New and a few questions C:

[Xylophagous]

Heeey I just got accepted not too long ago so I figured I'd both introduce myself and ask a few things. I've always wanted a pet snake and have never been successful haha and just let the urge to buy one slip by me but suddenly I've been crazy over getting one. I've wanted a corn for years, ever since I saw a wild one when I was pretty young (fell in love with their belly checkers heh). But either way I did a lot of researching and told my parents I wanted a corn snake for christmas. Automatic no, I brought it up maybe only once after that and they said they were still thinking about it but they had no idea why I suddenly up and wanted a snake (even though I've honestly asked them before xD ) and they just sort of avoided it so I gave up and decided not to bother them. I'm 18 almost 19 and hope to be out soon and have a job so I figured it could wait. Enough rambling though, my parents asked me last night what I wanted and I said I couldnt think of anything past corn snake and my mom was like WHERE DO I GET ONE OF THOSE >:L and Im like uhhh the petstore I would assume. And surprisingly she told me to go to a breeder rather than buy from a pet store and I told her that I originally wanted one from a breeder(its nice to know where your pets are from and their genders and know that they were properly taken care of!) but honestly the shipping prices kill me and the weather is being very unpredictable and quite cold and I dont even want to risk the shipping. My options are pretty much:

1.Risk shipping and pay a higher price
2. Find a breeder around pittsburgh PA (hoping you guys can help? Please )
3. Buy from Petco
4. Buy from local petstore; Gittler's

Gittler's has three baby corns and one I think looks amazing, bad at picking at the name out of the long lists of types but it brown with a nice tinge of reddish, the other is brown and the last is redish/pinkish and white. All the ones at Petco look the same and are that same white with pinkish stripes (so bad at this). I like that Petco feed on f/t and I hate that when I went to Gittler's I asked the lady who was currently cleaning all the reptile's cages if they fed on live or f/t and she gave me the dirty looks and told me live then went on back to ignoring me. :/ for the most part when I get animals from there or just go in they treat me just like an irresponsible kid even though I got a ferret from them when I was in 6th grade and he's still doing great and I have to do everything for him myself including pay for anything he needs. So I CAN take care of things even if I am young. Either way I think my best bet is to go to Gittlers (even though they feed live, Ill just try and switch that) maybe even see if I can get who their breeder is as Id assume they get the snakes decently close by, or find a breeder on my own.

Also I just have this dumb doubt that I cant take care of it properly or that I won't like it after I have it because my parents constantly tell me how I cant take care of animals (even though I've kept my ferret alive and my dormouse alive for a couple years) and my boyfriend keeps telling me how dumb snakes are because you cant do anything with them. Sooo its just kind of eating at me that I'm not getting much support in my decision. :C so any tips or suggestions to make sure Im ready?

Wow I didnt mean to write a story haha, sorry, so thanks to everyone who reads and extra thanks to anyone who helps

 

[Tom Tuttle]

Welcome to the forums! I'm a breeder in Butler & vend at the Pittsburgh Reptile show in Harmarville. The next show is 12/21/2008.

 

[Nanci]

So, before you rush off and buy a snake from Tom Thompson, who would be highly recommended!!! buy a couple books like Kathy Love's Cornsnakes Comprehensive Owners Manual and Don Soderberg's Cornsnakes in Captivity and read them cover to cover.

Then acquire all the basic needs for a corn: 20L terrarium with a sliding locking lid. Aspen. A UTH (under tank heater, heat matt) and a thermostat and a probed thermometer. Correct heating is essential, as is an escape-proof viv. A couple hides. A water bowl.

Get your viv set up and stabilized, then go pick out a baby!!!

 

[alan]

Heeey, welcome.
If you stick around here and read and use all of the information available you'll do quite well caring for your snake.
Make sure you tell your parents the housing requirements, you might want to get that stuff first. Knowing how to keep it healthy and getting the vivarium set up before you get the snake will also show your parents that you are ready to care for it.

 

[tommiegunnz]

Welcome to the site!!!!! I agree, get yourself the books recommended and set up your enclosure before habd so you know your temps are correct before you add your corn. This is an amazing site with alot of members that can add to your knowledge and help you have a positive experience with your snake!!!!

 

[david.irl]

welcome to the site, i am fairly new to corns myself but agree with the others, get everything you need first, tank, under tank heaters, hides, waterbowl, thermometer etc as this is the expensive part, generally speaking a large variety of corns can be bought for very little unless u fall in love with one of the rarer more expensive morphs
here is a site another member showed me when i first joined with pictures and names for alot of the different morphs:

http://www.iansvivarium.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/cornmorphs.html

 

[measley]

You've gotten some great advice already- and once you get everything set up, I think a reptile show is the best place to get a snake b/c you can meet the breeder and handle the snake etc. before buying it.

Good luck!! and Welcome to the site!!

 

[Weebonilass]

Welcome to the forums! I'm a breeder in Butler & vend at the Pittsburgh Reptile show in Harmarville. The next show is 12/21/2008.

That gives her a couple of weeks to get everything bought and set-up and just before Christmas... okay... one week... I'm losing days

 

[Xylophagous]

Thanks everyone for the nice welcome and responses. If my parents are still letting me get a snake even if I run into problems with it I know where to go for help haha. I've already done a decent amount of researching and after another talk with my parents I'll try and get this process moving, if this is the only present they are getting me for Christmas then they probably won't mind buying the tank, and heaters and etc. Not sure what their budget will be but even if I need to buy the snake myself and they just buy the viv stuff that would be wonderful.

Welcome to the forums! I'm a breeder in Butler & vend at the Pittsburgh Reptile show in Harmarville. The next show is 12/21/2008.

Im guessing you mean:
http://www.freewebs.com/pghreptileshow/index.htm
If thats the case, $4 to get in and about a 2 hour drive? I think it's do able, I'll talk to my parents, would the snake be fine traveling in the colder weather? I'd assume it'll be alright because my mom has a cadillac with heated seats in the back and it gets to be like an oven back there. Should I take heat packs in case? I'm sure I'll be back with more questions after my parents talk to me xD

 

[Ayanme]

Just keep in mind what seems warm or hot to us, could be damaging to them. Us people run about ten degrees higher than their ideal warm temperature.

 

[starsevol]

Hi Xylo (can I call you Xylo?)
Welcome to the forum, and your wonderful new addiction! (I started with 1 in 1996....I'm up to 36 now...)

I am really impressed with the research you've done so far.
The books by Don Sodersberg and Kathy Love are the best though, they can help you find answers to questions when your internet is out and you can't post here

I WISH I could go to the show that's near you, Tom has some amazing snakes for sale. His stuff is guarenteed to put Petco's and Gittler's stuff to shame! Plus they will be healthy and properly sexed. I'm jealous

An easy way to transport your new baby home is (making sure delicup is taped shut), inside your jacket.

Or you can use an insulated cooler with a heatpack in the bottom, with newspapers or towels over it so it doesn't get *too* hot. The heatpack can either be one of those handwarmers, or an empty dishsoap or shampoo bottle with hot water in it. The little guy (or girl) should be very comfy on the ride home as long as the temp doesn't get below 70-75.

 

[a_god_s]

Welcome to the forum!

It seems that you've gotten great advice so far. Now, it's time to get the set-up, go to that show, pick out your new little snake (or two lol) and post pics!!!

Good luck and welcome to the addiction! :dancer:

 

[Xylophagous]

If you can call me Xylo what can I call you xD yeah any variation of my name is fine, most sites now Im just Xyl or Xyloph. I'll relay the information to my parents as they are also worried about the trip home, its about a two hour trip but maybe longer if traffic is bad or weather problems. I'm sure I'll be staring at it the whole trip home so maybe my burning stare will keep it warm xD. My parents seem ok with everything and they always want the best for pets so they are definitely pushing me to find all the best things I can get.

So any suggestions on what I should get knowing that I probably don't have much of a budget and even if they dont want to spend too much I can easily pitch in money? Like whats some good bedding suggestions, what size tank should I get? I know most say smaller for babies then move then to a larger as they grow but I think my parents just want to buy a mid sized one or whatever size you think itd be appropriate for it to spend most of its time in, Ill be sure to provide lots of hides while its a baby. I do have an old hermit crab cage thats 13x 8in long and about 4in deep so if you think itd be best to start it off in that until it grows a bit I could always do that. What sort of dish is best if there is any 'best' in dishes xD like deep/shallow? I'll need to get those stick on thermometers too. Two, one for each side (heated and non heated) and stick them inside and towards the bottom right? And of course the heat pad.

I cant wait! I need to make sure my bosses are alright with me calling off on Sunday but I dont see it causing a problem. Im so excited haha.

 

[Ayanme]

Stick on thermometers are really crappy for taking temperature.
I would suggest probe ones as you can put them where the snake goes, rather than the stick ons telling you the ambient air temp.

 

[Xylophagous]

Stick on thermometers are really crappy for taking temperature.
I would suggest probe ones as you can put them where the snake goes, rather than the stick ons telling you the ambient air temp.

Thanks for that bit of information. Figure I have troubles finding a thing or two at either Petco or Gittler's is it alright to assume I could pick up most snake needs at the show? I need to check on their frozen mice also (putting notes to self all over so I dont forget to do certain things haha) I'm hoping Gittler's has some as its like a 2 second drive and I wouldnt have to worry about storing that much but since they feed live Im not so sure they would carry frozen. Who knows, I'll check hopefully tomorrow.

 

[Xylophagous]

Still not used to all the buttons and such on this forum, is there an edit button? After rereading the FAQs I see the stick on thing, must no have paid enough attention the first time I read it :C good thing I asked here and reread that FAQ. Reading about them makes me so anxious haha. Also I wanted to add that while discussing everything I could think of with my mom and trying to get her to ask me questions we were talking about it biting my dad because for some reason he always seems to pester animals into hurting in some form only I think my dad's skin is leather so it doesn't even really hurt him, but either way my mom sort of freezes and is just staring at me and shes like "ARE THEY VENOMOUS?" I probably laughed, not to be disrespectful but I wouldnt even want a venomous snake around and various other things that just made the question seem a bit ridiculous to me.

 

[Tom Tuttle]

Thanks everyone for the nice welcome and responses. If my parents are still letting me get a snake even if I run into problems with it I know where to go for help haha. I've already done a decent amount of researching and after another talk with my parents I'll try and get this process moving, if this is the only present they are getting me for Christmas then they probably won't mind buying the tank, and heaters and etc. Not sure what their budget will be but even if I need to buy the snake myself and they just buy the viv stuff that would be wonderful.



Im guessing you mean:
http://www.freewebs.com/pghreptileshow/index.htm
If thats the case, $4 to get in and about a 2 hour drive? I think it's do able, I'll talk to my parents, would the snake be fine traveling in the colder weather? I'd assume it'll be alright because my mom has a cadillac with heated seats in the back and it gets to be like an oven back there. Should I take heat packs in case? I'm sure I'll be back with more questions after my parents talk to me xD

It'll be fine in the deli cup we provide. If it's really cold an insulated box will always help. You & your parents can come by the house & check out the setup, and whats available . There are probably some odds & ends lying around to help get you started.

 

[Nanci]

I'd kill to go to Tom's house...