Snake Help

[techen]

Heya all, Am about to buy a corn snake, Viv and all that.
 
I have no idea how snake care and a quick sum up would be good so I can take great care of the snake like I do my fish
 

 

 

[Chad]

I had a corn snake for years. A friend of mine had two snakes, turned out it was a male and female and they bred. He gave me one of the young. I was the size of a pencil when I got it as was 5' long when I returned it to him years later.
 
Do you have any specific questions about care?
 
They like humidity, warmth, and live food and they can escape quite easily. They do bite but it doesn't hurt as hey don't have fangs just rear facing saw teeth for holding their prey. If they don't eat remove the mouse.

 

[scotty]

find out its feeding regime,when it last shed its skin.there is a great forum i could recommend but i a not allowed to post the link

 

[Chad]

Is it a reptile forum or a fish forum?  You can post a link to a reptile forum. 

 

[scotty]

reptile forum
http/www.thecornsnake.co.uk/forum/
 
there you are tech

 

[techen]

Thank you Scotty, Having a look.
 
Picked up today, Hes a BIG guy. Wasn't expecting him to be so big, But hes great with being handled. Guy said he was fine with his kids and isn't fussy.
 
I got a mouse for him, Need to go buy somemore, Said he sheds fine too so we shall see.
 

 

[Vibora]

Wow! Congratulations! He's a pretty boy. Warm side should be about 80-85F,  and the cold side, about 75 F. Use an under the tank heater with a thermostat rather than lights. For feeding, prekilled or F/T, but F/T won't have parasites and will save money. Don't feed live no matter what.
 
I have a ball python who had a rat bite his face (previous owner fed live) and it healed up strangely. Now he only has one nostril he can breathe through, as well as missing scales and a hard time shedding. He has to open his mouth to breathe sometimes.
 
The snake looks big enough for adult mice. Could you get a weight on him in grams next week so I can know what size he should eat? With his size, I would feed him once every 10-14 days.
 
He'll be a bit freaked out, so don't mess with him or feed him for the next week, can other than changing his water each day. 
 
Does he have a hide? I don't see one, and he'll appreciate if he has one! A wrapping paper tube will work fine if you don't have one.
Don't make the tank very humid unless he is in the blue (about to shed), otherwise, he could get scale rot.
 
Cornsnakes are easy really, hardy little guys and very sweet.
 
Sorry, my comment was all over the place, but the site below has amazing people with great knowledge.
 
 
This site is your best friend.
http/www.cornsnakes.com/forums/

 

[techen]

Thank you Vibora, Hes very curious at the moment, Going all over the tank. The guy gave me a mouse and said to feed him 2mro? Should I just stuff it back into the freezer and hold off with that now? Am not a fan of live foods anyway so it will be frozen mice if this is okay?
 
It has a heatmat in there but no thermostat or anything like that. Could you link me to something I should have with the heat mat to keep the tank at stable temps?
 
Also, A hide? No, There's some fake bushes he crawls into sometimes but I'll get him a real hide like a cave or something.
 
I signed up to the website, Just waiting to be approved.
 
Lastly, I do want a light but are these not recommended? Could I not put a reptile light in there or just a normal one for day/night cycles?

 

[Vibora]

Thank you Vibora, Hes very curious at the moment, Going all over the tank. The guy gave me a mouse and said to feed him 2mro? Should I just stuff it back into the freezer and hold off with that now? Am not a fan of live foods anyway so it will be frozen mice if this is okay?
 
It has a heatmat in there but no thermostat or anything like that. Could you link me to something I should have with the heat mat to keep the tank at stable temps?
 
Also, A hide? No, There's some fake bushes he crawls into sometimes but I'll get him a real hide like a cave or something.
 
I signed up to the website, Just waiting to be approved.
 
Lastly, I do want a light but are these not recommended? Could I not put a reptile light in there or just a normal one for day/night cycles?

Tomorrow would be too soon. He could regurge, and with snakes, the stomach acid won't return for weeks. Not a good way to start off the big guy. Frozen and then thawed (F/T) is the best way to go in my opinion. It is the cheapest and safest. Put the mouse in a baggie in cold water for about 30 minutes and then add hot water. Blood may come out of its nose due to the temperature change, but some snakes won't eat cold mice. Hold the mouse by the tail to feed, and he'll feed. This would be in a week to let him settle.
 
http/www.amazon.com/Zoo-Med-Repti-Temperature-Rheostat/dp/B0002AQD0Y/ref=sr_1_2/186-4447948-5847843?ie=UTF8&qid=1374448713&sr=8-2&keywords=reptile+rheostat . It's actually called a rheostat. My mistake. Anyways, you can also try making a stat http/www.cornsnakes.com/forums/showthread.php?t=19168
 
He'll appreciate a hide. It's nice to see him curious. If he were too stressed out, he'd probably would be out.
 
The lights are good for them, they can help give them a few nutrients. I have a light and UTH, and as long as it isn't too hot, it's fine.

 

[techen]

Thanks again Vibora, There is no light in the box so am looking at anything. Not entire sure what to get yet.
 
What are F/Ts? Am guessing you mean just frozen mice? I'll put the mouse I have back into the frozen and do the bag in water trick before feeding him.
 
I'll have a look at this thermostat then.

 

[Vibora]

No problem! F/T means Frozen/Thawed. The bag isn't necessary, you can just put it in the water, but I find it easier with a bag. I don't like the mouse to drip all over the floor.

 

[techen]

Awesome thanks.

 

[VickyChaiTea]

Vibora is spot on with their advice.
 
I've had corn snakes for 5 years and I currently have 3. All have always eaten frozen/thawed and I highly recommend it. Fortunately, corn snakes are usually the easiest to convert if they've had live before.
 
I would like to offer alternative advice to thawing a rodent. If it is small, as in any mouse, it can be thawed directly in very hot water. It takes approximately 20 minutes, and if the water cools add more hot water.
 
Or, and this would be ideal, put the frozen mouse in the fridge the night before, then in hot water to bring it up to temp. This is called a "cold thaw" and is pretty much what Vibora said, only more similar to the technique used with thawing chicken and whatnot. Also, it's the only way to safely thaw larger feeders like rats.

 

[MBOU]

In the UK, the most common make of thermostats is Habistat. That is your urgent priority! With no thermostat, there is nothing to tell you if it stops working and the snake gets cold... or much worse still... with no thermostat... there is nothing to prevent a fault where it heats up so hot it cooks the snake... which is, unfortunately a common fault in heatmats.
 
Long term, you would probably be much better off looking into getting a ceramic heat lamp and a stat, heatmats are just... *meh* if its a big ole snake, it will get hot very quickly sitting on a heatmat and they are often too stupid to get off the heatmat. With a ceramic bulb, you can set it (with a guard) down one end of the vivarium which will give you better control for the temperature variant down each end of the  vivarium.
 
As for the frozen/thawed food, that is the best way to go, corn snakes are rarely ever fussy feeders! But some snakes do dislike wet food, found a good way of defrosting it and keeping it dry is using a hair dryer

or if you get the ceramic on the viv, keep the heatmat and lay frozen mouse on the heatmat to defrost.
 
He will definitely want an adult mouse or a really small rat at the size he is but depending on how fat he is, might only want feeding every 10 days or so....

My friend has a good website, a good simple article on corns as well...
http/www.thamesvalleyexotics.co.uk/page6.htm
 
Here is the heating you want:
 
Pulse Stat
http/www.eurorep.co.uk/heating/thermostats/habistat-pulse-prop-thermostat
 
Ceramic (though I am not sure on wattage..)
http/www.eurorep.co.uk/heating/ceramic-heaters
 
If you are on FB, ask Kat on here for any questions or photos of her corn snake setups, she will most happily oblige

https/www.facebook.com/pages/Thames-Valley-Exotics/203422953746?fref=ts
 
Here is my corn (had to sell her when I moved in with my now ex), she was a beautiful American bred Serpenco Butter corn snake called Flora lol.
 

 

[Vibora]

In the UK, the most common make of thermostats is Habistat. That is your urgent priority! With no thermostat, there is nothing to tell you if it stops working and the snake gets cold... or much worse still... with no thermostat... there is nothing to prevent a fault where it heats up so hot it cooks the snake... which is, unfortunately a common fault in heatmats.
 
Long term, you would probably be much better off looking into getting a ceramic heat lamp and a stat, heatmats are just... *meh* if its a big ole snake, it will get hot very quickly sitting on a heatmat and they are often too stupid to get off the heatmat. With a ceramic bulb, you can set it (with a guard) down one end of the vivarium which will give you better control for the temperature variant down each end of the  vivarium.
 
As for the frozen/thawed food, that is the best way to go, corn snakes are rarely ever fussy feeders! But some snakes do dislike wet food, found a good way of defrosting it and keeping it dry is using a hair dryer

or if you get the ceramic on the viv, keep the heatmat and lay frozen mouse on the heatmat to defrost.
 
He will definitely want an adult mouse or a really small rat at the size he is but depending on how fat he is, might only want feeding every 10 days or so....

My friend has a good website, a good simple article on corns as well...
http/www.thamesvalleyexotics.co.uk/page6.htm
 
Here is the heating you want:
 
Pulse Stat
http/www.eurorep.co.uk/heating/thermostats/habistat-pulse-prop-thermostat
 
Ceramic (though I am not sure on wattage..)
http/www.eurorep.co.uk/heating/ceramic-heaters
 
If you are on FB, ask Kat on here for any questions or photos of her corn snake setups, she will most happily oblige

https/www.facebook.com/pages/Thames-Valley-Exotics/203422953746?fref=ts
 
Here is my corn (had to sell her when I moved in with my now ex), she was a beautiful American bred Serpenco Butter corn snake called Flora lol.
 

Great info! Yeah, I wondered if perhaps he'd need a small rat, but as you said, he looks a bit chubby. Most snakes can live their life on mice, but he's such a big boy! Anyways, Flora is lovely. I love butters, almost as much as I love caramels. -Edited to add- Most of the UTH in the US are programmed to malfunction off, but some brands break on. I don't know how it is in the UK, but yes, I would agree that a rheo is needed. Another bad thing that could happen, is if water spills on a non-regulated UTH. Then the tank will crack.