• Hello!

    Either you have not registered on this site yet, or you are registered but have not logged in. In either case, you will not be able to use the full functionality of this site until you have registered, and then logged in after your registration has been approved.

    Registration is FREE, so please register so you can participate instead of remaining a lurker....

    Please be certain that the location field is correctly filled out when you register. All registrations that appear to be bogus will be rejected. Which means that if your location field does NOT match the actual location of your registration IP address, then your registration will be rejected.

    Sorry about the strictness of this requirement, but it is necessary to block spammers and scammers at the door as much as possible.

The usual "first time owner" questions!

J

jake95

New member
Hello guys, first time corn snake owner here, I picked up the snake today, but I had his enclosure all set up for about 5 days to monitor everything. The details are as follows,

35"x12"x6" rubber maid tub ( I put plenty of places for him to hide) ( I have a boamaster enclosure on order, it's just going to be a few weeks before it arrives)

11"x11" ultra therm heat pad, controlled by a ranco thermostat.

Aspen bedding, 2 reptile basics hides, 1 on the cool end, 1 on the hot end, I also have a few paper towel rolls spread around in different areas just so he has options.

and lastly a ceramic water bowl.

Hot side is roughly 87* on the tub surface, and 85* on the bedding, cool side is roughly 77*-79*



I read that you should leave him in the container he came in, put it inside the cage and let him come out on his own, however the box he came in was to tall for me to do that, so I took him out and placed him in the enclosure, he immediately starting to wonder about, tunneling in the substrate and cruising around.

He's in a dark, quiet room. with a towel placed over 1/2" the tank.

I plan on waiting about a week before trying to feed.

That's pretty much where im at.. just looking for opinions, and is there anything else I should do or look for? He was hatched this year, he's about 12" or so.
 
Sounds like you did a great researching your snake's needs and setting up for him. I am sure you already know this, but just remember not to handle snakey for a while. And like MysticExotics said, we would love to see pictures once he is settled in!

And welcome to the forum!
 
Thank you guys! I forgot, I have a picture that the breeder sent me of him!. I also have another question, I was told he was eating large fuzzy mice, he looks awfully small, I figured pinkies. What do you guys think?
 

Attachments

  • DSCN3299 3.jpg
    DSCN3299 3.jpg
    93.2 KB · Views: 116
A "Fuzzy" is just a big Pinky. He should be able to handle Fuzzies. The newly hatched snakes eat the Pinkies. Your snake is twice as big as a newly hatched.

You did well on the "Setup" it sounds like. The temps sound good. For what it's worth I'll offer a few suggestions or tips of my own -

You said you had him in a dark room with a towel over the lid......
It's a good idea for a Captive Pet snake to have uniformity on a daily basis. He should have 12 hours of light and 12 hours of dark. To "mimic" real life in the wild. Not direct sunlight, it can be room light, but just as long as he can tell the difference between night and day. Otherwise you might throw off his metabolism.

And my other suggestion is about watering. I don't know about your area, but "Tap Water" in most cities is horrible. Chlorine and Flouride and so forth....
But if you opt for Bottled Water, they don't always have the minerals that are necessary for the snake. If using Bottled water, try to find water that still has the "Trace elements and Minerals." (Basically Tap Water but with no Chlorine or Flouride). Or, you can purchase some Water Treatment for Reptiles and all it takes is a few drops in your tap water. I currently use "Reptisafe Water Conditioner." I highly recommend it.

And your Little Corn is beautiful. Good luck with him.
 
Thanks for the pinky/fuzzie info! I only have him in a dark room/covered because that's what I read you should do when you first get them, so they feel more secure for the first few days. After a few days i'll remove it, its only temporary. I have a well, so I don't have to deal with the chlorine/other additives.
 
I started my snake on bottled spring water and that does have minerals. I made sure it was real spring water and not just bottled drinking water. I have since switched to using filtered water from my Brita pitcher. It does not remove fluoride, but if I've read the water threads here correctly, many people do use plain old tap water successfully. I prefer to make sure the chlorine is out of it. If you do go the water filter route make sure you change the filters as recommended. My son has a 13 year old African house snake he has raised on pitcher filtered Chicago city water.
 
Thank you! So I just got word that his display enclosure is ready, and it will be shipping tomorrow, so i'll probably get it at the end of the week. I'm wondering how I should go about moving him into it? when he's ready to feed, should I feed him in his current enclosure, wait a few days then move him into his new one, or move him into his new enclosure first, then try to feed him? Anyone have any ideas?
 
Note that I feed outside of the enclosure to ensure my snake does not associate tank with places to bite. Also, if you are using a wood chip (ie. Aspen) substrate, it is possible for the snake to pick some up on the food and get an impaction. Of course this is my opinion, you will meet lots of people with different or similar opinions.

As for transferring - I am not really sure, I'll let others more experienced with moving tanks share their ideas.

And beautiful snake! Congrats!
 
Just because they don't like change, I'd feed in old, let digest, and then move. Give him some "down time" in the new enclosure before feeding again.

I'd also move the old substrate to the new enclosure (add to it if you need to but keep as much of the old as you can) and don't wash any of the hides or decor (unless they are soiled) to keep the smell the same. I think that can really help the move.
 
Great advice! That's what I pretty much planned on doing, just needed some support LOL. Thank you guys for all the info!
 
I use regular tap water for my boys- I haven't had any issues, my guys are really healthy and vibrant. I think unless you KNOW your water is just crap that regular tap should be fine, but I understand the want to use filtered or bottled. It honestly is just a preference thing.

Welcome to the forum, your baby is really pretty =)
 
opinions will vary greatly from person to person so I will just share my own personal experience with you.

I bought my Corn snake on a Saturday and brought him home that day. I put him into his new habitat right then and the next morning (only about 12 hours later) took him out, handled him a bit (he was fine) put him into a feeding box and fed him a mouse which he took right away.

There are people that will tell you not to handle him for a week, not to feed him for a week...etc.... And all that is ok. You're certainly not going to hurt the snake letting him "Acclimate to his new surroundings" for a week. But is it really necessary? It is with some snakes like a Ball Python. They are generally a problem snake especially if you're new to snakes or Pythons.

But Corn snakes are a bit different. They are very Hardy, Docile, and usually good feeders.
 
I agree, everyone has a different opinion or what works for one person doesn't work for another. I'm just going to let him be for a few days, I ordered his fuzzies and they'll be here Wednesday, so I'll offer one to him then.
 
Yes, we all have different snakes, different experiences and different opinions. I handled too soon after bringing home and my snake let me know. It was the only time I've been bitten. Then I let him rest and fed him in viv for two weeks (I now feed out of viv). He's been the most sweet guy ever since. I really think they train us as to what is right for them.
 
I use regular tap water for my boys- I haven't had any issues, my guys are really healthy and vibrant. I think unless you KNOW your water is just crap that regular tap should be fine, but I understand the want to use filtered or bottled. It honestly is just a preference thing.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I've been using regular tap water for all my snakes for over a year now without any issues, and all of my snakes are thriving.
 
I also use tap water - but I agree it depends where you live. For instance, I personally would drink my tap water so that is my rule of thumb - if I would drink it, its safe for my snakes.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top