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Newb questions

attackturtle

attackturtle

Registered Superhero
My wife and I obtained our first snake at a reptile show on Saturday. She is an Anerythirstic Motly and we named her Slinky. I have always been big on animals and having a herp is not new except for it being a snake. I have 2 questions I cant really find answers for. 1) How fast will she grow. I know this is directly affected by feeding. I plan on feeding once a week untill fully grown, then once every 10 days. She is on small pinkies right now. 2) how often do they shed? I am going to assume once a month. We fed her a small pinkie for the first time today. She ate it bum first without killing it. It squeak on the way down. I assume she is inexpirianced and will learn to kill eventually.

I changed the light pictured below as it made the enclosure too hot. I have one that I can adjust its height now. The tank is 70-75 at the water end and 85 on the other. The tank I have is unique. It has the same floorplan as a 10 but is halfed. I have a metal screen on top and it is tight. I will get a 20 gallon long when she gets bigger.
Right now, my cat wants to kill her. How big will my snake have to be before my cat has to worry about being constricted??



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Sounds like you have it down to a T.

Gorgeous little snake, nice setup, good temps, a good feeding routine :)

The cat will be okish for another few years haha
 
I am not an expert on the snake scene as i have only had mine for 2months, but i have done a fair bit of reading so am not totally clueless, Kathy Loves' book, 'The Corn Manual' will give you all the answers you need.
The full growth of a corn seems to be anywhere between 2 and 3 years, of which the attained length will be around 3/6 feet. I think females are generally slightly smaller at full grown.
The recomended feeding varies between 1 and 2 pinkies per week for baby corns, i have been feeding mine on a monday and friday, one pinkie for each day, then i took her up to 1 pinkie monday and 2 on friday, 2weeks ago she went up to 2 pinkies on each day, gonna carry this on for another week or two to bump her up to fuzzies. She has been doing very well, never regurged and never refused (touch wood!). She was only 11 inches 2months ago, now she is 16.
PS the last picture is some awesome photograph!!!
Hope this helps a little
 
Fordie said:
I am not an expert on the snake scene as i have only had mine for 2months, but i have done a fair bit of reading so am not totally clueless, Kathy Loves' book, 'The Corn Manual' will give you all the answers you need.
The full growth of a corn seems to be anywhere between 2 and 3 years, of which the attained length will be around 3/6 feet. I think females are generally slightly smaller at full grown.
The recomended feeding varies between 1 and 2 pinkies per week for baby corns, i have been feeding mine on a monday and friday, one pinkie for each day, then i took her up to 1 pinkie monday and 2 on friday, 2weeks ago she went up to 2 pinkies on each day, gonna carry this on for another week or two to bump her up to fuzzies. She has been doing very well, never regurged and never refused (touch wood!). She was only 11 inches 2months ago, now she is 16.
PS the last picture is some awesome photograph!!!
Hope this helps a little
Click to expand...
you saying you fee yours every monday, then 4 days later on a friday then 3 days later on a monday again? seems like a little much. the temps are a little high but ok. when they are on pinks you can feed them every 5 days. heat mats are generally liked more then lights do to the facts that corns like belly heat for digestion. any more questions?
 
cornsnakekid92 said:
you saying you fee yours every monday, then 4 days later on a friday then 3 days later on a monday again? seems like a little much. the temps are a little high but ok. when they are on pinks you can feed them every 5 days. heat mats are generally liked more then lights do to the facts that corns like belly heat for digestion. any more questions?
Click to expand...


That is a litte much, try cutting it down to every 5 days.

The temps are almost perfect. Not too high.

Lights are fine if used with a dimmer or some other sort of regulation device. UTH's i do prefer but this persons light looks very safe.

If the new person has any more questions, i suggest you research a little before you answer them.
 
As to your questions, young corns shed sooner than older ones, once a month for them. Not including shedding from injuries and such.
As far as how fast do they grow... that varies with genetics , feeding or health problems. But my Amel is over two years now and it about three feet or so. But it doesn’t look it.
Also what are you using for a heat source ?? The light??? if so switch over to a Under tank heater with either a rheostat or thermostat. And I hope you have a secure lid. That cat looks hungry. Put in a few more hides to help the snake from being stress out. Their also a new book of Kathy Love that you should pick up. http://www.cornutopia.com/ . That should do you for now.
Post us if you have any question.
Good Luck :cheers:

:-offtopic

Tula_Montage said:
If the new person has any more questions, i suggest you research a little before you answer them.
Click to expand...

Oh come on!......What do you have one him??? A whole whooping month on him. Please.
 
Thanks everyone for the reply's
I am useing a light for heat right now but I have no problem switching to a mat and will try to do that tomorrow after work.
Question, is a light really needed?
The light attracts my cat whom I have caught lounging on the top a few times. w/out the light, that should stop.
The top is like this one without the hinge
Click here
Very strong metal with some weight to it. I might be able to bend it if I jumped on it but I don't think anything else would deform it. Best 10 bucks I spent yet.
I was concerned about the snake getting out when it was fully grown and nailing one of my cats. Has anybody heard horror stories of this? From what I read here, snakes seem to get set on one food type, specifically, one rodent and even turn down others.
 
attackturtle said:
I was concerned about the snake getting out when it was fully grown and nailing one of my cats. Has anybody heard horror stories of this? From what I read here, snakes seem to get set on one food type, specifically, one rodent and even turn down others.
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In a cat and snake fight, the snake would probably come out on the loosing end the majority of the time. I would also suggest trying to feed frozen/thawed mice rather than live. It's the preference of most. If the snake is not hungry, a mouse can do some damage and if you start on live, it may be harder to switch to f/t down the road. Frozen is so much more conveinient, too. Keeps well right next to the frozen cows, chickens and pigs.:grin01:
 
Often corn snakes (as that is all I have) like to crawl up and sit in he grove between lid and edge of tank. Even a hatchling corn can get to the top of a ten gallon tank. I also have nine cats, and even if the screen is strong they can put their claw through, so all my viv have lids with holes for air. Also the light on top may attract your cat and from experience I know the cats will move the light unless it is secure.
Just a thought on live if continue with them stun (or in some way kill it) the mouse first, not necessary with pinkies, but fuzzies can bite your snake. Bigger mice can do damage.
:-offtopic As I read all this advice people give newcomers, it must be overwhelming. But I would go with the advice to get Kathy Love's book. Most important enjoy and have fun, this is an amazing hobby. susan
 
The UTH is the better way to go.. But the poster lives in Florida. Hate to say it, the UTH might not be nescessary at all.. This is going to be apples and oranges comparison only because I live in the Cali Desert, I don't run UTH's etc in the winter EXCEPT on my younger animals.. Everyone else does quite alright and pretty well go into burmation during the winter..

Ambiant ( Sp? ) is not the best heat source for a corn IMO, it does very little in the aidding of digestion.. My BP's don't mind the heat lamps in the winter, as I can't keep them quite warm enough and they definantly brumate in the winter..

Kathy's book is a must, then if you are intrested in maybe learning genetics or some thought maybe breeding, then Chuck's book kicks some butt too..

Regards.. Tim of T and J.. BTW, welcome to the addiction..
 
Tula_Montage said:
If the new person has any more questions, i suggest you research a little before you answer them.
Click to expand...
Is this directed at me?
If so, i have stated that i am no expert and specifically referred 'AttackTurtle' to Kathy Loves book. Also the ideas i have suggested are merely suggestions, as stated.
I did have the belief that new and old snake owners were welcome to share ideas and suggestions on this forum thus enhancing everyones overall knowledge? Please correct me if i am wrong and i will simply stay out of this.
 
I use a $9 plug in lamp dimmer that I got at Wal-mart. Works very well, especially if your house temps don't fluctuate all that much.

UTHs are recommended for corn snakes because lamps can be really drying to the air. UTHs also seem to be easier to regulate from what I've heard. I've never used a lamp, so I'm just drawing on what I've read and heard others say.

Your corn will never get big enough to kill your cat, however, your cat will always have the capability of killing your corn.

While your corn is on pinkies, I'd feed every 4-5 days. When it moves up to fuzzies, feed every 5-6 days, and so on. Every 10 days is fine for an adult.

That's a great looking snake. Congrats on picking that one up.
 
Tula_Montage said:
That is a litte much, try cutting it down to every 5 days.

The temps are almost perfect. Not too high.

Lights are fine if used with a dimmer or some other sort of regulation device. UTH's i do prefer but this persons light looks very safe.

If the new person has any more questions, i suggest you research a little before you answer them.
Click to expand...
Are you saying this to me? just because of my age does not mean i do not know much about keeping corns, she lives in the south, if her A/C goes out and it raises that cage Temp 6 degrees, that will be 91*F. there he no perfect temp, but i have been told by many experienced people that 82 is good. I never said that they should not use a light at all, it is just they dry up humidity fast and normal belly heat is preferred. so what is it i need to do research on again?
 
Ok, I picked up a 10-20 gallon mat and a dimmer from Home depot. Im adjusting my temperature now. I did not stick the mat to the tank as I plan to move him up to a 20 and want to wait till them before the mat becomes a permanent part of the glass.I did make sure that the mat is in direct contact with the glass though. I dont have a probe thermometer but I do have an aquarium moniter with the base in contact with the glass where the heater is.

As far as the light goes, I think I will keep it. I swapped out the incadescent for a fourescent so that it stops adding heat to the cage. Don't need temperature fluctuations.

The snake is always hiding. I never see her come out of her hide but assume it is because she is scared of her new home. I have noticed that in the morning, there is white stuff at the bottom of the water dish so I think she has been comming out at night to wander/defecate. I checked on her once to make sure she didn't regurge and tommorrow night, 48 hours after feeding, I will check for the lump. No lump means calm handeling. Lump means wait another 24 hours and make sure I get a small pinky when I ask for a small pinky.

Do snakes useually defecate in one area? My leapord geckos do that and its very conveniant.

+
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=Happy snake
 
heat question> I have the heater on right now and it seems to have the temperature at a cozy 84 right now at the bedding level. If I dig through the bedding to the glass, it is pretty warm/hot. I can keep my finger there without it hurting but was wondering if I should worry about that. I would think if she decided to bury herself, she would become uncomfortable and move before she gets injured. The instructions said to buy some sort of zoo med cover if your bedding is spread thin like mine but it said this only on the inside of the package...
 
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