Brand new to snakes

[Pinklady]

Just got 2 corns on Tuesday-a normal and an anery I think, and both boys. They hatched in July so are around 12 weeks old.
They are for my boys, and are housed together. I've had a look at some of the threads and know I'll probably get told I shouldn't keep them together, but the guy in the shop said it would be fine and they were together in the shop.
The whole family are new to snakes, so will probably be on here loads asking question after question!
So far all is going well-we were told to wait 24 hours before handling(I now know it probably should have been for longer) and they seem ok about being handled. We fed them a pinky each(in individual boxes) last night, and they both took them easily and were incredibly active for a few hours afterwards. I have ordered the corn snake manual which will hopefully arrive in the next couple of days :)

[Roy Munson]

Just got 2 corns on Tuesday-a normal and an anery I think, and both boys. They hatched in July so are around 12 weeks old.
They are for my boys, and are housed together. I've had a look at some of the threads and know I'll probably get told I shouldn't keep them together, but the guy in the shop said it would be fine and they were together in the shop.
The whole family are new to snakes, so will probably be on here loads asking question after question!
So far all is going well-we were told to wait 24 hours before handling(I now know it probably should have been for longer) and they seem ok about being handled. We fed them a pinky each(in individual boxes) last night, and they both took them easily and were incredibly active for a few hours afterwards. I have ordered the corn snake manual which will hopefully arrive in the next couple of days :)

Welcome! All I have to say is, you can believe one pet store clerk, or you can research the opinions of many dozens of experienced keepers on this site in regards to cohabitation. Do a search for "cohabitation", or "housing multiple snakes", and really think it over after more research. Very young snakes are at the worst age to be kept together. You should find out why. A couple of the cannibalism photos may change your mind. It's not that tough maintaining two enclosures (I maintain 24), so why take the myriad risks? Good luck.

[starsevol]

Yes, pet store clerks really arent your best source of information....

but stick around here, the wonderful people here will set you right :)

[debcash]

Welcome! :wavey: Corn snakes are wonderful pets, and addictive! Kathy's book is excellent - you can't go wrong with it and the folks here are great.
(I'm not a big fan of co-habitation of snakes either, but do your homework and decide what works for you.)

Enjoy!!

[BabyMowgli]

:-offtopic just a note, you should generalize and say 'pet store clerks aren't the best source of information. I am a pet store clerk and I am pretty sure I wouldn't lead anyone astray. And I know a corn snake breeder who is a pet store clerk, and he knows way more then I do!

But I do agree with what people on this forum have said, I wouldn't house them together. Good luck and welcome!

[BabyMowgli]

sorry, i mean't to say you should NOT generalize ( I can't type today, lol)

[Roy Munson]

Unless your pet store clerk is Kathy Love, then I think the general statement still holds true. :)

[Pinklady]

Thanks for the welcome!

Drake(normal) and Odin(anery) seem to spend a lot of their time curled up together. We have 2 hides, and they will also go into them-usually one each. I am having trouble with the temps in the tank though. I have a UTH and yesterday the glass was pretty hot to touch at the heated end. It wasn't untouchable hot, but was still hotter than I would like to lie on. I have aspen on the floor, but they do burrow. I have put some newspaper between the UTH and the glass to see if that will help. The thermometer I have is stuck to the middle of the tank wall about 4 inches from the floor and reads about 75. I am going to get a thermometer with a probe to check the temps properly.
Is it normal to see snakes breathing?(I told you I was new!!) When they are out of their hides you can sometimes see their sides moving in and out.
The snakes are cool wee guys! They are happy being handled and will just curl round my sons fingers and lie there for a while :)

[Pinklady]

I don't seem to be able to edit my post :eek1:

I figure I should ask my questions in another place.....................sorry!

[debcash]

The stick on thermometers aren't very helpful. You really need to get the temp at the hotest spot in the viv. (I did the same thing with our first snake.)
The UTH's can get VERY hot. When I got a probe thermometer (about $7 at Walmart) the temp under the substrate was over 100 degrees. You'll want to check it as soon as possible. Some folks use a rheostat or a thermostat with their UTH, some put a tile in the tank or put some barrier in to prevent direct contact and get the temps in the low-mid 80's.
Shoot for low-mid 70's on the cool side and low-mid 80's in the warmest spot.

[ultimuttone]

Yes it is normal to see them breathing.
Remember to check out the FAQs section and use the search feature(on the toolbar). You can find answers to most of your questions have already been posted somewhere, and you learn a lot just by reading through these threads. Also at the bottom of the page you will usually find links to threads related to the subject of the post.
BTW-Only contributing members have the edit option.