Just another snake noob thread.

Hi! A while ago I posted a very long, looong detailed post in the behavior forum.. just to have my internet go off, and I hadn't saved it anywhere else. Defeated, I gave up and eventually solved my questions on my own.

I'm a new corn snake owner. I have a gorgeous wonderful boy named Wikipedia I purchased from Petco (which I assume isn't the best place, I'm correct right?) due to lack of resources to purchase online. I just have a few questions, and as I've been stalking this forum for the month and a half I've had Wikipedia (and even before purchasing him) I'd much rather turn to this forum than to google! You're all so lovely and have GORGEOUS corns, wow!

1) That kind of leads into my first question. How do I tell what kind of snake my corn is? He's a little odd, but I don't know all the fancy terms to describe his pattern. He's like a leopard in snake form - large brown patches over grey and orange scales, with diagonal stripes on his head. His underbelly looks alot like piano keys - which I've always felt was super neat. I'd post a picture, but I have no idea how!

2) So.. going off that.. I've always assumed Wikipedia a boy. I call him by male pronouns, but I've really no idea - and neither did the man working at petco. Is there a way I can tell other than paying to go to a reptile vet? I'd just like to know, I guess, even though he'll always be a young boy in my eyes. How old does he have to be for me to be able to tell? Or is there no way?

3) His temperature gauge usually reads 85 like, at all times that I've sometimes thought it was broken. His humidity is always at 40, except when I leave the lid off to clean his cage or something. I have a heating pad underneath him, and he's next to a window (I live in California, it's usually sunny here during the day, cools down around 5pm.) Is this all okay? He seems to be doing perfectly, shedding and digesting go well, and he loves to come out starting around 10pm when he wakes up, getting especially restless at 2-3am. I don't know what I'm getting at here.. I guess I don't really have a hot or cold side, as I just hang the yellow/normal light and the purple light over his cage, turning off the brighter one at around 9. Is this all okay? How can I tell if he's ever uncomfortable?

4) HOW LONG DO SHEDDING PERIODS USUALLY LAST FOR A BABY CORN? I googled this one and was still a bit confused on the answers.. I don't know how long to leave him alone for. His shedding last time went perfectly and I was VERY surprised at how blue his eyes did get, not really believing what everyone had told me. I asked someone at petco today while getting pinkies, and they said 'oh, usually 2 or 3 weeks.' I didn't specify I had a baby corn, though.. since he only took 4 days, maybe?

5) I was told to feed him pinkies every 5 days, so that's what I've been doing, but he's so small and I wish he'd grow a bit faster. Is it okay to feed him every 4 days or so? And how can I tell when he's ready to move up to fuzzies (that's the next size up, right?)

6) So, I guess this is the part where I want to make sure his behavior his normal. This might be long. Allow me to explain:

When I first purchased Wikipedia, there was a man at petco boasting about how he was buying his kids a boa, and how he'd owned a bajillion snakes and was an expert. He told me to handle my corn EVERYDAY, even right after purchasing. So, obviously being naive and believing this man, I did... even letting all of my family members and friends hold him during his first few days in his new environment. After reading more online - I realized what a mistake that was. Except... he's FANTASTIC.

I mean, at least he seems to be content with all the handling. He's NEVER aggressive, even when he wouldn't eat (made sense, he was self concious. He's eaten plenty now and well since the first time) and my friend (another corn owner) told me to try to 'force feed' him (poking the pinkie at him on a stick, trying to get him to bite, etc. He's bitten me once, I believe during the second day I had him, only to quickly realize that it'd never work. Ever. He's done NOTHING like that ever since.

He's calm and fine with anyone handling him, and has become especially comfortable with my hands. He's FAST and CURIOUS. If I could go back, I might've called him Houdini - he's stubborn in a way I've never seen. Wherever you put him.. NOPE, he's going the other way. Once he's reached his destination, and you hold him or put him elsewhere, he immediately has found another point of interest. He's darty and fun to watch. When I was picking my corn, the woman who let me hold them said 'I personally like this one. He's the prettiest, but he's really rambunctious and fast, so he's the most healthy. He's confident and pushes the other corns around. Nothing like the other 2.' So, obviously, I went with him.

He STARES. Alot. At me. Like right now, after I just put in new bedding, but I assume that's normal. Is he normal? I mean, he's so gentle and kind, but freezes a ton when he's scared. I can tell he's still scared of me, but he's curious and willing to go new places and isn't afraid of change. He likes to swim at 2am and won't ever stop trying to climb his cage walls.

Is all this normal? Will he ever calm down?

Sorry for the speech! Like, really, really sorry. If anyone actually reads this - THANK YOU! Thank you so much. I hope I can figure out how to attatch a picture...

I love him so much. Wiki is the best. But I just want to make sure I know what I'm doing!

Hello there. I am very new too, so I don't really want to try answering your questions, but I thought I would share my story with you instead. I decided to get my kids a corn snake for Christmas, and I did read some care sheets off Google, and the little pamphlet from Petco, which is where I also bought my first snake. Petco doesn't know the sex of snakes they sell, but I made a guess that she was female based on the length and thickness of her tail. Obviously, it was really 50/50 whether or not I guessed right. Any way, long story short...she did not make it. I thought she was a baby when I bought her, but was later told she was actually 5 or 6 months old. I thought she was just very docile, but perhaps she was actually lethargic, and sickly. She did eat one time, but after that, she refused every feeding, and died 3 weeks later. Don't worry though. I'm in no way suggesting this will happen to your snake! I bought our new snake from a breeder I found on the BOI (board of inquiry.) I was told his sex, birthday, and that he is anery, as well as his feeding schedual, which was all very helpful. One thing I noticed right away, is that he is the same size as the first snake I bought, but he is only 3 months old. Also, he is much more active then she ever was. We have only had him a week and a day, so we haven't tried handling yet, but tonight was our first feeding, and he did amazingly well. Like your snake, he seems interested in us, and stares at us. He doesn't even hide much, preferring to sleep on his hammock out in the open. I could tell today, when I moved him from his hammock to eat, that hands are quite scary for him, but he is just a little baby, and I have read a lot here that babies are normally flighty, and calm down as they get older, as well as with regular handling. Since he ate today, the plan is to begin handling on Wednesday, to be sure he has digested his pinkie.

One thing I will mention, is that Petco called me about the first snake I bought to tell me she had possibly been exposed to mites. I only mention it because you said your snake likes to swim, and I found out that soaking in the water dish can be a sign of mites. I just thought I would tell you since I found out this is common from Petco.

I'm sure the people here with more experience will have tons of advice and answers for you. It sounds like your snake is doing just fine, and that you got a good one. I really hope all goes well for you, and that you keep your scale baby for a very long time. Good luck, and happy snake keeping!

Hello, as a Petco employee I am sorry that you ran into an idiot...

First of all give the snake 2-3 weeks to settle in with no handling.. The snake should not be handled about 2 days after eating (look for poop), nor when in blue or shedding. From Blue to shed mine takes about 4 days, one took a little longer over winter month here to 10 days but she's bigger and has slowed down because of the season.

baby snakes are active, esp when hungry, mine is out a lot too... Active is healthy so that's a good thing.. when they get older they calm down some, I have a couple of older adopted snakes who roams quite some but not as hyper as a baby... My butter will come to me when I open his tank on his own my amel is not as cuddly but he will check me out..

On the warm end it should be 85, cool end about 70-75, if it's always 85 trough the whole cage that could also explain why he's alway shyper, he's trying to get away from the heat...

What temperature gauge are you using??

@ArvadaLanee Thank you so much for the reply! I'm so, so very sorry to hear about your little one.. I can't believe it. That's great you get a chance to start off right! I have no idea what this Inquiry Board is, but it sounds lovely. I'm going to look into this mites thing a bit. He doesn't do it too often, only at night when he's constantly exploring, but he does drink a good amount of water.

@Ravenessa Wow, thank you for the information! Especially on the 4 day shedding thing. I know now all about the no handling rules, but I do wish I'd figured them out sooner! He's REALLY active and doesn't hide anymore, especially these past 2 weeks. Ever since he ate his first pinkie on New Year's Eve, he's been a happy fella. He does seem to be shy around my hands, but that's about it. Jealous you own a butter, they're so cute!

As for the temperature gauge, I'm using just the uh.. one you get from the petco box kits? I know there's supposed to be two sides, but I'm a little confused on how exactly to DO that. I only have a heating pad that stretches over the entire tank! I got the basic desert animal kit, I'm PRETTY sure, but I still am clueless as to which lamp is supposed to be the really hot one and stuff. How can I cool him down? That's something I'd never thought of. He tends to pick one place, just one in a corner of the cage out in the open, to sleep for the majority of the daytime. When I get back home he's moved a bit, and then becomes extremely active at night. If he settles for a place outside of a hide is that a good sign? Are the hides supposed to be cooler or warmer than the rest of the tank?

I ALSO HAVE ONE MORE QUESTION, IF ANYONE SEES AND CAN ANSWER THIS?

I know there's the rule about not handling after eating, and I've read that most corns (especially babies) usually go into hiding or rest a bit to digest their food. My boy isn't like that. At all. I put him into his feeding box, he bites it and has fully swallowed it in probably less than 2 minutes. He sits for a bit until the lump is really far down, this takes another few seconds. I then put him back into his normal home. But this is where I think it's weird.. he doesn't settle down or anything. He moves around, climbing on things, exploring, acting like nothing has just happened. His lump goes away after less than an hour, and he's shown no signs of ever trying to really digest or anything.

Is that normal? I mean, is he like, just some super fast digester? I'd really like to know! I hope that's an okay sign!

I new too but my snake is active once she goes back in her cage after eating but after about an hour or so settles down and stays less active on the wamr side for about a day and a half.

Take a look at Nanci's care sheet, it is great and will answer a lot of your questions: http://www.cornsnakes.com/forums/showthread.php?t=95298

Sometimes my snakes slither around for a while after eating too. Sometimes they go for a drink. Sometimes they even head for their cold hide which drives me nuts but they know what they want!

It's pretty important to get a digital scale and track his weight. Google "munson feeding plan" which will tell you what size of mouse and how often. It's a little generous so you could wait a few grams of snake size at each stage if you want. Don't feed more often, just feed the appropriate size and time period.

Oh, and sheds should usually take around a week but if it's only 4 days that's okay too. Sometimes my snakes take forever in the winter, but quicker is fine.

Originally Posted by Ravenessa

Hello, as a Petco employee I am sorry that you ran into an idiot...

I don't think all Petco employees are idiots, and I know some, probably most, really do care. At least they were nice enough to call me when they realized my snake may have been exposed to mites. When I was having feeding issues with my first snake, I called and asked for the reptile specialist, who I was told, "went to school for reptiles," and she told me to switch to feeding my snake live crickets and slugs. I read here on the forum that this is a big no-no. I think sometimes they just don't know better. I just wish they wouldn't pretend to know everything, and just tell me if they honestly don't know, instead of giving me advice that's wrong, or just a guess. I have learned to just take what they say with a grain of salt, and do my own research.