Picked up my snake today

Well,,I could wait no longer.I bought a corn that I have checked out a few times at my local Petsmart.He/she is between 12" and 14" long.I gave her a good look over before I took her home.I couldn't see anything wrong,so hopefully it stays that way.The minute I slipped her into her new home she started drinking from her water dish.I may try to feed her on Monday.The girl said she was fed last Thursday,but she seemed pretty slim for less than 48 hours after her meal.
So, she should be up for 2 small pinkies,every 5 or 6 days,yes ??.She seems to like crawling up in her plants and just curling up and hanging out.So far she hasn't gone in either hide.

For the first feed I'd stick with a slightly smaller food item, something around the same diameter as the widest part of the snake's body. After that goes down easily and the snake is settled in you can move it upto a food item that is between 1 and 1.5x the widest part of the snake's body. I find a 7 day schedule simplest for me seeing as I always endup feeding on monday.

Droptines said:

Well,,I could wait no longer.I bought a corn that I have checked out a few times at my local Petsmart.He/she is between 12" and 14" long.I gave her a good look over before I took her home.I couldn't see anything wrong,so hopefully it stays that way.The minute I slipped her into her new home she started drinking from her water dish.I may try to feed her on Monday.The girl said she was fed last Thursday,but she seemed pretty slim for less than 48 hours after her meal.
So, she should be up for 2 small pinkies,every 5 or 6 days,yes ??.She seems to like crawling up in her plants and just curling up and hanging out.So far she hasn't gone in either hide.

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Congratulations on getting a new snake! What kind of corn is it?

You may want to wait a little longer than two days for your snake to settle in. Maybe try feeding it on Wednesday or Thursday, to be safe.

My view on this is the snake will tell you when it is ready. Go ahead and try to feed in two days if it eats it is ready if it does not it isn't. Try feeding right at dark, put the mouse in and leave the room don't bother checking till morning.

Odds are the mouse will be gone. If not toss it pinks are cheap, she will eat sooner or later.

I have had snakes shipped to me in boxes over night and they almost always eat the very next day even some that are recently wild caught. Just don't mess with her much for the first two weeks. Corns honestly are about as bullet proof as a snake gets. Don't stress about anything, toss a mouse or two in once a week, clean the poop, keep the water clean and it is hard to mess up,

ONe more thing at 12 inches I would think it should have NO PROBLEM with fuzzies,

Hmm. Severus is more than 12 inches, I think, but he's on pinks. So I guess it's about thickness, too?

I like that idea of letting the snake tell you. I tried to feed Severus early on, while he was still holed up in his hides, scared. I would think it's best to wait until they're out and about and feeling pretty comfortable.

JasonGranger said:

You may want to wait a little longer than two days for your snake to settle in. Maybe try feeding it on Wednesday or Thursday, to be safe.

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Good advise. It won't hurt him to go at least 3 days without eating and without any distractions, which is the recommended norm by just about ALL the professional breeders that frequent this website.

I've never had a snake tell me when he was hungry. And when feeding, it's our responsibility to regulate their diets. If you feed a snake a mouse and drop in a couple more, chances are he'll eat them. If it's within his size range he'll digest them and if not he'll regurge them. Then you'll have a whole new senerio to deal with and it's not fun.

I euthanized my 1st corn. Did my husbandry practices cause it? Maybe not, but I didn't take the advice I read here. Today I've got healthy snakes, have bred and cared for hatchlings because I now take advise of experienced people here. Check out the FAQ threads in Husbandry section; you'll find it very helpful. All right, I'm done preaching.

just my $0.02.

Danny

I did not mean that he would tell you when he was hungry by activity.

I meant he would tell you by WHEN he ate.

In short go ahead and toss a mouse in if he is ready he will eat if not he won't and if he isn't and doesn't eat having a mouse in the viv over night will do no harm.

I hear all the time don't feed for X ammout of days, I always feed the very next day after arrival and 95% of the time the animal eats and I actually believe it helps them "settle in".

When the belly if full a snake is a lot less antsy. I have no evidence and no big names that back me on this just 20 years of observation,

I've fed each of my new hatchlings in their transport tub before putting them in their new home. It probably helps that the longest journey was 4 hours, rather than overnight shipping or anything, but it worked a treat to get them started and settled in.

He spent the night in up in a small plant.Did not find the hides.I will ad mitt the tank is a bit too big for this guy,but I did put a lot of things in to try to make it not seem like so much open space (30 gal.).I would have to say he is a hair over 1/2" at his thickest,so I don't think hes up for fuzzies just yet.I could see 2 pinks filling up good.
I was thinking I would get him in the habit of eating outside his viv.I have coconut bark substrate,but don't want to take any chances with impaction.Hopefully today he will discover his cool hides I have for him.
Oh,,as far as what color,,I believe they called him a "creamsickle".I'm going to check out some pictures to see if he matches up.

At a half inch I would agree at least for a week or two but I have been surprised at the ability of corns to move up faster then most people think.

This big girl of mine named Secret is eating medium rats for instance.



You are correct to be concerned about substrait impaction. I have come up with a way to feed in the viv and avoid it at the same time. I have small boxes that I put a mouse inside of, they have a bottom and an access hole for the snake. The snake has to go into the box and find its' meal.

Of course you don't do this until they are feeding well but I find it as a form of "enrichment" for snakes because you can feed prekilled stuff but the little guy gets to "hunt" for his food and it solves impaction issues for small snakes at the same time.

I started doing this mainly because I have so many snakes and can't be taking them all out for each feeding. With one or two snakes it is a non issue but they do seem to enjoy the hunting. I learned it from a zoo's website but I can't remember which zoo. They even drug the prey to make a sent trail on the viv floor at the zoo for the snake to "track down" I have tried that too but once they get to recogonize the feeding box it does not matter much.

The other poster that feeds in the shipping tub, I have never tried that but I tend to agree with the concept, again they tell you when they are ready to eat after arival by when they eat.

rushrulz said:

Hmm. Severus is more than 12 inches, I think, but he's on pinks. So I guess it's about thickness, too?

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Actually, it is primarily about thickness rather than length. The length of a snake has nothing to do with what size food he is on. I have an 18" corn snake that is still on pinkies and they leave a huge lump in her. She's had health issues, so this is not the norm. Still, it's just to show you that you don't judge by length.

Thanks for the info guys..So far,NO movement today.Just curled up,hanging out,5" off the bottom of his tank.I looked a picture of a creamsickle,,wrong color.The snake is an "orange red" in its marking.

Orange Red?

Sounds like it may just be an every day basic amel corn. They are cool the snake of mine above is what they look like when they fully mature,

I was thinking that when I saw that picture.I'm OK with that :grin01: very hansom snake.He started exploring a little around 4,then just climbed back up into the plant.
He was all over the place after the light were out for a while.I just took a quick peek with a dim flash light.He is stretched out over a log,just hanging out.Should I be concerned with his lack of interest in his hides,,or hiding at all for that matter ??.I may try to feed him Mon. night.Hope it goes well......