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Question

anthonycyrus

anthonycyrus

New member
Hey all. I'd like to say that I am new here, my name is Anthony, and I should be purchasing a snake this upcoming Thursday(Sept. 23rd). I will be going down to my pet store and choosing off the list of snakes that they will get in. I am looking toward a Ghost corn, but if anyone would like to throw in any other suggestions, please do. Thanks.

Anyway, this site is great and has helped me alot reguarding information on keeping the snake. Thats why I figured I'd ask a couple of more questions just to be sure about a few things.

1) For a substrate I was thinking about using reptibark. The question is, is it all one big piece, or is it a bunch of seperate pieces? Reason why I am asking is because when I go to clean the animal waste I want to know how to clean the reptibark.

2) I am going to buy a heater for underneath the tank, do I need a light for the top of the tank as well? If so, what kind of light should I buy? Should I turn the light off at night when I go to sleep or keep it on?

3) When I feed the snake I would like to feed it in a seperate container. Which kind of container would you recommend? At what time after the snake has finished his food could I return the snake to its real home?

Alright, for now those are the 3 questions I wasnt completely sure about and I appreciate everyone's help beforehand. Thank you. Also, sorry if I sound like an idiot, but I would like to keep my snake for many many years!
 
No one who comes on here and asks relevant questions sounds like an idiot. Asking is way better than not caring :)

Since I've only got a few minutes, I'll answer only one of the questions--3. I put the mouse in a paper lunch bag, roll the top of the bag down so that it fits inside the viv and put the snake in the bag. I set the whole getup into the viv. The snake doesn't associate my hand coming into the viv with food (only the bag), he doesn't ingest substrate, and he is free to go back to his hide whenever he wants. Or, he may decide he likes the paper bag better than his other hides ;)
 
I'm pretty new here too, but welcome. How old is the snake you are getting?
I think that you'll need a light as well as a heater, the uth (under tank heater) will warm up the substrate, not the air, a lamp will warm the air and substrate. You will need to shut the light off at night, corns are nocturnal so they come out in the evening and night. I have just a normal, shielded light with varying bulbs, but they are just normal ones, like a 75-watt. I have the light on a timer to automatically go off and on. They are pretty cheap and this way I don't have to worry if I go out.
I feed my hatchling by putting the thawed mouse in the small tupperware container that she came in, then I pick her up, put the container in her viv, then let her go into the container. When she finishes, she can easily get back to her viv and it takes care of the problems. When she gets bigger, I'll go with the bag.

I don't know much about repti-bark but I think it's little chunks of bark.

What I did, was I got EVERYTHING set up two weeks before my snake came home so I could fine-tune all my heating and humidity BEFORE it affected my snake.
If anyone thinks I am doing something wrong please post but I have had people here tell me my procedure is fine. good luck, Anthony, I like ghosts too, I have an anerythristic which is kinda similar to a ghost.
 
Thank you Azruial. How long do you keep the light on for? What time do you put it on, and what time do you shut it off?
 
Hope I can help with the Reptibark question. It's lots of little pieces of bark, which is one of the reasons for feeding in a separate container (don't want the little fella accidentally swallowing some).

When it gets dirty, you can "spot clean" by scooping out a handful around where he's pooped, cleaning the floor in that spot and replacing with a handful of clean. Every few weeks, empty out all of the Reptibark & throw it away, clean the whole floor and replace with all clean stuff.

Welcome to the most addictive hobby on the planet!
 
anthonycyrus said:
Thank you Azruial. How long do you keep the light on for? What time do you put it on, and what time do you shut it off?
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I kind of just adjusted it to when it starts getting sunny and when it turns dark. some breeders adjust it by the seasons because the snakes use photoperiodism as well as temperature changes to tell when it is time to breed, but I think mine is set at around 5:30 am on and 6:30 pm off, I also have my blinds open so there is indirect sunlight in the viv.
 
I think you will find that aspen is a lot cheaper than repti-bark if that is a consideration (less money on substrate, more for new animals). I just stocked up on a huge bale for 15 bucks. I was using repti-bark before. Good luck on the new snake, and you can start with any morph because you will end up owning the rest anyway, lol, but a ghost is as good as any.
 
Good luck on the new snake, and you can start with any morph because you will end up owning the rest anyway, lol, but a ghost is as good as any.
Click to expand...

LOL isn't that the truth. :)

Snice you live in NY, and winters do get cold here up north, I use UTH and light combo. However I have other sources of heat that keep my ambient temps in the 80's durning the day.

I only use lights when temps get low at night, If I have windows open.

40 w red bulbs is what I usefor night.
I have a low wattage day bulb if extra heat is needed to keep the temp up durning the day.


I just change bulbs out in the morning and around the same time every night I change back bulbs. You can buy light timers at Home depot to do this for you.


The reptile bark isn't a bad substrate. Most will swear by aspen bedding. Then again most have alot of snakes and easy is good. :)

For feeding I have a larger size container for mine, but it easly fits in the snake viv.

I put the food in and then wash hands :) put her in, and put both in the viv. When she is done she I open the lid and she crawls out to find a place to digest.

And that;s what I do. Hope it gives ya some ideas.
 
The only reason I prefer aspen over reptibark (and I've used both) is that it's easier to spot the poop in the aspen. The dark brown reptibark tends to hide the poop and make it hard to see. I use a separate container like Krenna does (a cardboard box to be exact with paper towel in the bottom) and I feed them in there. I only use a heat lamp in the winter when my tank temps get into the low to mid 60's. I only turn it on during the day using a timer that turns it on at 7 a.m. and off at 7 p.m. They can warm themselves on the UTH if they really want to, but they seem to prefer the cool temps until morning when the heat goes on.
 
brownie55 said:
I think you will find that aspen is a lot cheaper than repti-bark if that is a consideration (less money on substrate, more for new animals).
Click to expand...

Paper towels are even cheaper and you don't have the risk of accidental ingestion while burrowing...If a corn accidentally ingest the aspen, it can lead to an impaction and if not treated right away can cause the snake to die...I know from experience...I have lost several corns to aspen ingestion...
 
how do you know if your corn ingested aspen? or i guess any substrate for that matter. What are the tell tale signs
 
Hey all I have an update on my snake! Instead of starting a new post I figured I'd just continue here. Anyways...

I went down to the pet shop today and ordered a Ghost Corn snake, it should be coming in tomorrow. I picked up all the supplies, which include:

20 gallon tank
Day light
Night light
UTH
Aspen Bedding
Water dish
Climbing branch

I am going to feed the snake in a seperate plastic container, anyone have any suggestions on what I should use? I know I am missing the thermometer, but I did not see any in the pet shop. Can anyone tell me what I should do? Is there anything else I missed? Also, the pet shop feed the snakes on Friday's, should I put a deposit down on the snake and let it stay in the shop for a couple of days or should I buy the snake and let it get used to its new eviornment and feed it as normal sometime next week?
 
Sounds good, what do you have in the way of hides? All you should need is an empty cereal box and/or parer towel roll. I took one cereal box and made two hides, one is a single side from the box which is bent to be kind of like those cork ones that cost $20. The other is the rest of the box. Then, because I was aiming for a good presentation of the viv (and for easy cleaning), I threw some substrate on top of the hides. The other place she likes is under the water bowl. She seems to like all of them.
Hmm... no thermometers at the pet store? And this store sells herps?? WOW, mine is tiny, it only has, about four isles and a lot of it is empty. The only animals they sell are gerbils and hampsters, and they had herp thermometers. If there is nowhere else to go, you can order on the internet, but you may get nailed with shipping charges. Good luck , and post pics once he/she settles in :D
 
If the snake is a proven feeder, and you have the set up, minus the hides, which can be made, I am not sure what your waiting for :p. Get your snake give it 3 days alone, feed it about 5th day small meal.
 
You can buy thermometers at any garden store. They usually have all kinds, from digital, to combo temp/humidity. I got the kind with suctions that stick to the walls of the viv and I just make sure the bottom of the thermometer is touching the substrate.
 
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