Couple Questions from a new snake owner

[armbarvictim]

Hey guys, My name is Ryan I am 6'2 love long wal......... sorry wrong forum.

I recently bought a motley corn snake, he(or she) is awesome and likes to be handled, which is quite the relief.

here are my questions and concerns.

1. I have at least 2 inches of the aspen bedding, I have the heat sticker thingy on the underside of the viv where his hide is located. He really likes to worm his way under the bedding and go inside of it. is there any chance of him getting burned if he goes to far in or do they have enough common sense to travel to the cooler side if it gets to hot for them? This is my main concern.


2. how often should I completely replace the aspen bedding with fresh stuff?


3. The store had him eating 2 frozen pinkies every tuesday, I would prefer feeding him on sunday nights, If I fed him on sunday that would only be 5 days between meals, is this a problem?

4. should I continue feeding him 2 pinkies or just 1?

5. If he is hiding in the bedding does this mean he does not care to be handled at the moment.

6. finally after he eats, How do I go about putting him back in his viv as I wouldn't want to handle him in fear of him not digesting his food properly, and how long should I wait before giving him his second mouse? How long should I wait before putting him in the viv.


Thanks so much in advance guys. this seems like a great and helpful forum for me.


Ryan

 

[starsevol]

Hi!
You sound like a thoughtful and careful pet owner (sounds like we will get along just fine LOL)

First thing..corns have no common sense when it comes to being too warm...they are easily burned with hot rocks and things like that so if you have his heat element inside the cage, it is really important that you take it out. You can use a dimmer switch on it so it doesnt get too hot, and watch it carefully...and it should be outside the cage.

I don't use aspen, so as far as how often to totally change it, I'm not sure. I use newspaper and change it as soon as it's soiled.

If he's on 2 pinks now, I would leave him on that for now...or if he's big enough consider moving him to one fuzzy. That depends on his girth. The food item should be one and one half times his widest part....
As far as switching him to Sunday...go for it! If he eats one meal after only 5 days it won't hurt him.

If he's hiding in his bedding, and has digested his last meal and isn't blue, handling isn't a problem. No worries there

As far as putting him back after eating...if you handle him slowly and as non stressfully as possible, he should digest his food just fine. You can return him to his viv anytime after he's done swallowing.

 

[armbarvictim]

Thanks for the advice brother.

The heating pad is adhesive on the underside of the glass tank, I just figured I cant really force him not to burrow but if he is going to get burned by the heat from the glass I will unplug the pad.

 

[bkelm18]

1. I have at least 2 inches of the aspen bedding, I have the heat sticker thingy on the underside of the viv where his hide is located. He really likes to worm his way under the bedding and go inside of it. is there any chance of him getting burned if he goes to far in or do they have enough common sense to travel to the cooler side if it gets to hot for them? This is my main concern.
I'd go with one inch of bedding, less heat loss from the heater. You need a thermometer inside the tank, one with a probe that you can stick on the glass underneath the aspen above the heat pad. Use a rheostat or thermostat to control the temp to around 85. They will burn themselves and not know it.

2. how often should I completely replace the aspen bedding with fresh stuff?
I completely clean my tank once a month, throwing out all the aspen and putting in new. But spot clean the poo out every time you see it.


3. The store had him eating 2 frozen pinkies every tuesday, I would prefer feeding him on sunday nights, If I fed him on sunday that would only be 5 days between meals, is this a problem?
No that really shouldn't be a problem.

5. If he is hiding in the bedding does this mean he does not care to be handled at the moment.
That's just what snakes do. They burrow and hide.

6. finally after he eats, How do I go about putting him back in his viv as I wouldn't want to handle him in fear of him not digesting his food properly, and how long should I wait before giving him his second mouse? How long should I wait before putting him in the viv.
My snake is currently on two pinks as well. I give them both at the same time. I get him to latch onto one using the tongs and while he's chowing down on that one, I just drop the other pinkie in there and let him be. I move mine back into his viv when he appears to be finished swallowing them. Just do it gently and there shouldn't be any problems.

I'm new to this as well so my answers are mainly just what I do. Not an expert by far.