the touch outside, the inside of the tank feels fine. And there is substrate diffusing it anyway.

Do snakes know if it gets too hot? I mean, will he actually move before it gets so hot he will damage himself?
 
JeffDenver said:
I settled on a name for him finally. I decided to name him "Strangles".

He finally used the hide next to the heat source last night. I am paranoid about him getting scalded, but while the UTH feels warm to the touch outside, the inside of the tank feels fine. And there is substrate diffusing it anyway.

Do snakes know if it gets too hot? I mean, will he actually move before it gets so hot he will damage himself?
Click to expand...

No they have no clue if too much heat is killing them or hurting them.
 
For some reason their nervous system doesn't seem to react to "dangerously hot" as you'd expect. They sometimes won't move away from a heat source that's too hot, which mainly seems to be a problem with sustaining burns from unguarded lights or heat lamps.
 
JeffDenver said:
This is kinda off topic, but I am curious: Your avatar shows snake eyes with vertical slits for pupils. Is there a reason Corn Snakes have round pupils? I thought vertical pupils were common for nocturnal reptiles, and Corn Snakes are nocturnal, right?
Click to expand...

Those are all gecko eyes. I am fairly obsessed with animal eyes. I think they're really neat, and pretty to look at. Plus I like that I can call it an EyeCon. Ha ha.

I am not sure why corns have round pupils. Some other snakes have slits. African housesnakes. Boas. Pythons.

Not sure why, but the given explanation seems decent.
 
bitsy said:
For some reason their nervous system doesn't seem to react to "dangerously hot" as you'd expect. They sometimes won't move away from a heat source that's too hot, which mainly seems to be a problem with sustaining burns from unguarded lights or heat lamps.
Click to expand...

Its really something else isn't it? Think about it for a minute. They are intelligent enough to known when they need to move to the warm side of the tank or the cool side of the tank, but they cant perceive scalding hot temperatures.
 
Thermoregulation may just be a completely different physiological process to the "dangerous heat/move away" reaction. In the wild, they're unlikely to encounter surfaces that get as hot as unguarded bulbs, so they probably just haven't needed to evolve the instinct to deal with that.

It's all a matter of instinct, rather than intelligence.
 
Great advice from everyone so far. I would stress the importance of a thermostat or rheostat...which you can use a simple light dimmer switch from lowes or home depot. And be sure to use a thermometer and not the stick on type. The best type I have found to use is the indoor/outdoor ones from home and garden stores. They have the humidity on some of them also. We "saved" a few snakes from people who didn't use anything to regulate the heat and had gotten burned pretty badly. And when we first started, we didn't think we needed one because the store didn't tell us. Also didn't tell us, and we didn't notice at first, that it only had one developed eye. We have bought a few from pet stores and so far only a few have survived for various reasons. Anway, after finding this awesome site, we realized we needed to regulate the heat. Once we put a correct thermometer on the tank, we saw where the UTH was at 130 degrees!!! So please make sure you keep an eye on the heating.

Congrats on your first snake and welcome!!!
Be warned...they are addicting....and if you get anymore, besides keeping them in separate containers, quarantine them also. You may think the snake looks healthy but there are parasites out there that can kill an entire colony. Kathy Love's book..."Corn Snakes..The Comprehensive Owners Guide" is awesome! She is a member here and you can order it directly from her and she and her husband Bill will sign it for you!

Again, welcome and hope we can answer all your questions and please keep us updated and keep posting pics!!
Gini
 
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