First Corn

[HerpDreamer]

I am about to get my first Corn Snake. I was looking at all the color morphs and variations and I was wondering, Are there any behavioral differences related to color? I am very interrested in Bloodreds, Blizzards, Lavenders, and Reverse Okeetees. :o

I currently have a plastic shoebox type enclosure, what type of heating element would be safe for that type of material? I don't want to melt the plastic...:confused:

Would AstroTurf be good for Corns? Or should I think of a different type of substrate? Also, After I bring home my baby, How long should I leave it alone before I start getting it used to being handled? I want it to grow up completely O.K. with me handling it since I want a snake I can carry around the house with me with minimal "defence" behaviors and minimal bites.:cool:

[Simon]

Well about the morphs. There are some differences, but mostly they are calm animals and most will not know a big difference. I have heard that hypo okeetees and bloodreds are more aggressive than others. But from what I have experienced before and the corns that I have, they are the same. Each little snake will be a bit more aggressive compared to adults. With more handling, they become more docile...

Well...I don't know about the enclosure that you are using. But right now what I am using for my corns are Sterilite storage boxes which are 28Quarts big. These are very nice to use and even adults could fit in these, which in turn saves a lot of space too. The heating pads that I use are called "flexwatt heat tapes" which works very well with these storage boxes.

For substrates, I personally use aspen. Some people would prefer to use other things, such as newspaper, paper, and other substrates. But I think that aspen is the best.

Once you get your corn snake, try not to handle it for at least 3 days so that it gets used to the new environment and wouldn't be as stressed. Try to offer it food after 3 days or so.

Hope this helped.

Good Luck and Happy Herping!

[Rainey]

I'm really not sure about the differences in corn morphs. I have been told that each individual snake is different. just make sure you handle it on a regular basis and it will calm down a tonne. But I agree with Simon, dont handle it for the first few days. and when you get it make sure that you give it 3-5 days to get used to its new surroundings before you feed it and then you can handle it 48 hours after you feed it.

As for heating, I use a under tank heater for reptiles covered in a single layer of a towel under half on my plastic shoebox (mine is still just a baby too). just a note that whatever side is your hot side, make sure that you keep a hide on each side and your water on the cold side. if your water is on your hot side you will end up with lots of humidity and tonnes of mold. just a note about your plastic shoe box, put tonnes of holes in the top and the sides

I have heard that astro turf works well, just make sure that you have 2 pieces so that you can be cleaning one while the other is in the cage. I use aspen, I have gotten tonnes of people saying to use aspen and it does work great!

just a little tip that I just learned, if you want to aviod having your corn doing its business in the cage, about 48 hours after you feed it, give it a bath. I have a high walled rubbermaid container that i fill with room temperature water about 2 inches high (if it's warm to your touch it's too hot for your corn). Then I put it in there and so far it has worked amazingly, once she poops, just take her out and put her back. then clean the rubbermaid bathing container and wait till the next time.

Also I don't know if you know this one either, feed your corn in a separate rubbermaid shoebox so that it doesn't eat any substrate.

hope that helps!

Rainey