Quick and Simple Health questions

I just have a few questions which i'm sure are probably somewhere here in these forums, but i couldn't find them.

1. How do you know if your snake is sleeping, or getting enough sleep?

2. I have had my new normal corn for over 2 days now and even with the transporting of her from petco, she hasn't pooped at all. Her last feeding was Thursday, 5 days ago. Is this Normal? Anything to worry about?

3. My tank is currently at 82 Degrees and 60% humidity, which i believe is in the correct range. I have 3 hides one of the left (warm side), one in the middle, and one on the cool side. I have seen her in two of the hides but never in the hide on the cool side. Is this normal?

4. Is there any way to tell if she does not want to be handled? Or in general do all snakes not "want" to be handled? I am patient enough tha if i knew she didn't want to be picked up i'd come back later. I just don't know, so any help would be great.

Last question, can anyone direct me to a thread or a site to read on corn snake behavior and how to translate it. I know petco has books on how to understand your dog, but none on how to understand or "read" your snake.

I know how visuals are always nice. Here's her viv so you guys have an idea to what i'm babling about. Thanks
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Hi Jimmy

This is the best site! There is a forum called Behavior, which I'm sure will answer all your questions. Have a browse. Then if you've anything in particular you want to know, run a search - if no one else has asked, post!


Everything sounds absolutely normal behavior. Please don't worry about not seeing your corn sleep, use a certain hide, drink, roam around and so on... They really are all individuals and some are very secretive. In your case, you've only had your snakey a very short amount of time, not long enough to settle in yet, he might be the most extrovert snake on the planet sometime soon!

So don't worry about anything at all just yet

The only slight thing I would check is your temps as I'm not sure where you've taken the reading from. For the warm side you want to be mid-high 80s and the cool side mid-high 70s.

Have fun!

Good answer from Tracee. I'll add my ideas:

1. How do you know if your snake is sleeping, or getting enough sleep?

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You won't. But I've never ever seen "lack of sleep" cited as an issue, so I doubt it is. Basically, they're active early morning, evening and overnight, so they usually sleep all day.

2. I have had my new normal corn for over 2 days now and even with the transporting of her from petco, she hasn't pooped at all. Her last feeding was Thursday, 5 days ago. Is this Normal? Anything to worry about?

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It can be very easy to miss poop in substrate - sometimes they do it underneath and you have to go digging about for it. I wouldn't worry about it. Just have a good look through the substrate when you take her out to feed her.

3. My tank is currently at 82 Degrees and 60% humidity, which i believe is in the correct range. I have 3 hides one of the left (warm side), one in the middle, and one on the cool side. I have seen her in two of the hides but never in the hide on the cool side. Is this normal?

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The limited use of hides is normal. Mine tend to move around and find the one the suits them most, then stick with that and only occasionally use the others. As long as you have a range of hides spread around the various temp zones, they will please themselves. Yours sounds fine. Mine prefer the cool side, so might be worth having 2 hides on the warm side and 2 on the cool side.

I agree with Tracee that the warm end does need to be warmer though. The temp range she's quoted would be great.

4. Is there any way to tell if she does not want to be handled? Or in general do all snakes not "want" to be handled? I am patient enough tha if i knew she didn't want to be picked up i'd come back later. I just don't know, so any help would be great.

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The bottom line is that you need to be able to pick her up, whether or not she "wants" to be picked up. If there's an emergency or she's in trouble, she needs to learn that she can trust you not to hurt her. She could run away, or rattle her tail, or try to bite you (don't worry, it won't hurt - just be startling). Just be gentle and persist and make sure that you do pick her up, regardless of any protests.

If she learns that she can make you go away, then she'll probably get into that habit - not much fun to deal with in an adult Corn.

I think that most Corns learn to "tolerate" being picked up and handled. The biggest hurdle is getting them to understand that you're not going to hurt them. Some folks here have Corns that seem to actively seek out human interaction, but I'd say these are the minority. It's an individual preference that you'll learn about your wee beastie as you get used to each other.

Thanks, well so far she hasn't tried to bite me, or strik, and no rattling, but she does try to run away a little, but considering how new she is to me, i'm pretty impressed by her

I'd just like to pick up on the temperature measurement

Are you using the dial thermometer on the wall of the tank, for your temperature reading? If so...

1. Dial thermometers are notoriously inaccurate. You should really get a digital themometer with a probe, as one of these will give a much more accurate reading of the temp

2. Your corn does not sleep on the wall of the tank You should be reading the temperature of the hottest place your corn can get to i.e. on top of the middle of the heat mat, under the substrate, under the warm hide.

3. Are you using a thermostat or rheostat? If not you will probably find, when you measure the temperature on the heat mat, that it is too hot and you will have to use use one or the other to regulate the heat output of the mat

Hope that helps some,