Some snake noob questions:

[rerat]

Alright, to save myself some time, I'm going to copy my posts from a dif. (much less responsive) forum, and any answers to the questions found within would be appreciated.

I was wondering how much handling can a corn take soon after a feeding? I am aquiring mine probably at the end of this week, and have a 20 gal tank set up nright now. The hatchling will have been fed twice. I will be aquiring a 2nd tank for feeding, as was recommended, because the substrate is wood chips, and eating one of those accidentally would be bad methinks. My question is, can I safely take him/her out of the feeding tank right after it feeds with no ill effects? Also, are sheddings an issue to leave in the viv?

As I stated before, by the end of week, I should have a new corn hatchling in my possession. I was wondering how many/what type of hides I should should if this things only living option is a 20 gal. aquarium? As of now it has Forest Chips for substrate, one simulated rock hide, and a water dish. My feeding question: When it comes time to feed, which, I've been told should be done in a sepperate container, as per my choice if substrate, is it advisable to lift a hide to get the snake out, or should I wait for a time where he is willingly out of hiding to pick him up and into whatever his feeding container (any ideas?) will be?Sorry about all the questions, I just want to do this right.


One more question, this hatcling will be 3 weeks old, how big should I expect it to be? I know it will still be minescule, but on average how long are 3 times fed hatclings?

[~slither~]

Hi and welcome rerat. It is not recommended to pick up a fed snake for 48 hours after feeding, although gentle handling is ok to put him/her back into their viv. As for sheds I can't understand why you would want to leave it in the viv, I always remove as soon as I spot them to compare with the last one, and to wind mother up with the new piece of skin in my collection. She isn't too fond of having skin waved in her face.
You should have a minimum of two hides, one on the warm side, and one on the cooler side. Aything can be used for hides. Some people who aren't really bothered about appearance, and are just bothered about the snakes happiness, use toilet tolls, cereal boxes and the like. Others with money to burn buy hides from pet shops. I personally use both thing found round the house, and other bought stuff.
When you say you use forest chips are they bought from a shop? If not make sure you freeze them for 24 hours before using them.
You should not be too rough with your snake, but don't be too scared of picking him or her up. I use tongs to feed, so as soon as she's grabbed the mouse I wiggle it so that she constricts and then carefully move her to the feeding container. This cuts out the grabbing her when she's not in the mood for handling. Use anything for a feeding container, theres loads of stuff round the house suitable. An old lunch box or card board box are fine, just line with paper towel. I even went through a stage of putting n/paper on my bed and feeding on that.
As for the how big question, I don't know tbh. I'm sure someone else will help you with this though. Hope this helps!

[~slither~]

Here's (http://photobucket.com/albums/b273/slither1000/Snake/) some pics of my snake, my tank and my feeding container. You can see the different stuff I use for hides/climbing objects. :)

[Energi2er]

a 3 week old hatchling should be about the size of a number 2 pencil, or a BIC pen. and I think can be anywhere from 10 inches to 14 inches long.

[rerat]

Thanks for the advice all. So, you move the snake AFTER it takes the mouse? Didn't seem right, but it appears that's what you said..I'm slightly confused now.

[rerat]

There's no edit button, so sorry for the DP,

but, cleaning wise, what does a "spot clean" consist of? and to repeat this question,

is it advisable to lift a hide to get the snake out, or should I wait for a time where he is willingly out of hiding to pick him up and into whatever his feeding container happens to be?

[colinmcc]

1. but, cleaning wise, what does a "spot clean" consist of?

2. is it advisable to lift a hide to get the snake out, or should I wait for a time where he is willingly out of hiding to pick him up and into whatever his feeding container happens to be?

1. Simple. Pickin' out the poop - as and when you find it.

2. Depends on the snake. Some can get a bit defensive and therefore stressed/bitey if you disturb them when they're hidden away. Some don't mind at all. If you have one that stays in the hide a lot you may have to just go in and get it sometimes. I suppose it also depends how patient you are .....

[cornsnakekid92]

u put the snake in the feeding container, then interdouce the mouce, aftrer s/he takes it, you wait for it to get about 1/2 way down and it stops miving so rapidally, then you can gentallly maove it back into it enclosure

[~slither~]

If you hold a mouse in front of your snake, then the chances are its going to get taken. As soon as she grabs it, I wiggle the mouse and she constricts. Simple. Hasn't failed yet, touch wood. Then carefully put her in her feeding container and leave her to it. When the mouse has gone you can then let the snake slither out of the feeding container into the viv.

[BeckyG]

What I do is put the snake into the feeding container, then dangle the mouse in front of it. They usually take it almost immediately. In fact, my king snake will come OUT of the feeding container looking for his mouse if I don't get it to him fast enough. Then, once the snake has the mouse down into its stomach, I put the feed box back into the tank, and let the snake crawl out when it is ready.

[Jasper]

Personally, I like Becky G's answer in that she puts the feed container in the viv and then lets the snake come out on its own. Seems better in my opinion because you don't have to handle it at all. I know snakes are hardy, but I'm all for keeping the stress-level down whenever possible. Just makes sense. That's the techniques we've adopted as well.

[Meeghann]

I would provide quite a few place for the snake to hide if it is a hatchling and you are putting it in a big tank 20g. I have had the best luck with putting the little ones in sterilite tubs. I think they seem more secure and adapt better. I put one hide and a water bowl in a 12q or a little smaller sterilite (for little snakes). The temperature stays around 80 in my room and they have not ever regurged or refused a meal. At night the temp naturally drops a little just like out in the wild. My first cornsnake I got from a pet store I put in a 10 g aquarium. He was always stressed and hidding, regurged a couple times, and refused to eat. I am not sure if it was just the snake or not but when I bought my other snakes online and kept them in sterilites at a constant temperature I have had no problems at all. Also in the sterilites the snakes have not had any shedding problems, IMO its because the sterilite keeps more moisture in instead of a tank with a open screen top. Remember to use clips on the tubs or your baby might escape. You should also buy a hygrometer to measure humidity and a get a thermometer that isn't one of those "flat stick on the side of the tank ones". Good luck. :cheers:

[Jasper]

Thanks for the reply. It is always interesting to hear about how others care for their snakes. It sounds like you've had quite a bit of experience. As stated, this is my son's first, but we took advice from a very experienced reptile caretaker (I hate the term "owner") and a pet store manager. He has many reptiles, including several corn snakes. It will be interesting to see how Jasper adapts to his new home.

It has only been a few days, so he has yet to eat since he arrived to his new "home". I am hoping that all goes smoothly, because we are hoping to move him from live to frozen pinkies, which I don't know whether he'll accept that or not. He has in the past eaten both, so it will be interesting to see. Also, he is new to the environment, so I don't know how that will impact his "stress" level and eating, especially since we chose the large 40-gallon breeder.

I'll keep everyone posted of both our successes and failures. Hopefully this information will be useful to some. I'm quite sure that many who frequent this site have already adopted their preferred methods. In no way am I suggesting that our approach is better than anyone's. I'm only interested in sharing information if people have interest. My son has completed another journal entry and spoke to his life science teacher about his new snake. She said she would be happy if he was willing to share his journal entries with the rest of the class and he's excited.

Once again, thank you so much for sharing your successes with us, as we seek out our own program for "Jasper". My son and I are sharing this screen name for the sake of ease. Take care!

[ozzy512]

I've had my hatchling for about 1 1/2 weeks now, and he is in a 10gal. I've had no problems with him eating...ate his pinkie last night in about 2 min. Have yet to experience a shed, so not sure with that, but I plan on placeing a "wet" hide to allow him to shed better when the tiem comes.