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Need advice...First Time Snake Owner

Sometimes getting an extra snake is best just to spread out the attention a little bit. Pacing yourself at first is better then getting overwhelmed, but keeping a few snakes is just as easy as one. I had to get more of them because my family of four was stressing out the single corn.
 
Well, his first feeding went great. I am getting better at handling him...havnt dropped him and he hasnt tried to bite me.

Grabbing him out of his cage was a little traumatic for him, but all he did was coil a little and try to squirm away. Once I actually got him in my hand, he calmed down a lot.

Strangles%20-%20First%20Feeding%202%20-%20March%2026%202011.png


Strangles%20-%20First%20Feeding%205%20-%20March%2026%202011.png


Strangles%20-%20First%20Feeding%20-%20March%2026%202011.png


Strangles%20-%20First%20Feeding%207%20-%20March%2026%202011.png
 
I took one last shot of him before I put him back...I cant see the lump from the rat...is it in that lower loop next to his head?

I was afraid it might be too big for him to eat. Now I am wondering if the ones I am feeding him are too small.

Strangles%20-%20First%20Feeding%2010%20-%20March%2026%202011.png
 
It's difficult to see a food lump when they're bunched up like that. I wouldn't sweat it.
 
Does he look big enough that I should be feeding him more than one pinkie? Or do I just feed him more than once a week?
 
JeffDenver said:
It is likely I will get a 2nd snake eventually, but right now I am at my limit. 3 bettas and 3 hamsters. Both only live a few years max, so it will not be too long.
Click to expand...

I also agree that pacing yourself is good. You don't want to get in over your head too soon! I just wanted you to be aware that there is an amazing breeder who lives in your state.

John is a really stand up guy and will go above and beyond helping you if you have questions.

Good luck with your new addition! I think you've got a very pretty Normal there with a cool pattern. I hope s/he thrives for you.

When you're moving up in food size it's a good idea to feed double pinks a few times and then just jump up to the next size food item, which would be a fuzzy. It's more nutritional for a snake to eat one appropriately sized meal than two smaller ones.
 
I saw the feeder you called a rat and it looked like a mouse pink to me, from what I have seen rat pinks are much bigger. Deffinitely get a scale it will aid you in choosing what size feeder to offer. Such a cute lil bugger!
 
Yeah, thats my next thing is a scale. Where do you buy them at? I didn't see any at the pet store. Whats the best way to measure length without ticking off the snake?

I cant really tell fetal rodents apart. I raised a litter of Hamster pups and they look exactly the same as these pinks to me.
 
JeffDenver said:
Yeah, thats my next thing is a scale. Where do you buy them at? I didn't see any at the pet store. Whats the best way to measure length without ticking off the snake?

I cant really tell fetal rodents apart. I raised a litter of Hamster pups and they look exactly the same as these pinks to me.
Click to expand...

You can get digital food scales at places like Walmart, cooking stores, Amazon, etc. Something that weighs up to 200+ grams would be good for the life of the snake to measure it and prey items. I use a large tupperware container on top of the scale. You can zero it out with it on top, then put the snake or food item into it and determine the weight. Works great.

Here's one from walmart: http://www.walmart.com/ip/The-Bigge...0000003260370&ci_src=14110944&ci_sku=11090896

and another I own I got at fry's electronics:
http://www.frys.com/product/6146669?site=sr:SEARCH:MAIN_RSLT_PG

Hope this helps!
 
I would get one that measures up to at least 600g or more. Ive had some large (but not overweight) corns get up to the low 600g mark.

You can find nice digital scales off of ebay as well.
 
You can get digital food scales at places like Walmart, cooking stores, Amazon, etc. Something that weighs up to 200+ grams would be good for the life of the snake to measure it and prey items. I use a large tupperware container on top of the scale. You can zero it out with it on top, then put the snake or food item into it and determine the weight. Works great.

Here's one from walmart:
http://www.walmart.com/ip/The-Biggest-Loser-Digital-Food-Scale-6.6-lb.-Capacity/11090896?sourceid=1500000000000003260370&ci_src=14110944&ci_sku=11090896
Click to expand...

That works, thank you.
 
Looks like your snake is a pretty little normal/classic/Carolina corn. Congrats on a great pick up! He will go through quite a color change over the next two years or so, it's neat to watch.
Here is what my Classic looked like right after getting it.
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Then six or eight months later.
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And now it looks pretty much like this, these pictures is about eight months old.
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Also, if you haven't found this sticky yet, it is very helpful with learning the snake/reptile lingo.
http://www.cornsnakes.com/forums/showthread.php?t=91890
 
I kinda wish they retained their hatchling colors, but the adults do look cool. One thing that drew me to Corn Snakes is that they look unusually exotic for a North American snake. They have Python-esque color patterns that I havnt seen on other snakes here.

They are kinda like "mini-pythons" really. I avoided real pythons (even though I think they look really cool) because frankly, they scare me a little. An adult python is capable of killing a grown man. A Corn Snake? Not so much.

How do you tell a Carolina corn apart from an Okeetee Corn? The hatchline I have looks like the pictures for an Okeetee Hatchling:

okeetee-h.jpg

http://iansvivarium.com/morphguide/okeetee/

Is it just the high contrast? This is really confusing me...Breeders obviously consider them different enough that they give them different labels, but I cant tell them apart.
 
Some snakes have lots of different what are called "localities" like Rosy Boas and King snakes. The snakes from these locales are visually different from each other and breeders can become quite obsessed with the purity of the breeding lines of these snakes, that they not be crossed to other localities. Corns aren't much like that, there are about five distinct localities that are recognized in corns (I think) and the Okeetee are pretty much the only one to have a fan base of purists. The purists believe that a snake shouldn't be called an Okeetee unless it's line can be traced back to individuals actually collected from the Okeetee Hunt Club. Then there are several lines that big name breeders have worked with to enhance the wide black borders and intense colors the Okeetee is known for. A lot of times those lines were crossed with corns not from the Hunt Club and so aren't considered true Okeetee's by some people, they call those snakes Lookeetee's. The Okeetee is the most confusing locality of corn out there for sure! I'm sure that probably didn't help your confusion much but I've been reading about corns for 3 years and am still confused by the whole Okeetee thing.
 
Actually, come to think of it, the defining characteristic of Okeetee seems to be the thick black borders, and mine doesn't have that. So I guess he is a normal Carolina Corn.
 
So I guess I should add, whether it's an Okeetee depends on who you ask. Some will say it's an Okeetee if it came from the Okeetee Hunt Club only and other people would say that it's an Okeetee if it has really thick black borders and colors up with intense oranges and high contrast colors.
 
JeffDenver said:
I kinda wish they retained their hatchling colors, but the adults do look cool. One thing that drew me to Corn Snakes is that they look unusually exotic for a North American snake. They have Python-esque color patterns that I havnt seen on other snakes here.

They are kinda like "mini-pythons" really. I avoided real pythons (even though I think they look really cool) because frankly, they scare me a little. An adult python is capable of killing a grown man. A Corn Snake? Not so much.

How do you tell a Carolina corn apart from an Okeetee Corn? The hatchline I have looks like the pictures for an Okeetee Hatchling:

okeetee-h.jpg

http://iansvivarium.com/morphguide/okeetee/

Is it just the high contrast? This is really confusing me...Breeders obviously consider them different enough that they give them different labels, but I cant tell them apart.
Click to expand...

If you think pythons are cool but too big you should get a ball python (latin name: python regius) They stay small, bunch of different morphs, can't kill you unless your incredibly stupid but are picky eaters.
 
Dont forget the Aussie pythons. The Childrens only get to be around 2-3ft, but there are also spotteds which get about 3ft (males) and then there are anthills pythons, which are the smallest. But all are smaller than ball pythons. And way cooler IMO ;)
 
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