wild caught vs captive bred

[medic2]

I found a corn in my yard about a month ago, its approx. 40 inches and was kinda thin. We had just started getting a few warm days and I guess it was out looking for a meal. I didnt want it to become a meal so I brought it in. I fed it a mouse (dead of course) and it was still looking for more so I gave it another. which it quickly swallowed. It is very tame and never refuses a meal. It has become a favorite in the collection. My question is whether I can over feed a wild caught snake. It is very active 2-3 days after feeding and seems to be searching for food. I normally feed every 7-10 days (Ball pythons and Redtail Boas) but this guy cant seem to wait. I started feeding him(?) every 5 days and he settled down some but I dont want to overfeed. I may try switching to small (weanling ) rats and see if that helps. He shed once (full shed) and is beautiful. None of my captive bred snakes wants to eat this often.

[project1]

post some pics I would love to see him!... If he is happy, healthy, and eating I guess there shouldn't be a problem... but he could be carying some bugs with him.. so be careful.

[CornCrazy]

It is probably wanting to eat so much because it just came out of brumation and is cycling for breeding season.

[medic2]

Snakes are starting to move around pretty good now. My 7yo and I go for walks in the woods near the house and have found a Earth Snake (kinda cute), a green snake, a banded water snake, in addition to the cornsnake. Several anoles and skinks also. I keep hoping for more cornsnakes but no luck so far. My daughter spends more time looking at turtles than anything else (she loves turtles). The toads have started taking over my goldfish pond so tadpoles are in the near future. Spring is such a wonderful time to teach kids about nature and trying to preserve it for others.

[Chip]

I find that w/c's are regular garbage disposals for uneaten mice my other snakes leave. They certainly know the value of a meal having to work for it and experience lean times! I'd suggest waiting until it defecates before the next meal, just to keep things "flowing." I certainly have had male w/c's become obese, but most have been large. For the time being, he is probably needing some meat on his bones after a long winter's nap, so some extra calories are welcome.
Where in SC are you from? And if the answer is in or near Jasper County, PM me if you want to fall hunt...

[medic2]

He "poops" on a regular basis. I wait a couple of days afterward before i feed him. He is a cool snake, nothing special color wise but he is still a nice snake. He isnt a thin as he was to start with. I think captivity agrees with him. He is easy to handle as long as I dont smell like mice (very careful NOT to handle mice or hamsters before trying to handle him). He comes out of his hide when anyone is in the room. I think he has already begun to associate people and food. He is so alert and interactive. The other snakes are just kind of there. They do crawl around some but mostly just exist.
Sorry, not near Jasper. No Okeetees here. Just normal corns.
Of course normals are so diverse in color you never know what you might find.

[Chip]

In fact, I won't keep Jasper's for my colony if they are caught off the property. Just asking because it was a good spring this year, number-wise. And I'll go back this fall to scoop any up that happen to be road basking at night and always love to meet fellow herpers. I've caught them in the Charlotte area that looked like Okeetees and on Okeetee that were ugly as a hypo. You never know. Good luck with the little guy, if you are in a herp society, I'm sure there is someone who will probe him for free. If you are ever in the Asheville NC area, I'd be glad to for that matter....

[fradine]

when those who catch WC specimens keep them and maybe breed them.......do you have problems with internal parasites which are common in rat snakes?( mandarins etc..... ).
I'm thinking of purchasing some wild caught corns but I'm leary of them having parasites and having them die on me.

Thanks,
Fradine
1.3 creamsickles
1.1 snow
0.1 amel
1.0 het bloodred
1.1 ghost
0.1 amber motley ?
3.3 rosy's

[calvinC]

i live in charlotte and never see them

[Chip]

and collect them every year. I keep w/c's seperate from my colony for one year and go from there. As for hatchlings, there are no parasites passed to them via egg that I've ever heard of. Don't be too leery, just cautious. Happy herping!

[plastic]

i'm in charlotte also, but i haven't seen one in the wild : (

i suppose i should go looking at night! the only ones we've stumbled upon in day light are copper heads and i prefer to keep a distance form those.

[Chip]

Tons of copperheads here (Asheville) too. More black rats than corns, but there are pockets of them here and there. Not as pretty as the ones near the coast, though. In Shelby NC where I grew up, I ran across them often. It's only 40 miles or so from Charlotte, but much more rural. And I spent all my time outside as a kid...:)

[medic2]

I wasnt very fond of corns before the corn appeared in the yard. They were so common when I was a kid that i took them for granted. I guess I look at things differently now but corns are really interesting. This one is still doing wonderful, still eating anytime food is offered, appears very healthy. I would have expected a wild animal to hide when anybody is around but he doesnt. Its like he enjoys the interaction with people. I will probably have to get more, I think the "fever" is starting to set in. Is there any hope for me? LOL

[JohnDeere_Boy]

I once caught a wild corn. My cat had it in her mouth, but luckily it was still alive! I took care of it for a while and then let it go.

[jjspirko]

As a kid in north Florida I caugth Corns all the time. You're lucky don't expect all adults in the wild to be calm and not bite. It took me work most of the time to tame wilds but on ocassion you find one that just acts tame from day one. Those are special so count yourself lucky on it.

My experience was that most WCs did bite at first and most would tame down with a little work. Some are also psyco! and never tame down. As a kid I did not keep records but from memory only about 10% of the ones I caught were calm right from the beginning.

Glad to hear about your snake I hope you have him for a long time,

[Azruial]

I wonder if the (tame) one that you caught could have escaped from a captive home? I have an acuantance who lost a 5-foot corn and I have read how much they like to escape. I guess it's not very likely but... could be a possibility. Also, I know that my dad and I used to catch garters and then release them. Maybe this kind of thing could tame a snake.

[jjspirko]

You know perhaps the snake had been captive before and that may explain how thin he was if he had not hard training time comming up as a babe in the wild perhaps he was not a great hunter.

Like I said though on several ocassions (about 10% I GUESS) I found wild corns that just did not bite or get too upset right from the start. So I think some are out there. Just the exception.

Take for instance green snakes. They never bite right. Well I thought so I caught them as a kid almost as often as the anoles that ran all over the building and apartments where I lived. Then one day we saw one and I as always just grabed it. The little twerp bit me a bunch of times, hissed and all! Just incase anyone cares the bite of a green snake is a joke but he sure thought he was tough :crazy02:

Never ever have I ever whitnessed that before or since from a green snake so I guess if a green snake can be a jerk then a corn can be a gentle animal even from the wild.

[princess]

I grew up in Australia so I was always warned to be very carefull with snakes...skinks on the other hand...I don't think I could ever count how many of those I caught!

[medic2]

Just an update on the WC corn. I still have her. She is still tame, has never attempted to bite. She seems to know when its feeding day. She comes out of her hide and goes to the door of her cage, like shes waiting. I call her my garbage disposal. She gets fed last because she will eat anything thats left over. She doesnt strike or coil around her food, just crawls up to it and starts to eat. She is tame enough that I took her to my childs school along with several other snakes for a " reptile demo" when they were studying reptiles in science. She allowed the kids to pet her without any obvious distress. she had recently shed so her colors were really bright. The kids, and the teacher, were impressed. I had originally intended to fatten her up and the realese her but she had adapted so well to captivity and There are so many cats, dogs and kids in the area I am not sure she would survive if I let her go.

[JTGoff69]

PLEASE post a pic, I would love to see her! I only come across black rats where I'm at, have yet to ever see a wild corn. Congrats!

[WhiteLips]

Thats a great story! Thanks for sharing! It's great that you still have her & she doing well! In Florida you can catch a snake almost anywhere you walk! we aquired a yellow rat at the mall, poor thing was doomed... they called the sheriff's department, animal control & a pest control company for a 4 inch snake! My daughter brought him home in her pocket & he has been with us ever since that was 4 years ago! He is sweet and interacts with the family, he acts very much how you describe yours acting! And he eats like crazy, which has worked out well, as most of my collection are australian pythons many of them are a bit fussy and tempermental. our rat & corn snakes will eat no matter what!
:)