My snake too skinny? (And other things)

[Kazarus]

I've had my corn snake 10 days. I fed it two days after I got it, as told by the pet store employees, and then I fed it five days after that.

I wasn't sure if I should have fed it right away like that since I know they need time to adjust to their new environment, however I decided to try since the pet store people told me it was feeding time on that day.

My snake wouldn't really touch it at first, so I left the pinkie (alive, all I could get at the time) in front of the entrance to one of its hide places. After about an hour, I saw him eating.

The other day when I fed him for the second time (this time a frozen then properly thawed pinkie), he did the same thing, pretty much. Didn't seem interested in the food, so I put it near the hide place, and after an hour and a half, he ate it. (I did have to poke a hole in its head though to attract my snake.)

Well anyway, before that last feeding but four or so days after the first feeding, I had measured and weighted my snake to try to determine if it was underfed.

This is its approximate weight and length:

1' 2" long
8g weight
Estimated 3-4 months old

My snake was a bit skiddish and flighty at first. Even after a week in its tank, I still had a hard time picking it up and holding it, due to determination to get out of my hands and escape to freedom.

I decided to try my best to make it comfortable, and ended up with FOUR hide spots in the 10 gallon tank. And really, it behaves pretty normally. Being nocturnal, it does indeed stay in its hide spot all day and then a couple hours after night falls, it comes out and tries to scale the walls till about 4am or so. It seems pretty active to me.

Plus, nowadays I can hold it just fine. Although it still tries to get away, it's not as flighty as before. (Plus if I dampen my hands a little bit before picking him up, he has trouble gaining momentum )

One thing I am kind of concerned about is the temperature. I have an under the tank heat pad, but beyond the first week, and when it's digesting, I have had it unplugged. I live in Louisiana and it's just so damn hot here and my house is at a constant 84ish since my air conditioner doesn't work too well.

More in next post...

 

[Kazarus]

So, this being the case (I have two thermometers in the tank, one on the "cold" side, and one on the "warm"), the whole tank is around 84 degrees or so. And with the heat pad on, I noticed it going around 90, and that seemed too high. So I've been keeping the pad unplugged except for the above mentioned times, worrying it would be too warm.

However, even with it off and being 84 in there, isn't it still too hot? Room temperature as it is, I don't know if the snake is getting cool enough. Even at night, it's probably still around 80 in there. But my snake seems fine enough, and is active enough, and has two bowls of fresh water at all times.

 

[Kazarus]

I'm not really sure how to edit posts.

Anyway, I think this might be more accurate, since I just did a few checks a minute ago:

Length: 1' 1" (very hard to get an accurate measurement!)
Weight: 10g (it just ate 48 hours ago though)

Also, here is a picture so you get a visual as well:

 

[Kazarus]

Also, if you want to see a video of the first time I tried feeding it, here it is.

As you can see, he was active and everything, seemingly having no problem moving around the cage. But just wouldn't eat. (Which I'm not as worried about as I am the temperature problem, but still). Eventually like I said, I put the pinkie in front of one of the hide spots and he eventually got ensnared by the savory look of it, or something :licklips::licklips:

Also, my tank looks a lot nice now, and is undoubtedly more comfortable to the snake than it was when I recorded this video last week.

 

[Tracee]

It doesn't look obviously too skinny for a young snake but the picture is honestly not that helpful. If its backbone is visible, it's too skinny, that's the simplest way I can put that.

It was probably so skittish at first because a 10 gallon tank is absolutely HUGE to a young snake who has just moved home. Most people would have advised you to have left it completely alone to settle in for at least a week, but since the snake is eating and you've had it a while now, I imagine it has settled in.

RE feeding, Many owners feed their snakes in another container outside of their vivarium. Have you considered this? At any rate, don't watch the snake to see "has it eaten yet", some of them are very private and if they think you're there, they won't eat. Well done on providing a lot of hides though!

RE temperature, you didn't say how you were measuring it? You should be using a 'probe' thermometer. A good guide is mid-high 70s on the cool side and mid-high 80s on the warm side.

If you're getting a reading of 90 degress this is a bit worrying, as underneath your substrate it could be much hotter still.

A rheostat would also be useful for you to regulate the temperature, it would turn itself off when it got too hot, and then you wouldn't have to risk leaving it turned on/off and the temperature going outside of the comfortable range for the snake.

Hope this has been helpful, if anything isn't clear let us know

 

[Kazarus]

The backbone is not visible, so that's good.

I did leave it alone for a week, except for the feeding. I would have not fed it, but whether or not I should try was answered with mixed thoughts, so I opted to do so.

I have tried feeding my snake is a separate container, and also in a paper bag. And I've also never stared at it to see if it's eaten. The tank is across the room in the corner, but I can still see whether or not the pinkie was still there.

I did mention I was using thermometers, but I failed to specify what kind. They're your basic analog thermometer. Two of them, both sitting on the substrate since I know hanging thermometers aren't suitable. You can actually see one in the pic. It's the golden circular thing with the needle and numbers.

I wouldn't imagine a rheo/thermostat would be too helpful until winter, since my problem is the tank maybe being too hot with the heat pad unplugged.

My house is just too hot :/

 

[wade]

First off your snake is fine. Just right. Feed it a pinkie every 5 to 7 days and it will stay just right.

The reason people say to not feed the first week is just to give the snake time to settle in to it’s new home. Since your snake is eating fine it doesn’t matter at this point.

The reason people feed in a separate container is to reduce the risk of ingesting substrate. Since you are using carpet, this is not necessary.

Your thermometers are fine they way you are using them. If your house temperature is 84* during the day that is ok too. You heat pad is getting too hot however and you will need a thermostat of some kind when you start to use it this winter.

Probably the most common mistake for new owners is that they worry too much about everything. I understand that but don’t drive the poor snake crazy with tape measures and scales.

 

[TripleDuck]

The reason people feed in a separate container is to reduce the risk of ingesting substrate. Since you are using carpet, this is not necessary.

Don't forget that feeding in a separate container will also help reduce the chance of the snake associating your hand with food.

 

[Tracee]

Ah, I didn't realise the picture you'd posted was of the vivarium itself. But TripleDuck (great name!) makes a good point as to another reason some prefer to feed outside the vivarium.

A thermostat or rheostat would still benefit you, even if the problem is your house being too hot! You can't reglate the temperature all the time and there's nothing wrong with leaving the thermostat constantly working and keeping the heat pad off, it's just the same as you leaving it turned off. My personal opinion, but I wouldn't take the risk of unexpected temperature fluctuations.

Sounds like the snake is doing really well so far though - if he's eating you can probably be sure there's nothing wrong

 

[wade]

Jen, you are absolutely right. Best just to be quiet.

 

[Kazarus]

So is it really true that feeding the snake in its tank will increase the chances it will mistake your hand for food and try to bite/constrict you?

It seems to me that it might be more assumption than actual truth. Am I wrong?

I thought that snakes went purely on scent to determine food, not its sight. And that for smell, they could only really determine well enough the scent of its food, and the scent of pheromones from a mate. So unless you haven't washed your hands good enough (and had been handling a pinkie or other meat/food item) prior to reaching in, it shouldn't really mistake you for food at all.

But once again, if there's something I'm missing, I'm looking to be educated here

 

[Kazarus]

And I also went out and bought a digital thermometer with a probe today.

 

[Hypancistrus]

So is it really true that feeding the snake in its tank will increase the chances it will mistake your hand for food and try to bite/constrict you?

It is true if the only time you reach into the tank is to feed the snake. It's classical conditioning-- open top, feed snake, snake striked. Eventually they cut out the middle and go right to the end. If you are going in a few times a week and not providing food, the snake probably won't learn this behavior.

I have one snake that will not, under any circumstances, feed outside of his tank. He also prefers his mice iced cold, to prevent fear of them possibly waking up and confronting him I suppose. He is a right coward. The rest of them generally get fed outside of their tank and do quite well. I use critter keepers of varying sizes. But, I also use aspen litter.

 

[wade]

So is it really true that feeding the snake in its tank will increase the chances it will mistake your hand for food and try to bite/constrict you?

No it is not true. What Hypancistrus said is right. It has nothing to do with the tank itself.

Snakes are not real smart. They are not what you would call deep thinkers. But they will learn when it is feeding time. Mine know if I'm there to clean or there to feed. They react differently accordingly.

If the mouse consistently comes from your hand they will associate your hand with food. Many people feed from tongs or forceps to avoid that association.

My wife feeds our snakes. She was feeding one of the Boas one night and dropped the rat. Without thinking she reached in to pick it up and the snake struck her hand and coiled all the way up her arm. It took 15 or 20 minutes to get it off. She is much more careful now.

 

[Kazarus]

Thus far, all attempts to feed it outside of its tank have been unsuccessful. Trying to feed it in its tank was hard enough.

Each time I use tongs, so it shouldn't condition itself to associate my hand with food, I hope

Plus, I handle my snake several times a day for short periods of time. Probably about 2-3 times each day (except the 48 or so hours after it's eaten) for about 5-10 minutes each time. So my hand goes into the tank much more often to just pick up and hold the snake than it does to provide food.

 

[william prejean]

sounds like that snake will have a good home and attentive owner,good job!, sorry about the heat, im down here too, looks like next weekend may reach the low 60s! everyone will be glad!

 

[Kazarus]

I have a Ranco thermostat on its way here now. Hopefully that will get here before it gets cold

 

[highcolorcorns]

on a note about the temps..I live in about the same climate as you, and after talking to some others in the same areas, I don't even use a heat source anymore. I have my snakes in an extra bedroom. We keep the house air on 78. I close off the air vent into the room where the critters are at. the room stays at about 82 degrees. I haven't tried my "new" method in my so called winter, but I'll probably end up placing a small floor heater in the room to keep it at the correct temps.

 

[Kazarus]

Yeah, I didn't use a heater for the first couple of weeks I had my corn snake, due to the temp in my house always being between 80-85.

However, my heater is broke so when it becomes winter, my house is going to be about 60 degrees. A small floor/space heater is a good idea, but since I have a UTH anyway, I figured I might as well get a thermostat.

The Ranco arrived yesterday and I wired it up and it's been keeping the right side of my tank at 85/86 ever since.

 

[Kazarus]

Which is to say, the thermostat hasn't really had to do almost anything so far, since the heater hasn't needed to turn on much due to the house temperature already being at the desired temp.

But as I said, when winter comes along, the thermostat will be awesome.