Snakeless n00b

[Yartac]

I'm a 22 year old from the Netherlands, I'm engaged to an American... here's the deal. I never EVER held a snake in my life, or saw one upclose (well, closer than in the zoo or petstore)until we went to the Shelby county fair. I got to hold a cornsnake and I think I'm in love XD

It was the most awesome feeling ever and I cant get it out my head... I was already interested in exotic animals. I'm an absolute land hermit crab nut... dont ask, it's an obsession.. I have 16 at the moment but know people with 200+!

I do NOT own a cornsnake yet, and I dont plan to rush into anything, as I dont know a thing about them. I know they eat mice, and that's it.

I have a 29G screenlid kritter keeper from All-Glass for my hermit crabs, a 25G long.. or something like that, I found it in the trash XD, a 10 gallon with screenlid and a 10 gallon with hood (with lights). The 25G and the 29G are in use with the hermies... but soon I'm taking over a 55G from the petstore owner here to house the hermies .. so I'm sure ONE of my tanks could house a cornsnake happilly...

My whole purpose of this post, link me to the best cornsnake sites, tell me everything... And most importantly... what on earth should there all be in a good vivarium? Petstores suck, most of the time... I know they got it all wrong with hermies, so I dont trust them when it comes to snakes either!

Oh, are cornsnakes social? My guess is no, only in mating season But you never know... I don't plan on breeding in the near future, so no worries on that.

Thanks,

-Cat

 

[Flygning]

Your best bet would be to look online for a corn snake care sheet. Most of them have all the basic information you need, and any further questions you have can be taken care of by a quick search of the forums. People here are glad to answer any questions beyond that.

Welcome to the forums, and welcome to the love of corn snakes. Pretty soon I'm sure you'll have 2 or 3 or 7 of them just like the rest of us

 

[Yartac]

Yea right XD Hubby will love me, I already dragged him into the hermie love 16 now.. but god knows how much more will come (I adopt these critters from all over the place... evil petstores, owner who cant keep 'em etc.)

Just one will do for now But I want to know EVERYTHING first.. I dont know a thing.. well, I know a lil more already thanks to browsing this lovely forum So much questions left! Project corn snake info gather has begun >)

 

[pcar]

You can do a Google Search for "Cornsnakes" This should bring up a lot of info that you can use. A hatchling up to a yearling can live very confortably in a 10 gal. After Yearling age, you will want to move up to something bigger to allow the snake room to stretch out. You will want a warm side running between 80 and 85 degrees, and a cool side running between 75 and 78 degrees. Water dish goes on cool side. Hides on both sides. heat sources can be either a lamp with an infrared bulb or ceramic heat bulb, or a UTH (Under the tank heater). Both of these, you will want to control with a thermostat to keep the correct temps.

This site: www.cornsnakes.com is a really good resource with a lot of knowledgable people. FaunaClassifieds is another forum that you can go to that talks about corns, but isn't 100% about corns. Again, a google search on Corn Snakes will yeild you with the most info.

Corns are and aren't social...depending on who you talk to. It is best to house them on their own until you are ready to breed them. Constant handling by you will give you more social snakes. So, if you want a snake that comes up to you, then handle them more.

Hope that all this helps out, and Welcome to the Forum.

 

[pcar]

Also, you might look into getting a book called "The Cornsnake Manual" By Kathy Love (Might also be Cathy). This will explain a lot

 

[Yartac]

I could use some links that you guys recommend, Google can't judge what's a good cornsnake site and what's not

I'm going to look into some books too

Thanks for now, so much questions!

I'll spew 'em out here, donlt have to answer, I can eventually find them myself too XD

How old do they get?

What kind of substrates can you use? Reptisand/calcisand? I have half a bag of that left... or even playsand? Or woodchip?

What temp. and humidity do they need to be kept at?

How often do they shed?

Do you need a lamp AND an UTH? (I have an UTH for my hermies )

From what I saw their vivs are very similair to my current tanks.. would they also like choya wood? I got tons of fake vines, flexible branches, big water dishes, rocks and hidey huts, all usuable?

What are the diseases that are most common with them?

Uhm,that's about it for now.. I'll try to find the answers myself But chip in any info if you feel like it... I know I love to rant on about my favorite animal... so I know you guys probably love to talk about corns.

 

[pcar]

How old do they get?

Depends on the snake, living environment, health, feeding, and care.

What kind of substrates can you use? Reptisand/calcisand? I have half a bag of that left... or even playsand? Or woodchip?

Do not use sand. Sand makes an area dry and will not allow you to have good humidity levels.

What temp. and humidity do they need to be kept at?

Temps: Cool end needs to be between 74 and 78 degrees, warm end between 80 and 85 degrees

How often do they shed?

Shedding depends on the snake and how much they eat. If you feed a lot, and the snake grows a lot, you get more frequent shedding. This also depends on age.

Do you need a lamp AND an UTH?

You can use both. Some people do. I use both in one of my enclousers, but the other two are using lamps right now.

would they also like choya wood? I got tons of fake vines, flexible branches, big water dishes, rocks and hidey huts, all usuable?

All of this would be usuable. Not all is needed for a good life, but will make the viv nicer to look at.

What are the diseases that are most common with them?

Others will have to answer this question as I haven't had any hands on experience with diseases.

Hope that all this helps. Links that we give you to websites, we may think are good, but you may not care for them. Here is one that has a care sheet, also has a links page. www.cornsnake.net

 

[Hurley]

Honestly what you need is Kathy Love's book. That book will answer all of your questions on husbandry and introduce you to the breeding and morphs of corn snakes. It's all there in one source. CornUtopia She can ship one to you directly.

Kathy also has a care sheet on her site that you can check out. Don Soderberg also has a care sheet at South Mountain Reptiles. Rich Zuchowski (Serpenco) has provided this wonderful forum full of information. I'd go to the husbandry section and start reading. Do a search for substrate, etc. It's all been said here many times over and you can get a number of opinions. Also check out his site, lots of excellent pics and information on morphs. The link is to the right, small blue button with Serpenco on it.

To tell you everything would be exhaustive and would fill a book that has already been written.

To answer a couple to get you going...
Corns can easily live up into their upper teens/twenties and have lived over thirty.

I prefer aspen wood chips for substrate. Other acceptables are paper, reptibark, etc. Beware of any aromatic woods, the oils can be toxic and lead to upper respiratory infections. Calcisand is too abrasive and can clog nostrils, get stuck in the mouth, cause impactions if ingested.

Temps are generally cold side 70-75, warm side 80-90. An average humidity is best, misting isn't necessary unless it's really dry or if you don't have a water bowl big enough for them to soak when they deem it necessary.

Hatchlings will shed approximately once monthly, but this depends alot on how often they eat and how fast they are growing. Adults will typically shed 4-6 times a year, but this varies greatly on if they are breeding, if they injure their skin, if they are still growing.

These guys are not hot spot baskers. UTH's are generally preferred with a rheostat as necessary. They will burn themselves if it's too hot.

They enjoy pretty much any furniture they can use to climb or hide in. Just be sure it doesn't harbor any parasites (like wood from outside) or potentially sharp edges or toxic substances.

In my experience, respiratory infections are the most common thing dealt with, especially new corn owners. Stress, dusty substrate, incorrect temperatures can all contribute to RI's. Kathy's book has an entire chapter on this, so I'll leave that to reading.

 

[Yartac]

Wow, this is easier than I thought, I read corns come from the Keys... guess where my hermit crabs come from LOL They pretty much require the same... No resinous a.k.a. smelly wood (Aspen is resinous wood too.. I thought ) no strong cleaning scents.. I doubt I'll have to mist, I'm in Alabama, capital of humidity! My humidity gauges in my crab tanks read 75% to 80% constantly, ofcourse those are covered with plastic... and snake tanks have a screenlid.

Thank you for answering all my stupid questions. I've been reading up a lot on the colorations, the housing, feeding etc. As with all exotics the opinions differ a lot, some say lights, some say no lights, some say temperature gradient, some say not and ofcourse there's the substrate LOL this all sounds very familiar...

Would forrest bedding a.k.a. bed-a-beast a.k.a. eco earth work as a substrate? I haven't heard anyone about that..

I can tell you one thing, it'll take a while before I understand all the colorations But the care aint that hard!

Now I need to talk hubby into getting me the book

Thanks again!