Housing Size

I have done some searching here and other places and can't find any hard and fast rules. My little corn (bought 4 days ago) came home in a clear deli cup. When we got home we noticed some little worms crawling around. I don't think they were maggots, but possibly baby meal worms. In order to make sure nothing got transfered to Rufus' new home, we of course thew out the deli cup, and I let the little one crawl through my hands and over a moist towel for a bit.

My concern: Is he in a home that is too big for him? I have him in a 10G tank with the UTH in place with a dimmer to control the heat, a grapevine to climb on and two hides, one on the warm side, one on the cool side and a bowl of water big enough for him to soak in. I am hoping to feed him this Friday evening, but am now wondering if he is going to be too freaked out to eat due to the size of his new home! Should I leave him be, or should I move him back to a small deli cup?

Thanks for reading my long post!

10 gal tank will be a great home for him till he is about a year old...depending on growth rates. Then you will need to upgrade to at least a 20 gal long, which can be used for the rest of the snakes natural life.

also, just to be on the safe side, you might want to be very careful if you found worms in the deli with the snake. That may mean that a F/T mouse was left in with him for too long and flies got to the meat. I dont' know how likely the snake would be to ingest something like that, or if the magots could work their way into the snake, but keep an eye open, and a trip to the vet would proably be a good thing.

When did you bring the snake home. The normal suggest settling in period is 5 to 7 days. That usually works for any snake.

Oh, and welcome to the Forum.

I brought him home Sunday Sept 18th. so Friday would be 5 days. The pet store said he ate 2-3 time already and that it had been a couple of days since he ate. I have been checking his cage every night visually for any sign of more worms, and so far it has been clear. Little Rufus seams healthy, no loose skin, not terribly skittish from the very little I have dealt with him in cleaning him and putting him in his new home.

I plan on leaving him in his 10G for probably six months in which time I am going to build a nice custom cage for him!

Justin

i have mine in a 10 gallon and he loves it, i just bought some silk leave vines to hang from the top and wrap around his bendy branch, i have a UTH and 2 hide boxes and water dish and at night hes all over the place!

What are the measurements for a 10 gallon tank?

A 10 gal is probably more than enough for the little guy right now. I would say thats perfect. I have mine in a 5 gal, once he is too big for that I am upgrading him to a rubbermaid tub, unless I find a cheap 20 gal somewhere. I don't think you have anything to worry about, looks like you have everything under control :wavey:

Nick

biblefreak said:

I brought him home Sunday Sept 18th. so Friday would be 5 days. The pet store said he ate 2-3 time already and that it had been a couple of days since he ate. I have been checking his cage every night visually for any sign of more worms, and so far it has been clear. Little Rufus seams healthy, no loose skin, not terribly skittish from the very little I have dealt with him in cleaning him and putting him in his new home.

I plan on leaving him in his 10G for probably six months in which time I am going to build a nice custom cage for him!

Justin

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Everything sounds great Justin. I would go ahead and offer food on Friday. Just remember to feed in a seperate container without substrate, unless you use a papertowel. After the snake eats, let the lump slide at least half way down the body before moving him/her back into the normal living tank.

For a feeder tank...at this point, you will probably want to use a Deli cup about the size that little Rufus came in, just so that he is up close and personal with the mouse. Sometimes if fed in a large tank, the snakes will miss the mouse.

can you get toobig of a tank

christoreo said:

can you get toobig of a tank

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Yes, you can get a tank that is too big, and this will cause stress, problems with feeding, etc. Corn snakes are hiders and most often than not will always be found under things, burried in leaf litter, and the like. When you have a super large tank, you run into the problem that there will be way too much open space for the snake, or that there is too much sidtance between the hides and water. This is actually more critical with Hatchlings but even as adults, too large of a tank can cause problems.

If you are going to be using a very large enclosure, then you need to make sure that you cover most of the floor space with as many hides as you can. Silk Plants will work to. You also might want to look into having more than one water source in there too.