I get my baby corn Thursday but I have a few questions.

I'm getting my baby ghost corn snake on Thursday, and I'm extremely excited, I just have a few questions and comments, if anyone could give me any advice, I'd greatly appreciate it.

1) Since it's only going to be a baby, I have a 10 gallon tank, is that too big? would good subtrate for right now, be paper towels?
2) Is a heat lamp on top necessary? Or would just a heat pad underneath one side of the tank be fine?
3) Whenever the baby gets ready to shed, will still be okay to pick it up, and maybe perhaps soak it in water to help along the process?
4) Am I suppose to have a cool side and a warm side of the tank and have a hiding spot for both sides or??
5) I'm getting my ghost from a petstore, and I asked the guy who actually does get them out and handle them, and feeds them about the personality of each snake (there were 3) and I just fell inlove with the ghost corn, the guy picked him up no problem, he lifted their rock (he was in with another corn), and just picked him up and placed him in his hand, no hissing or biting, and the guy said those two haven't shown any aggression like the third one who does bite occassionally, and said the ghost does eat well, sometimes he might be a little stubborn and not want to eat, but he was really friendly, and I got to hold the little goober, and it was so adorable, he would just crawl on me and had no problem. Is this a good sign?
6) When I do bring him home, should I leave him alone for a few days until he gets use to his new environment, and if so, for how long?
7) My last question for right now, is it required to feed them in a seperate tank or whatever when feeding them?

Thanks!

Well, first, I'll refer you to the bible of corn snakes (which, incidentally, I've never read)--The Corn Snake Manual by the Loves. They say its got all that information there.

10 gallons should be fine for a while. 20 gallons is good for a yearling/small adult, and many would recommend moving up in size one more time after that. Paper towels work well, but aren't really pretty. I use ForestBed for my snakes (coconut fiber, comes in a block that expands in water) and it looks good, smells good, and is easy to spot clean.

The type of heating you use depends on what temperatures you have. If the UTH is enough, then you don't need a light on top because corns don't need special lighting and because a lamp may make it too hot in there. If you do get a lamp, make sure the snake can't get to it so it won't burn itself.

Different snakes react to the shedding process differently. Some get really cranky when they're going to shed, others don't. I would recommend continuing to handle the snake but looking for signs of stress when it is about to shed.

A temperature gradient is good, from about 75-85 degrees. This lets the snake decide what temperature he wants. Keep the water on the cool side and give him at least 2 hides, one in each temperature.

A non-aggressive snake can be a good sign, but not always. Look for other signs of health such as a flicking tongue and how active he is to make sure. If he flicks his tongue and moves around a bit and isn't aggressive, you've got a winner there.

Leave him alone for 2 or 3 days to let him settle in--no handling, no staring at him through the glass, no feeding. I know its hard, but he isn't going anywhere.

Many would recommend feeding in a seperate container to avoid ingesting substrate and to avoid making the snake associate your hand with food. If you have paper towel substrate and handle him a lot between feedings, both of these are no problem. In the end, it is up to you to decide the best way to feed. I personally like feeding in a seperate container (paper bag stapled shut) so I can clean their cages while they're eating supper.

Have fun with your new baby!

1. A ten gallon tank is fine, and will be till they're almost 2 years of age. Acceptable substrate is aspen, reptibark, eco-earth, paper towels, newsprint....I'm sure there's more that I cant think of right now.
2. Depending on where you live, extra heat might not even be necessary. However, a UTH is just fine, you dont need both.
3. Each snake is different about shedding. I can pick both my snow and amel up while they're in shed, no problems. They both will also eat in blue phase. If you're going to pick them up, just no sudden movements and realize you're much more likely to get nipped at when they're shedding---remember they cant see very well and they're vulnerable. They'll soak if they need it.
4. Again, something people disagree about. I dont give my corns a gradient. However, if you're going to use a UTH it should only cover about 1/3 of the tank, so there will be a natural gradient. Yes, you MUST have two hides if you're going to have a gradient.
5. Okay. If you're going to buy a snake from a petstore, which I would NEVER recomend, but if you want to do that, you HAVE to check it out before hand. Inspect him for mites, listen to see if he's wheezing or has bubbles come out of his nose when he breathes, check his vent for fecal matter caught up under the scales, etc.
6. When you get him, put him in his tank and let him be for a few days. We all know it's tough, but it's best to let them get used to their new home.
7. Is it not required, but it's a very good thing to do. Go to Walmart and get a 12 quart sterilite sweater box (less than $2) and feed it in that and use either newsprint or paper towels to line the bottom with. The problem with feeding in the tank is a) After a while they tend to associate anything coming into their tank as food , and b) you have to worry about them ingesting substrate that can lead to blockage and death, so it's a very good idea to feed in a different cage.

Hope that helps. Feel free to ask more questions.

you got a lot of good advice! the only thing I can add is that if you use paper towel or news paper- you can feed your new baby in his (her) cage- the biggest concern is the snake ingesting the substrate (bark, aspen, sand etc) most snakes have a very strong feeding response at night- taking advantage of that I usually feed all my snakes after the sun goes down. All the handling, cage cleaning etc I do during the day I have not been mistaken for food in 15 years! Also- until you have determined that your new baby is healthy you might want to start with paper towels or news print/ paper, just to make it easier to see if there are mites, when it defecates etc- if after the first shed everything looks goods, you could switch to aspen or some other more attractive substrate.
Hope this helps! Congratulations & good luck

The only thing I want to add is about the heating. It's true that a UTH or a light alone is fine wheras both might get too hot (I use both), but if the room your snake is in is naturally cold and you use just a UTH, while the floor might be warm, the air won't be.

I use forest bed substrate which isn't the best conductor of heat which is why in the winter, I use both the lamp and the UTH (summer I use just the lamp). I have two lamps. A 60 watt pink which I use during the day, and a 40 watt red which stays on 24/7. The lamp alone is not warm enough to heat the tank, but in conjucntion with the UTH, it stays at a nice 85 and at night the cool side drops to 70 (red bulb stays above the cool side), but he still has the warmth of the UTH should he need it.

The day light hangs above the tank so if it gets too hot (for whatever reason) it's easy to raise or lower.

Thank you guys for all of your input and help, I really appreciate it, especially since I'm setting up the tank here in the next 2 days!

Blaqwraith said:

Thank you guys for all of your input and help, I really appreciate it, especially since I'm setting up the tank here in the next 2 days!

Click to expand...

Let us know how everything goes...

One other thing. I found a 10 gl. to be too small for my snake relatively quickly. I put her into a 30 gl. which should be fine forever. She is large for her age though. Over 3 ft. and she's a year and a half old. I had her in a 30 gl. by the time she was about 12 months old. My aztec's still in a 10 gl. and should be fine for some time, so you're going to have to gauge it by the snakes growth which varies from snake to snake.