Questions about first time snake

Hello, I just bought my first snake from craigslist on 8/24. He’s a Miami phase corn snake about 9 months old and about 14 inches long. The first owner had him for the past 4 months and appears to have taken good care of him and fed him regularly from 1 pinky mice up to 2 fuzzie mice on the most recent feeding on 8/17.

The day after I brought him home I bought a new 20 gallon long (30x12x12) Zilla terrarium, 2 hides, large wooden branch, artificial plants, digital thermostat, aspen bedding, background cover, water bowl large enough for snake to submerge itself in, and under tank heater.

I did some research beforehand and read some posts on this forum and plan not to handle him until I feed him on Thursday night (8/30) allowing for a full 5 days of time he has had in his new enclosure. For the past day I have even placed a blanket over the entire cage. Just fyi, I live in a studio so when I am home in the evenings it is quite bright in the room and I am not far.

When I first brought him home I felt that he was very anxious perhaps stressed as he was striking out on his plastic container every time my hand approached and even when I got him the first night he continued to do this. He has since stopped striking out when I am near him. After I setup the new enclosure he immediately burrowed into the aspen and didn’t move. At some point the day after he went into his hide on the cool side of his enclosure and has not moved out since from what I can tell. I am thinking he might again be stressed but I was hoping he might be more comfortable in his environment.

I’ve been reading up on the appropriate temperature and cool/hot gradient to keep in the enclosure. Right now I have the heater place below the glass on the bottom corner edge with aspen covering on top and the enclosure directly above. The water bowl is in the middle of the enclosure and another hide in the far cool side. The temperature probe is place just above the aspen on the glass closest to the heater, the temperature varies from (81F-85F). The hydrometer probe is place ¾ of the way up the glass in the middle of the enclosure with humidity ranging from (35%-57%) with most of the time in the 40s. The cool side temperature near the aspen is about 75.
Questions:

1. I feel like the UTH is to hot. I don’t currently have any temperature control and it just remains plugged in constantly. My snake hasn’t once appeared to have gone into that hide yet. I’ve tried to compensate by adding another 1 in of aspen so it’s about 2-3inches. What are your guys thoughts on this? How useful would a temperature control thermostat be? I seem to have read that there are ones you can buy that gradually increase and decrease power and not just turn the heater on and off. Basically for those that think it’s a good idea can you recommend a top of the line model and a middle of the road model? I had originally also bought a ceramic heating lamp but the temperature on the thermometer was around 91 F and I think that is way too hot.

2. At the reptile shop it was recommended that I feed him hoppers but he has never ate anything as big as a hopper yet and for a first feeding everything I have read suggests I should start conservatively. Would it be wise to go with 1 fuzzy the first 2 feedings? Also, it has been fed in the enclosure by the first owner both live and frozen. My preference is to feed frozen in the enclosure. I know there is a great debate about if it’s a good idea to do it inside or out.

3. I bought the exact same hide that the first owner had for him and only later am I realizing that it is quite roomy for him as he can fit in less than half the space when coiled up. Is this to large and should I buy a smaller hide? If I do should they both be exactly the same size? To compensate I put an empty toilet roll if it chooses to use.

Please tell me what else I should do or consider doing to make my new snake as comfortable as possible. Thank you.

Hi welcome to this site
I think you’ve do everything you can for him I think give him
More time
And I would get a smaller hide they don’t like a lot of space
Good luck
Pat


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dragonwalker said:

........................
Questions:

1. I feel like the UTH is to hot. I don’t currently have any temperature control and it just remains plugged in constantly. My snake hasn’t once appeared to have gone into that hide yet. I’ve tried to compensate by adding another 1 in of aspen so it’s about 2-3inches. What are your guys thoughts on this? How useful would a temperature control thermostat be? I seem to have read that there are ones you can buy that gradually increase and decrease power and not just turn the heater on and off. Basically for those that think it’s a good idea can you recommend a top of the line model and a middle of the road model? I had originally also bought a ceramic heating lamp but the temperature on the thermometer was around 91 F and I think that is way too hot.

2. At the reptile shop it was recommended that I feed him hoppers but he has never ate anything as big as a hopper yet and for a first feeding everything I have read suggests I should start conservatively. Would it be wise to go with 1 fuzzy the first 2 feedings? Also, it has been fed in the enclosure by the first owner both live and frozen. My preference is to feed frozen in the enclosure. I know there is a great debate about if it’s a good idea to do it inside or out.

3. I bought the exact same hide that the first owner had for him and only later am I realizing that it is quite roomy for him as he can fit in less than half the space when coiled up. Is this to large and should I buy a smaller hide? If I do should they both be exactly the same size? To compensate I put an empty toilet roll if it chooses to use.

Please tell me what else I should do or consider doing to make my new snake as comfortable as possible. Thank you.

Click to expand...

1). Does your Heater and AC Unit at home have a thermostat? Some of those heat pads can hit 140 degrees. That's enough to "cook" a snake. Any heat source should be used in conjunction with a thermostat.

2). You stated he is 14 inches long and eats 2 fuzzies at a time? I find that hard to believe. Most of us follow the "Munson feeding plan" which you can find on this site if you search for it. It's based loosely on the fact that you can feed a baby snake about 10% to 13% of its body weight in food. So for example, if your snake weighs 25 grams, you'd feed a mouse that weighs about 3 grams. Or you can feed 2 that total that weight. It's important you don't over feed your snake or under feed it. I personally feed in a separate feeding box. Some do and some don't.

3). A snake is more comfortable in a "Tight Space" than a loose space. Be sure to provide multiple hides. There should be opportunities to hide on the cool side and the warm side. My snake spends time on both sides.

2. My guess is that your baby is closer to 18 inches in length than 14 inches. My hatchlings measured 12 inches, and a reasonably well fed baby corn snake can grow nearly an inch a month.

I'd give fuzzies for the first couple of feedings. Then move to larger prey as needed.

You want to keep the aspen off the food so the snake doesn't swallow aspen along with the mouse. So once the frozen food has thawed, it should be dried carefully and presented on a saucer. Or put in the hiding box if the box has a floor that is free of aspen.

3. No need to buy a smaller hiding box. Just wad up some newspaper to fill up the extra space in the present box. I like newspaper for this because the stuff is stiff and does not squash down easily.

Good luck.

I fed my snake today and I think I was more nervous about it than he was. I decided to do it with feeding tongs in his enclosure. He struck out at the mice on the tongs within seconds as soon as it came into range and it took him less than a minute to eat the entire hopper. I was frankly shocked how quickly it happened and fully expecting issues. The bulge in his throat went away very quickly and I thought maybe I might feed him another one but decided not to. I am going to try to weigh him soon as well.
@paul, when I saw him slither around today I really got a better scale for how long he might be and he very well could be 18 inches long.

Yeah, please be careful with a heat mat and no thermostat. That's a must have item for these little guys.

Mine is close to 30 inches long and is only eating one fuzzy per feeding due to his weight.

Good luck!