New Corn Snake Owner

[d.neat.oh]

Hey guys! I'm so excited to finally be on one of the many forums out there. This is my first pet corn (I took care of a few years back, as well as a king and a milk and a variety of other reptiles) after almost 10 years of wanting one!

My boyfriend and I had him sexed when we got him, and have since decided to name him Vash (after Vash the Stampede from Trigun).

So far he's been doing great. He was being fed 1 pinkie every 3-4 days when we got him at the reptile expo (about 3 weeks ago), and we've kept him on that schedule.

But, I do have a few questions about this and a couple of other things.
1) How long should I keep him in his current feeding schedule before changing frequency or size of food?
2) How can I tell what morph he is?
3) His eyes looked as if they were going to go "blue" a few days ago, but they never fully did. Should I be concerned? I can tell he's going to go through a shed soon as his colors have faded, but I'm unsure of how much longer until he does since I can't tell by his eyes.

If you can answer any of these questions, I'd really appreciate it. This is also the first shed he'll have in his new home, so any advice would be great!

-d.neat
1.0.0 corn snake
1.0.0 Papillion
0.1.0 Husky/Brittany Spaniel Mix
1.0.0 Maine Coon
1.0.0 Ragdoll

 

[Karl_Mcknight]

Hey guys! I'm so excited to finally be on one of the many forums out there. This is my first pet corn (I took care of a few years back, as well as a king and a milk and a variety of other reptiles) after almost 10 years of wanting one!

My boyfriend and I had him sexed when we got him, and have since decided to name him Vash (after Vash the Stampede from Trigun).

So far he's been doing great. He was being fed 1 pinkie every 3-4 days when we got him at the reptile expo (about 3 weeks ago), and we've kept him on that schedule.

But, I do have a few questions about this and a couple of other things.
1) How long should I keep him in his current feeding schedule before changing frequency or size of food?
2) How can I tell what morph he is?
3) His eyes looked as if they were going to go "blue" a few days ago, but they never fully did. Should I be concerned? I can tell he's going to go through a shed soon as his colors have faded, but I'm unsure of how much longer until he does since I can't tell by his eyes.

If you can answer any of these questions, I'd really appreciate it. This is also the first shed he'll have in his new home, so any advice would be great!



-d.neat
1.0.0 corn snake
1.0.0 Papillion
0.1.0 Husky/Brittany Spaniel Mix
1.0.0 Maine Coon
1.0.0 Ragdoll

He's an amelanistic (or Albino) hence the red eyes, so they won't go completely "Blue" during shed. It's hard to tell with Albinos sometimes, you can even miss the change if you're not fully aware. You stated his eyes Looked like they were going blue but then this condition cleared up. I would take that as you should be expecting him to shed any day now.

As for the feeding schedule, you can follow that current schedule until he reaches about 25 grams in weight. You should invest in a scale that measures grams if you don't have one already.

There is a feeding schedule (Chart) known as the Munson plan. You can find it online or even right here on this forum if you search for it. It will tell you how to weigh and feed your snake.

 

[d.neat.oh]

Karl_McKnight thank you so much for your help! I've seen people refer to that feeding schedule before, I just hadn't looked it up yet. I'm also much less confused now about his morph. I was told albino, but I had seen tons of people calling theirs Amel and they looked similar.
Hopefully Vash gets through his shed soon. I miss playing with him, but he's been hiding ever since he started (which makes plenty of sense since he's vulnerable during this stage).

 

[Karl_Mcknight]

"Amel" is just an Artsy Fartsy way of saying Albino. Same thing

 

[Dragonling]

Amel is short for amelanistic, or "without melanin", a far more useful term when describing this type of depigmentation in non-mammalian species. "Albino" comes from the latin for "white." By now you've noticed that an albino corn snake (and pretty much any other reptile) is hardly white! The term works great for mammals, whose primary pigment is melanin...take that away, and you have a mostly white-ish animal. Reptiles possess other pigments in their skin, such as xanthin (yellows) and erythrin (reds and sometimes even purples). They can also express carotenoid retention, seen in corn snakes as the yellowing on the face and along the sides of the neck, particularly notable in anerythristic corns. Riboflavin (vitamin B2) may also play a role in pigmentation in bright green snakes.

So it's not just a fancier term, it's a far more accurate way to describe the mutation.

 

[d.neat.oh]

Okay. Just checked on my lil fella. His colors look like they've returned to normal except for right around his mouth (it still looks pale there). I don't see a shed anywhere noticeable, but I'm still going to check his substrate in a little bit. He seems like he's back to his normal activity (he had been hiding for the past few days), so hopefully he'll eat tonight and stay right on schedule. Should I worry about that one area on his face?

 

[d.neat.oh]

Update!
He had a great shed on the 25th. Looks like he may have ripped off a good scale in his head (from what I've gathered). Was worried it was a mite, but my local snake experts say he should be fine, just keep an eye on it.

 

[DollysMom]

I don't know why I miss some threads, but until today I missed this one. Your little guy is absolutely adorable. The scale should grow back in a couple of sheds. It happens sometimes. Congrats on such a great little corn snake. Glad you have him and glad you are here :wavey:

 

[CornySnakeUser]

Does he have a nicer looking skin? He looks like he may be a yearling. If he has belly checkers, which it doesn't look like he does, he may be a Hypo A. It's nice looking.

If you want to be able to tell morphs yourself:
http://www.allaboutcornsnakes.com/corn_snakes.html

 

[d.neat.oh]

Thanks for that thread! I'm not sure what you mean by checkers though.... maybe?
-d.neat

 

[d.neat.oh]

Just checked that thread, and he's definitely closer to amel than hypo a. If you mean the spots in his belly, they're very pale and not as orderly as those in the pictures on that link. Not certain if that has to do with his age.

 

[DollysMom]

An amel will have pale checkers. Yes, the little "squares" on their bellies that kind of look like a checkerboard are the checkers. They are more or less orderly depending on the individual and in some cases the morph.