first time snake owner

my husband and i just got our very first corn snake and ive wanted one since forever. Im not sure what kind it is, it is a pretty red color with some orange in it too. The pet store had 3 differnt ones "Albino, Red, and Regular" we bought the one labeled Red.. so i guess its just a red corn snake, but he is beautiful

I did a lot of research before i bought him and i think i have the basic set up down pretty good. Ive got two hide boxes, one on the warm and one on the cool side.I have a sticky heater under one side and Ive got reptile carpeting lining the bottom and another smaller piece on top that he can burrow under if he likes. I have a water dish on the cool side big enough for him to get in, and he does!!! I also found an oak branch outside, sterilized it and put it in until i find some better decoration and stuff for him to climb on.
oh i also measured the temp of the substrate with a digital thermometer and im guessing checking the temp once a week is good? My house is always a steady 75 degrees so it shouldn't be a problem. And im feeding him 1-2 pinky mice per week (usually one every 3-5 days) And yes i am using frozen, not live.

Let me know what you think and i am open to all suggestions.

here is where i posted my pics in the photo gallery
http://www.cornsnakes.com/forums/showthread.php?t=24122

and here is my photobucket with pics of my snake and aquarium
http://photobucket.com/albums/a170/ashnicwal/

Feeding every 3 days is really pushing it...

you say feeding every 3 days is pushing it? i figured that would be too much. His last feeding was on Wednesday and today is Sunday and i was going to feed him tomorrow. So is every 5 days good you think? I was told that corns have fast metabolisms and was advised to feed twice a week. So maybe every 4-5 days??? please give reasoning i really want to learn as much as i can.

Every 5 days sounds like a good idea. Feeding every three days is power feeding. If you follow the "2 day rule" for handling then feeding every 3 days leaves almost no handling time. From what I have read power feeding can be unhealthy as a snake can become overweight. Here is a thread on power feeding: http://www.cornsnakes.com/forums/showthread.php?t=14032&highlight=power+feeding

Searching for power feeding will surely give you even more info to read. Hope this helps out

awesome, ok i will stick to every 5-7 days then.. thanks for the advice. Oh and i modified his hide boxes!!! i added cardboard "walls" since they were so open.. check it out





they go in teh corners so now he should feel more secure right???

lol...that was a quick fix you did there. It probably wasn't 10 minutes ago that you mentioned you might do that. Looks good to me though, did you do both ends of the hide?

yes, i did both ends of the hide, so it will be nice and dark in there ... OMG i just checked on him and hes inside one sticking his head out!!! LOL i think he likes it..

That was a good Idea modifying that hide, I might have to steal that one. Since I have pretty much the same hide.

My hatchling is a couple months older than yours and I feed one medium size pinky every 5 days still. He seems to be doing well with that. You can tell if he is getting enough food by how big the lump is and how fast it goes away. the lump on mine is usually still there but smaller after 24 hours, and completely gone by 48 hours after he eats. Just remember do not handle him for 48 hours after he eats, or if he still has a visable lump. I did this and he regurged.

Good luck with your new friend, and welcome to the best corn snake board on the net.

Energi2er said:

That was a good Idea modifying that hide, I might have to steal that one. Since I have pretty much the same hide.

My hatchling is a couple months older than yours and I feed one medium size pinky every 5 days still. He seems to be doing well with that. You can tell if he is getting enough food by how big the lump is and how fast it goes away. the lump on mine is usually still there but smaller after 24 hours, and completely gone by 48 hours after he eats. Just remember do not handle him for 48 hours after he eats, or if he still has a visable lump. I did this and he regurged.

Good luck with your new friend, and welcome to the best corn snake board on the net.

Click to expand...

thanks for the warm welcome. I was advised by a herpatoligist/zooligist to go ahead and see how many he will take in one feeding and then feed that amount every 6-7 days until he is able to move up to fuzzies. His last feedign the lump was gone after about 36 hours and he was cruzing around the tank before 2 days!!!
so we will see.. if he will take a second pinky

and yes i know to wait at least 48 hours before handling.. some say even 3 days!!! lol, but i think 2 days is enough as long as it looks digested.

thanks everyone