Brand new, excited member!

[snoodlyboop]

Hello! My name is Sam and I actually found this website while googling corn snake care. All my questions seemed to bring up forum links here so it seemed only natural to join.

I am the brand-new caretaker of a not-so-new corn snake. His name is Bud (according to my kiddo, ha) and he used to belong to my dad. Dad's kept snakes for years but he recently moved into a much tinier house and had to downsize and, as it was such short notice, I gladly volunteered to adopt Bud!

About Bud: Dad rescued him from a careless owner about two years ago, so we're unsure of his age but we think he's about three years old now. He was also extremely underweight when Dad got him (original owner said he was about a year but he was still feeding him him a pinky every two weeks) so he played catch-up for a while and finally got him to a size he thought was more appropriate. We don't know what morph he is. Dad also gave me his 55-gallon tank (screen lid w/ clips), two hides (one is a bit more open than the other), a nicely sized climbing branch, water bowl, an under tank heater, an overhead heat lamp, a tank stand, and bedding; dad isn't sure what the bedding is, though. He said he knows it isn't cedar, and at the pet store it's "on the shelf next to the coconut stuff. You'll find it." Uhhh... lol. I do know it appears to be dark wood chips of some kind.

I've never kept snakes before but I'm very excited to have Bud!

As for myself, I'm a work-at-home mom to a wild three-year-old. My partner works in food service and has a 7-year-old who stays with us a few times a month. Because the kids are so young, we're keeping Bud in our bedroom and keeping the kids away. We don't currently have any other pets.

We just got Bud here this past Monday; we fed him Friday, and I handled him for a couple short minutes earlier today. I am *fairly* sure he's about to shed; dad did say he's had trouble shedding in the past (pieces), so I'm currently researching things like how best to aid shedding and am probably going to go shopping this week for something a bit more rough to put in his tank to help him out.

So, yeah, hi!

 

[snoodlyboop]

It occurs to me that maybe I should have included a picture? I haven't been on a forum in yeeeaaars, though, so I don't know if I'm able to edit the original post...

This is a picture my partner took after we fed him Friday. He did a couple loops around his tank before taking a drink and then going in his hide.

(Hope this works!)

 

[BLKfly]

Congratulations! Snakes are awesome pets. I was never into snakes until I found out my girl had one. Then unfortunately her okettee passed about a year ago. Since then we now have 7, and wanting more lol.

 

[Genlisae]

Hello. :wavey: Welcome. You have a beautiful snake

 

[albertagirl]

Welcome Sam and Bud! You'll love it here!

To help Bud shed better, humidity is one thing you can look at. I try to make sure the humidity is at least 50% or 60% while my snakes are blue, until they shed. They usually shed quite well at those humidities. While not in shed, I let the humidity in their cages stay at whatever is ambient in the room.

You could also try using the under tank heater exclusively. The light is fine, and won't hurt him (assuming you are using thermostats to regulate the heat both are producing) but I've heard they can have a drying effect which may make it harder to keep the humidity high enough to help him shed. You will find many of us use undertank heat only.

Have fun with your new pal!

 

[axis1]

Welcome to the forum!

You certainly ARE in the right place! I kept various reptiles for years but most of the time went with what pet store owners and the general public said about husbandry and never really got scientific in caring for my snakes. However, this particular forum has provided education and guidance MOST people just can't provide, as you will discover a number of experts here who will almost always find a solution to a problem or at the very least, will be able to point you in the right direction! I used to cohabitate my adult corns (for 8 years!) as the general consensus OUTSIDE of this forum said it was OK to do so and I thought everything was fine until two of my adult males began mating - or so I thought! Needless to say, all of my sneaky ones have their own housing now and all seem to be doing well and I have one who just laid 19 eggs, so I will have a whole lot more hopefully soon, though I'm uncertain about how many I will be able to keep!

The point is, if you are open-minded and care about your pets, you are in the BEST place to have all of the best information at your fingertips!

BTW, it's a great idea to keep your sneaky ones away from the unsupervised scrutiny of the young'uns! While kids can be great with snakes with the right education and supervision, they can also create havoc if they are left to their own devices, as kids will be kids!!

Welcome again!!!

 

[snoodlyboop]

Thank you, all!

albertagirl: Thank you! Yeah, dad said to leave the lamp on during the day and all that, but I'm quickly finding that's not the standard or even really suggested. I'm not sure how big the under tank heater is, though, so I'm worried about whether it's the right size, but I won't be able to lift the tank and look until partner gets home to help me. Even if it's a smaller one, he should still be good without the lamp, right? Dad didn't have a thermostat with it, but from researching I've decided to buy one and am going to pick one up here in the next day or two.

axis1: Thank you! Yeah, I've learned more about keeping corns in a couple hours of reading this forum than I have in the last two weeks of research, it's fantastic. And I totally agree! I do transcription at home and the computer is in our bedroom with Bud, so he'll definitely be supervised.

My three-year-old is just in no way able to interact with small animals honestly, even dogs (kiddo gets way too excited too easily, lol). Maybe in five or six years we'll give it a try. Otherwise, I think the kiddos seeing us grown-ups care for an animal will be a good lesson, even if they won't be directly participating; I was thinking of letting the kiddos help me pick out a nice fake plant or two to help spruce up Bud's tank, but that'll be about the extent of it.

 

[albertagirl]

Thank you, all!

albertagirl: Thank you! Yeah, dad said to leave the lamp on during the day and all that, but I'm quickly finding that's not the standard or even really suggested. I'm not sure how big the under tank heater is, though, so I'm worried about whether it's the right size, but I won't be able to lift the tank and look until partner gets home to help me. Even if it's a smaller one, he should still be good without the lamp, right? Dad didn't have a thermostat with it, but from researching I've decided to buy one and am going to pick one up here in the next day or two.

If the heat mat is big enough for Bud to get completely on it, it would probably do, as long as it provides a high enough temperature? The recommended size is about 1/3 of the cage floor, but I'm not sure if that's actually necessary. Maybe someone else could comment on this as well? Using a thermostat with the probe directly on the cage floor inside the warm hide, where the snake would be, or a temp gun pointed at the same spot, would be the only way to know for sure if a small heat pad is raising the temperature high enough by itself.

 

[snoodlyboop]

If the heat mat is big enough for Bud to get completely on it, it would probably do, as long as it provides a high enough temperature? The recommended size is about 1/3 of the cage floor, but I'm not sure if that's actually necessary. Maybe someone else could comment on this as well? Using a thermostat with the probe directly on the cage floor inside the warm hide, where the snake would be, or a temp gun pointed at the same spot, would be the only way to know for sure if a small heat pad is raising the temperature high enough by itself.

I *think* it's a good temperature... he spends most of his time in the hide on the warm side, and will go to the cooler hide maybe once a day for an hour or less. I've heard the 1/3 rule a lot, which is mainly why I want to make sure it's big enough and warm enough. I think Dad did okay with his set up but I definitely have a whole huge list of things I wanna get for Bud to make sure he's in tip-top shape, such as a digital thermometer with a probe and a thermostat, hygrometer, etc. His current set up has been good for two years, so I'm leaning towards the idea that it'll be fine until I can get those things, but I basically want to make sure it's still an okay set-up during this stress of the move. He's a sweetie and I'm infatuated and I want the best for him, lol.

 

[albertagirl]

I think you hit the nail on the head there. He's done fine thus far, it's probably not a panic now. There's a range of "just fine" living conditions, and then there's what's generally accepted as "optimum" living conditions, and it's up to you to decide where you want to keep your snake. As a fairly new snake keeper myself, I try to get as close to optimum as I can so that when I inevitably screw something up, hopefully it will have minor consequences. I figure the more room I give myself for error, the better.

 

[HelloSweetie]

welcome He is soooo lovely :3

 

[DollysMom]

Welcome. :wavey: Can't add any info, looks like your questions have been answered. I hope you'll hang out here. When you have time just read old posts and stickies.

Bud is one handsome and lucky fellow.

 

[snoodlyboop]

Thank you all! Wow, everyone's so nice here!

Bit of an update: After the discussion here I left his lamp off all day, and covered part of his cage with a slightly damp towel (another trick I learned by reading posts here!) to up the humidity a little bit, aaaaaaaand he just shed! And pooped!

Unfortunately the shed isn't all in one piece, but I'd say a good third of it came off in two solid pieces. The tail cap came off no problem (not gonna lie, partner and I cheered for him a bit, lol) and his eyes look clear, but I still see a couple pieces stuck to him, and there's a lot of pieces around the cage. Haven't found the head piece yet. I think this is a bit of improvement maybe, the tips helped, because from what dad said it sounded like his previous sheds just came off like confetti, so the big solid pieces are a good sign.

I'm gonna use a couple other tricks I learned here to help him remove the last of his shed in the morning. These forums are so helpful! I'm glad y'all are here! haha.

 

[albertagirl]

That's awesome! Next shed you'll have a little more time to increase the humidity before he sheds and it will be even better.
Those pesky head pieces, when they don't come off attached to the rest of the shed they can be a real trick to find them. Usually I find them later by accident when I've given up looking.

 

[DollysMom]

Congratulations! That's a major improvement.

Have you considered offering a humid hide? I have great success with them. My little girl Cleo went into hers a few days ago before I was even sure she was in shed. When I checked last night, she was definitely blue so it won't be long now.

I'm with Albertagirl, the head when detached is difficult to find. I only had that happen once and I finally found it when I changed out the aspen.

 

[snoodlyboop]

I have! I'm planning on getting one this week, likely with sphagnum (sp?) moss. Dad said Bud doesn't seem to like to soak, but I'm wondering if that's more due to sub-optimal conditions (haha, sorry, dad) or maybe his water bowl is too high. It doesn't SEEM to be, but then again, I'm not a snake. So yeah, I'm gonna try both a humid hide and maybe a lower and wider water dish, see if maybe I can soften him up a bit. ;D

 

[snoodlyboop]

'nother minor update: I found head pieces! It was in shreds, too, but I found the eye caps. They came off in a single, ninja turtle mask-like strip, it was pretty cool. But yeah, eye caps and tail piece present. Gonna give him the "moist-towel-in-a-bin bath" treatment here shortly to help with the other pieces. Thank you everyone for your advice so far!

He's also been pretty active this morning! Could be because he finished his shed and had a good poo, or because he's starting to get acclimated, or because I haven't turned his lamp back on (not gonna, but now I'm sure he likes it off better!), oooorrrr maybe because I'm playing music, which is something dad did a lot? Haha, no telling. But I'm excited!

 

[DollysMom]

Sounds like Bud is acclimating! He sure is one handsome fellow.

Yes, it's sphagnum moss. You can buy the stuff packaged for reptiles or organic New Zealand packaged for orchids. So far I find the reptile stuff a better package size vs cost right now but ymmv. Anyway I swear by it and my snakes love it.

Not all snakes soak in their water dishes. I've seen mine pass though but never stop and soak, and the dishes are big enough. I think it has more to do with the snake than the dish as long as you provide a large enough dish. Mine much prefer their humid hides.

In any case, best wishes. Bud looks like a wonderful snake!

 

[snoodlyboop]

Thank you very much!