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new and wonderful pet

M

maiden

New member
I have a new and wonderful corn. It just happens to be my first one. It is still a baby and I bought it from a local pet store. I have read all the books in our library and look up sites on the web but I am still confused about the care and feeding that needs to be done. I set up a beautiful terrerium and I take extra precautions to make sure it stays well but I need a tad bit of help.

The lady at the pet store says it needs to be force fed until it grows older and has agreed to do it for me so I can see how it is done. She owns two ball pythons so I sort of believe her. She will have the pinkies ready on Friday so if this is a wrong move please let me know.

If there is anything else I should know feel free to infrom me I need all the help I can get.:)
 
The snake should NOT be force fed unless it is on the verge of starving to death! Force feeding is very stressful on a snake, and it can do more harm than good. That's why it's reserved for snakes who are not eating and would die otherwise. It should be eating voluntarily - if it's not, take it back to the pet store and demand a refund. And I would probably not listen to anything else they tell you, either.
 
I am not sure of the last time it ate should I just offer a pinkie and be done with it or should I wait a few more weeks and see how it is reacting to its new home

btw...thanks for info
 
Congrats! My first snake was also a corn and they are absolutely wonderful I agree!

And if there are two thing most blokes will tell you its that its wonderful that you have read up about your pet and that force feeding is a shaky business.

Although it sometimes may be neccesary, there are other things to try first, feeding tricks like slap feeding, tease feeding etc...

I received a snake that didn't eat for the first 3/4 months since birth and after half an hour of struggling after I picked it up from the previous owner the snake ate. He still needs some motivation, but is eating like a dog and is quickly making up for what he missed!

Force feeding is a last result.

Other than that, great pets and amazingly interesting cratures and I hope you enjoy every second of it!:D :cool:
 
If you've just brought the snake home, don't try feeding it right away. It may be too nervous from the big move to eat right now. I would recommend giving it one full week in its new home, without any handling, before you try to feed it. This gives the snake time to settle in and feel comfortable before feeding.

As for how and where you feed, that depends on the type of cage setup you have and your preferences. If you are using aspen, Reptibark or any other substrate that comes in small pieces, do not feed in the cage. The bedding could accidentally get stuck to the pinkie; your snake could eat it and become impacted. If you use paper towels (or something similar) as a substrate, feeding in the cage should be okay. Or if your cage is very large, you may want to feed in a separate, smaller place to make sure your snake will definitely find the pink. :)
 
Calci-sand actually can cause problems if ingested (people have had their animals die from impaction just like any other sand), and it's not good for the humidity, so I wouldn't use it.
 
Paper towels are probably the safest. No chance of ingesting them. It's also easier to clean the cage, or to spot clean poop, with paper towels. Just remove the paper and lay down new stuff. (I use two layers so it won't soak straight through.)
 
shredded or whole? I also have a hidie log and some stones I cleaned up that I built a small cave out of for "Baby" to hide in that way he has choices is that good?

THX for all the help:D
 
Whole paper towels. If you shred it, the snake can accidentally ingest it with food, because it's in small pieces. That would defeat the whole purpose of using paper towels, in my opinion.

Having two hides, as you do, is a must. :) One should be on the warm side and the other on the cooler side.
 
I'm thinking you haven't read the Corn Snake Manual by Kathy and Bill Love. If not, do immediately. That is your new bible, entrust your snakes health to it until you learn "the ropes" and can modify things to suit your schedules and expectations.

no force feeding unless absolutely, positively, necessary.

Substrate = paper towl, whole sheets, newspaper, aspen shavings or reptibark (my personal favorite). NEVER USE CEDAR! and calcisand is messy and doesn't always, but CAN result in impaction if ingested in too large a quantity (google search calcisand and bad for reptiles to read some horror stories).

If it's a hatchling/young snake, feed it in a deli cup (i.e. remove it from tank to eat) and offer it frozen pinky that has been thawed under your tank lamp or been at room temperature for a few hours. Live pinky if required.

That should get you through until you can get your hands on the corn snake manual.

Good luck and congrats on that new snake....
 
Just a note about the stones for a hide- I don't know how big or heavy they are, but be careful how you arrange them. You don't want them to get moved around and fall on top of your snake and possibly injuring him. A good, cheap hide is a toilet paper tube. Paper towel tubes work too, but it's harder to get the snake out of the long tubes than the short toilet paper ones if need be.
 
Upturnd tupperware etc are also great for hides. If you dont feed in da cage shredded papertowel is fine, but go for sheets!

Watch out for loose thingies like was mentioned, unless da rocks are very stable it might be safer to remove it.

Once your cage is in order and youve managed to feed da snake, life with a corn is easy!

I'd say give your snakes a couple of days and then pop him a mousie. Depending on his reaction to da food come back here for more feeding advice, but see if he won't take a small pinkie out of you hand or from in his cage.
 
I agree with what everyone has said. We are new to cornsnake keeping too and these boards are full of invaluable advice.

We have just switched to using paper towels as substrate and so far so good, it also looks better than newspaper.

We feed our snake in his viv. We dont feed by hand, we have a pair of tongs and hold the pinkie for him to strike at it. Try that when you first feed and you might be pleasantly surprised. If he is force fed from the start without it being a necessity your snake could end up associating food with the unpleasant action of having it forced down his throat.

In our viv we have a a hide and a tree branch (the kind usually used in fish tanks), he likes to sit on the branch. :) One of his favourite places to hide is under his water bowl, which is hollow underneath.

Enjoy your new pet, they are fascinating and its good fun learing about them.
 
your advice is helping but I have another prob..."baby" has found that he can stretch up from his hidie and get into the crack between the tank and the screen...is this dangerous?

I have measured him and he is 36 1/2 cm give or take (he wouldn't hold still) and I am not sure but are lavenders born lavender do their colors change as they grow? My baby has a puple tinge on his/her skin and crimson/purplish spots. I have seen some good pics of lavenders and it looks like the same markings but it isn't that purple. It seems as though the longer I have it the more purple it gets.

Can anyone guess an age on him too?
 
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All hatchlings will change color dramatically as they grow. Posting a picture will assist us to better identify your corn. At that lenght it is probably 2-6 month old.

As far as reaching the lid, here is the rule of thumb:
If it can put its nose in a hole, it will be gone.

These little buggars are excellent escape artist and will quickly take advantage of any opportunity that is presented. I highly recommend that you rectify this situation immediately!
 
Lavender, basically, is a third type of anerythrism. You said your snake has crimson color, so it is definitely not a lavender. Lavenders do not have red in their blotches, although some show a pinkish color in their background. Like CAV said, all corns change as the grow older. If you can post a pic of yours, we can probably tell you what it is.

Are you referring to the little ledge that forms when you put a screen top on a tank? If so, that's completely normal. I don't know of any hatchling corns that haven't taken advantage of this little ledge if it's available to them. :)

Based on the size of your snake, I'd say it's a hatchling. Size can vary a lot in the first few months, depending on size at hatching and how much a baby's eaten since then. Most corns hatch sometime between June and August, with a few hatchling out in May or September.
 
Cool so it may not be a lav ok

I will see about getting some good pics of it. That reminds me...how old do they have to be to get them sexed?
 
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