• Hello!

    Either you have not registered on this site yet, or you are registered but have not logged in. In either case, you will not be able to use the full functionality of this site until you have registered, and then logged in after your registration has been approved.

    Registration is FREE, so please register so you can participate instead of remaining a lurker....

    Please be certain that the location field is correctly filled out when you register. All registrations that appear to be bogus will be rejected. Which means that if your location field does NOT match the actual location of your registration IP address, then your registration will be rejected.

    Sorry about the strictness of this requirement, but it is necessary to block spammers and scammers at the door as much as possible.

Possible Corn Snake owner

S

SarahA

New member
Hey all!
I have just been introduced to snakes by a friend of mine who breeds boas. I'm interested in Corns and am trying to get as much info on them as I can. If you have any useful tidbits, I'd greatly appreciate it.
Since this is my first snake, I want something that's fairly hardy and easier to care for. I'm also looking for a snake that's not going to get humongous! Which is why I picked Corns.
Here are my beginner questions:
What's the best substrate to use? I've heard Astroturf is good, as well as newspaper with no ink.
How often do I need to feed it? I realize this can vary from snake to snake and it depends on age and time of year. I just need to get a rough idea.
Do you suggest getting a baby or an adult? Right now, I'm not sure if I can afford getting a snake because I've just started a new job. I would like to get a baby since I've heard it's best to handle them constantly for a docile pet and a baby would be the easiest, I'm assuming.
What kind of furniture is best for the cage? I realize a water source, but what else?
And lastly, is there a dormant (winter) period for Corns? Do you have to reduce light & heat?

I realize this is a lot of questions, but I'd rather know exactly what is expected of me now instead of 2 months after I get a snake. I do already have a vet set up-he also treats my other exotics. I am planning on going to the next trade show in Indy (Aug. 25), but depending on what I learn between now & then will determine whether I pick up a snake.

Thanks!
Sarah A.
 
  • Like
Reactions: CAV
Sarah,
First off welcome. Corns are great snakes! As for substrate most people here use aspen shavings. Easier to clean up than astroturf. As for feeding once a week seems good. And your right as a hatchling feed pink mice and increase as the snake gets bigger. If I were you I would start off with a hatchling rather than an adult. Like you said it is better to have them when they are young and that way they can "get used to you". As for tank stuff all they need is heat source around 80-85 and a hide and water. Although i have seen pic's of people who have a whole tank full of stuff. That all depends on what you want. Oh i forgot the most important thing you should get before your snake is the corn snake manual, it is a great book and can answer most of your questions! Hope you get a snake at the next show and good luck with it...
 
If you are getting a young one like i have i have a large plastic container that he will live in until he is a year old because the yearlings like to feel safe and suclueded he has a heat mat wich sustains a regular temp that sits under half the tank so he has a warm and cool area he has 2 hides to get away from everyone once he has eaten one on the cool side and one on the warm side. a bowl of water on the cool side for him to drink and to swim in , a rock that he loves to sit on and if you have enough room a branch as corns love to climb. Substrate anything that isnt toxic like pine or cedar i personally think that chippings are more attractive in a viv.
Feeding= find out when you get him what day they are fed on and what they eat, If they feed on a sat. and that is the day you are around most and the day that you would want to handle him move the day to a thursday so that you can handle at the weekend. Remember to not handle the day you feed and he would be best left the day after aswell.
Humidity= I have a spray bottle (that parents use to squirt flowers with) that i spray couple of times a week to kep the humidity up This is essentual for shedding
The best book to get is THE CORN SNAKE MANULE By bill and Kathy Love brilliant book full with every thing u need to no
and remember that there are no dumb questions on here every one is great and so helpful ask away?

Good luck and Happy Herping:D
 
hi and welcome to the BEST (thanks to rich z.) corn forum on the web. i'd warn you away from the turf idea as turf tends to get nasty fairly quickly and you'll be cleaning alot more than you need to. plain newsprint is good but probably the best are aspen shavings or a chipped hardwood called all god's creatures. gotta warn you though, if you get one snake you'll end up wanting more. any questions don't hesitate to ask. there are alot of good people on here. good luck :) ---jim
p.s. one more suggestion--- get a snake that is feeding readily on thawed mice rather than live food. this may save you problems further down the road.
 
Sarah, about the substrate

Newspaper is the best. I know everyone on this site seems to use aspen, and aspen is good, but newspaper is far superior. The ink will not hurt your snake (FYI). First it is cheap--aspen is not. Second, and most importantly, newspaper is cleaner-the inks actually might help to inhibit the growth of bacteria, which aspen does notand while it might appear that you have "scooped" out all of the snakes mess, a scoop won't get rid of the germs. I realize the aspen is much more asthetically pleasing in a vivarium, but for those who have a lot of snakes., most people use newspaper until it is time to post pics on the web, then they pull out the expensive aspen. Just a thought. I had to put my two cents worth in on newspaper.
:D
 
is aspen just wood shavings?

here where i am, they tell you when they are young, is to use kitchen roll, until they are a certain age, then move the to aspen
 
Hm..I wouldn't get a hatchling if you want a calm, docile snake from the start. A juvenile or yearling would probably be a much better choice. They're already past the nervous and delicate hatchling phase but you can still watch them grow some more. My first snake was a juvenile when I got him and he was much more settled than my hatchlings. They (the hatchlings) are really crazy and jump out of my hands and stuff. :rolleyes:
I use plain paper towels for my hatchlings and aspen for my yearling. It's really easy to spot the poop on the paper towels but I use aspen for my yearling b/c he likes to tunnel. I make him poop outside of the cage on newspaper so cleaning poop out of the aspen is not really a problem for me.
 
ash,
yes aspen is a type of wood but i think in your neck of the woods beech shavings are the more popular choice. all of my young snakes are on paper towels (aka kitchen roll) and the older snakes are on aspen. enjoy...:)---jim
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top