New to snakes, had a question

[marco11483]

I have just recently received my baby Abbott's corn and was wondering some things. The cage is set up with a water bowl/hide on the cool side and a climbing branch in the middle and a small paper towel roll hide on the warm side. The bedding is Aspen shavings and am using an under tank heater. The temp in the viv is 83 on the warm and ~75 on the cool side. She will occasionally burrow into the substrate but she has been hiding in the top of the tank A LOT. The viv has a small lip just under the mesh screen top and that's where she is most of the day. I was wondering if this is because her hide is too small, or should I get rid of the climbing branch for now, or what? any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Eli173]

That's normal behavior and has nothing to do with your set up. I've had a couple corns do that and they'll eventually get to big to keep doing it.

 

[marco11483]

Ok because when I contacted the breeder I purchased her from, he made it seem like it was my set-up or fault. That puts me at ease a bit. I did purchase like 3 mins ago a new hid that it larger than a paper towel roll so lets see how she reacts to it.

 

[tricksterpup]

I think you are fine, this is new snake worry. Every thing is fine. Heck, I got snakes that do not even use the hides i provide and there are some I do not keep a hide for.
But good luck to your new baby and welcome to CS.com.

If you ever have any questions on odd things like this ask away..
but a good resource is this page. http://cornsnakes.com/forums/showthread.php?t=28341

also if you havent done so, I recommend getting this book. This will help you with your pet snake.

 

[jenneses]

I love that book, and Don Soderberg's as well. They are both very informative.

 

[sarcare]

My baby ghost has taken to sleeping in the handle of her sterilite containor, she has to be some kind of acrobat because it is a quite tall containor and she is still quite small!

 

[Ceridwen]

We have 10 snakes including 5 baby corns at my house right now.

Three hatchling corns burrow under the aspen and never use their hides
Two hatchling corns sit in the corners on top of the aspen and never use their hide OR burrow

The one older (2 year old) corn we have won't burrow under the aspen but does use her hides.

The king snake (3 years old) burrows to the point I don't leave hides with her anymore because she was never using them anyways.

The two hatchling spotted pythons won't burrow under the aspen and will use their hides only rarely.

The older spotted python won't burrow under the aspen but uses his hides religiously (and did the same even as a baby).

Conclusion: Snakes are weird and each one will kind of do their own thing. If the area your snake is hiding in doesn't pose a risk of injury or escape, I would not worry or try to take away that hiding place.

 

[tom e]

Yep, mine do it too! My racks all have sterilite tubs with handles. If you're in the living room at night and it's quiet enough all you'll hear is the repeated "thump" of 16 snakey acrobats falling off the handles. It's irresistible for them, they just can't quit, lol. "Thump thump thump thump" all night long, and then silence for about 3 or 4 days after they've been fed.

 

[Susielea]

I would consider getting smaller hides, if her using the lip of the tank is worrying you, as I find that corns (especially youngsters) like to squeeze into tiny places to hide, I believe they feel more secure if they can feel the walls of their hides actually touching their bodies, like in the pics below

 

[airenlow]

I would consider getting smaller hides, if her using the lip of the tank is worrying you, as I find that corns (especially youngsters) like to squeeze into tiny places to hide, I believe they feel more secure if they can feel the walls of their hides actually touching their bodies, like in the pics below

I agree! Sixx uses this log 100 times more than the 2 larger caves in his viv...

 

[sarcare]

I use a jello box for a hide, and it can be nice and tight fit for the smaller snakes!