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new and wonderful pet

You can sex them right out of the egg

by either popping or probing. I mean no offense at all by this, but you REALLY need to read a book on corn snake husbandry. The best has been mentioned, but any of the paperbacks (that should be available wherever corns are sold) will be invaluable. I am concerned about the lack of knowledge the seller demonstrated by suggesting force-feeding. I raise dozens of these every year and never have do do that. If they are that poor of feeders, I cull them, but that is extremely rare with my corns. They should eat after their first shed. Find out if the seller has already done this terrible tatic on your purchase. If so, I'd return it if it doesn't eat on it's own, because it almost certainly would have if she'd properly cared for it! :mad:
 
I am sorry about asking all the trivial questions but I am unable to find the Cornsnake Manual except for online and don't have a credit card to order it. I am just wanting to make sure I don't screw up and kill it. I have wanted a snake for 5 years and I want to make sure it doesn't end up like my goldfish. (They are now swimming in that big fish bowl in the sky.) But I do have this...a pic I found that looks exactly like my "Baby". It is not mine I am just borrowing the pic. Until I get some film this will have to do.
 

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I'm no expert on morphs... Anytheristic maybe?

but it's not an Okeetee or Miami! Nor is it amelanistic or motley. That somewhat narrows it down, but I haven't raised enough anytheristics etc. from hatchlings, to give more than an educated guess, and I'll let those more knowlegable on morphs do that. Expect a correct assesment within 48 hours! :)
As for a book, any book on American colubrids (kingsnakes, ratsnakes, etc) will give you the same basic information for care. And will warn you about the dangers of escape, which is a worry to me, second only to the feeding practices the poor guy might have already been subjected to.
Good luck, enjoy your pet, and read free Internet care sheets in the meantime! South Mountain reptiles has a good one as I recall. Just do a search for cornsnake care sheets.
 
I'm a little confused here... you described your snake as having crimson colors. The picture you showed, which I realize is not your snake, has NO red whatsoever (as far as I can tell).
 
I realise everybody's monitor displays slightly different, but what I see in that snake is sortof a faded 'wine' color, not really RED, but pinkish. And I trust my monitor :)

And it looks like a couple of pics of young lavender corns I've seen, but I could be mistaken.
 
Re:

Congratulations on your new pet snake. You'll enjoy it! But beware, they're addictive. I started out with one over a year ago, and now I'm up to 22. ;)

As for the Corn Snake manual, they sell them here in pet shops and at PetSmart. If you have one of those nearby, I'd take a trip and check out their book collections. Our Barnes and Nobles has the corn snake manual as well. So just about any larger store that carries books is bound to have it.

As for colours, I agree with Pinatamonkey, that snake looks like a wine-plum colour to me. But without an actual picture, it's hard for us to semi-accurately determine exactly what morph you may have.

As for force-feeding, it should only be done when absolutely necessary. I'll not keep pressing that issue, as from what I've read, everyone seems to be pushing that pretty hard.

Give your snake a week or so to settle into it's new home before offering it's first meal. Make sure that if you have a loose substrate in the container, that you remove the snake to another container, a deli-cup or yogurt cup with lid, or even one of those Glad-ware things with a few holes punched in it.

As for all of you harder hitting folks, give the new owner a bit of a break. Not everyone bought every book or read every book prior to purchasing their new pet. Myself included. Luckily they found their way here, among us intellectual giants. =P

Anyway, just relax and take it one day at a time. If for any reason the snake doesn't feed for you readily, I wouldn't hesitate to take it back to the store. I somehow feel that if they told you the snake has to be force-fed on a routine basis, they really don't know what they're talking about. A force-fed snake should never have been up for sale anyway.

Just my $.02..
 
Especially a snake of that size is a bit weird for force feeding, thats about 4 months old! But ja...

Goldfish? I wont worry, cornsnakes can actually live to exceed 16years! And corns, although a bit fussy over somethings are really easy, and lovable snakes. Worry about feeding when you get there, post a new thread and we'll help you again!

The only info for snake-caring I could find was internet caresheets, and there are thousands, the info should help you along rather nicely!

Cheers!
 
boy that got a lot of response

OK I have a lead on a digital camera and will try to get a couple of good pics so that you guys can help me out. I have to go out and get a pinkie today...the pet store gets its stock today. I will confront her on whether or not she has force fed before and try to get a run down on age and see if she can't get the manual for me. Til then I wrote something last night and wanted a few opinions on it...


The way you slide and slither makes me shiver,
Your silkiness on my skin.
For nothing fairs to the beauty that airs
On the silky scales of a Corn.

What do you think???:D
_______________________________

Ok I went to pet store...Get this the breeder sent a message with the snakes that they have force fed them since hatching and that she should too. That is horrible!!! But a bit of good news she is gonna order me the Cornsnake Manual. I watched her force feed her other snakes. She only starts the heads in and then lets the snake take it from there. I still agree with you guys and say it is wrong but she has done it with one of her other snakes and it has now begun feeding itself. I also learned that it hatched out in June/July.
 
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With regards to thawing the frozen pinkies I saw that someone mentioned having to leave it out at room temp for several hours, that is totally inefficient. You can put them in a plastic baggy and soak them in a cup of hot water. Takes about 5 mins to thaw, and nice and dry.

Good luck with your baby. My two were born end of June and are the cutest things, the Amel is so mellow and the normal is very highly strung, when you go to pick him up he whips about for a few seconds before calming down, whereas the Amel you pick her up and she just hangs.

Tina
 
I usually just buy live ones if they are available. It makes it more interesting to watch it feed that way.
 
That comment is bound to get a lot of responses...
Let me jump in and out really quickly
I agree that is interesting to see snakes eat live mice. I'd say pinkies are ok since they don't have sharp teeth or nails yet.

BUT, if your snake decides he ONLY wants live mice, you're going to have a problem a down the road. Adult mice are pretty good at biting (hard), especially when they are fighting for their lives. I've seen snakes with scars or scales torn off from a scared mouse putting up a good fight.
I'm not saying that you can't feed live pinkies right now, just suggesting that it might be better for your snake (and easier/cheaper for you) if you start feeding him frozen/thawed mice now.
 
I might suggest frequenting a different pet store. I may be new to cornsnakes, but from what you've said, they're not very knowledgeable or helpful.
 
It's not a concern.. yet

or anytime soon!:) A hungry corn can easily dispatch an adult mouse without a scrape. But variables abound... is the snake hungry enough to eat as soon as it drops into the cage, etc. I find the real danger with live feeding is with rats, but adult mice "can" harm a snake. The biggest danger seems to be when the mouse is left alone. At the point in it's growth cycle your snake is, there is no worry. A pink, fuzzy, or hopper can do no damage to a corn large enough to eat them. And swithching over from live to thawed is seldom a problem with Elaphae.
That said, I feed thawed to any hatchling I have that will take them. They are readily availible from pet stores and mial.
 
My live feeding rules for my adults are...

if I drop a mouse in with them in the "feeding tub" they have exactly 2 minutes to figure out it's there and eat it. If they go "nose to nose" once or twice and don't do anything I abort immediately.

If they're not interested in live immediately following exposure they're not hungry and it's not worth risking injury to my snakes. Never have I ever left my snake alone with a live mouse or rat before. (in 100's of live feedings)

As for easily dispatching, I agree, though there were times where tons of blood was involved, it always was the mouse's not my snakes (thank god, I got worried a few times).

After this next shed I think I'm going to post pics of the size of my normal adults, they are gigantic.
 
ok then it is just a matter of watch and wait on the live feeding thing. There are no other pet stores in the area that sells mice...just dogs cats and birds. very rural.
 
maiden,

I would suggest not going the Live route. Is there any reason for doing so? Live can be frozen, or you can easily order frozen feeders from numerous online sellers.
 
or you can simply whack the mouse in the head

Sorry to put it so bluntly, but it doesn't take much. I used to thump them with my finger, just like playing "knuckles," only the target was the back of the mouse's head. They'd die pretty quickly. A screwdriver handle will do the job, too. :)
 
or if thats a bit difficult to stomach (screwdriver!?) just pop them in a bag and whack it on da table. Works for me!

Please dont throw live mice in freezer, their bodies go through horrendous punishment when frozen, do you want to be alive when all your cells burst open and die while your brain slowly freezes over?

A good whack should do da trick, even if your using hardware (screwdriver!?).

G'luck!:D
 
LOL I like the screwdriver trick it kinda has a sadistic ring to it...
I will take that into consideration but for now live pinkies will be fine huh?

Also had a question about housing an adult. I am using 10 gal aquarium for now but I can easily tell a six foot long adult is not gonna have room what do I need to plan for and what should I house him in when he is an adult?
 
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