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smithka

New member
I'm not sure if this is the correct forum for this post, but I thought I would give it a shot anyway. I am looking into buying my first corn snake after having the opportunity to handle some of them which were brought into the summer camp that I work at. Right now I am thinking that I will be better off buying a hatchling from a breeder online. This seems to be a safer option than buying an animal from a pet store. From what I have heard, this can be asking for a picky eater. Right now I am thinking about buying from Don Soderberg from South Mountain Reptiles. Has anyone ever done business with him? I am looking to get either an Amel or a Hypomelanistic. If anyone has any suggestions of other breeders that are modestly priced (I am a poor college kid) I would really appreciate it. I did own a Ribbon snake at one point, so I believe I have most of what I will need for the new guy...a 10 gal. tank, hides, water dish, tank cover. I think I'm just going to use newspaper as my substrate (again, poor college kid). Now I believe all I need is a UTH (any recommendations?) and a thermometer. Oh yea, and some pinkies. By the way, what is a normal price to pay for frozen pinkies at a pet store? I know you can buy in bulk online, but I don't know that I have the room to store them.

Thanks
Kurt
 
You should also purchase a thermostat to control the uth so it doesn't get to hot. Depending where you go you can get pinkies for between .50 and 2.00 dollars a pinkie. If you have access to a good freezer you can always buy them in semi-bulk from a online dealer or at a reptile show. 50 pinkies really don't take up much space.
 
Also, look around for a reptile show near you to go see what's out there and talk to experts. There's one in Manassas, VA this Saturday, which is about a 2 hour drive (or so) for you. My in-laws live in York (there's a fantastic place to buy fresh pies on the way!).

B
 
Don is the greatest! He is a super nice guy and his animals are incredible! You won't be disappointed buying from him! :)

Kudos for doing your research first!!! :)
 
If you are looking to spend less, definitely look for a local show you can get to. At my local show near Chicago this past Sunday there were some very nice Amels and Snows for about $15, Butters $40, Caramels $35, Bloodreds $50, and normals as low as $10.

This is the peak time for new hatchlings so you can get some good deals.

Ordering from a good breeder is fine as well, though expect to pay $40-$50 minimum for shipping on top of the cost for the snake.

You'll definitely need a thermostat or rheostat to go with the UTH and digital thermometer with probe.

Check the thread here on making your own rheostat, or you can get a ZooMed 500R Thermostat at reptilesupply.com or Reptiledirect.com for about $23 plus shipping. They're also a good source for hides, water dishes, plastic plants, and UTHs. The same thermostat at Petco is $40.
 
If you do end up going to the VA Show, you can check out the Mid-Atlantic board on this site for a bit more info on it. There's also going to be supply companies there in case you need anything else for your tank set-up. There should be some pretty good choices at the show and going cheap (around half normal value and without shipping costs).

If you do decide to order online, from all that I've heard and read Don Soderburg is a great choice. I don't think I've heard a single complaint about his animals. Again, expect some heavy shipping prices, but it would definitely be worth it.
 
I noticed you're a poor college kid located in York, PA. Are you going to YCP? I graduated from there in 93. Don't have any hatchlings at the moment, but have a clutch due to hatch in about a month (may be some amels, but won't know until they hatch) if you're still looking by then. Maybe we could work out an alumni deal, lol.
 
Another route might be to get a slightly older snake. I got a 2 year old male from a breeder as my first snake and I'm glad I went with an older one. He was already eating adult mice, so I didn't have to move through the progression of prey sizes (and end up having small stuff left over, after all, I was a poor college student at the time too. Now I'm just a poor post-college guy...lol). That, and since it was a first for me, I wanted to go with an older snake that already sort of had a 'routine' and might not be as intolerant of mistakes on my part as a hatchling might be.

On the other hand, most other people start out with hatchlings, so I'm sure there's nothing overly difficult with them...that's just my preference. Good luck!
 
Sorry Duff, I am from York but I go to Elizabethtown College about 30 mins. away. I probably won't have time to go to any shows in the near future as classes are starting soon. That's why I am thinking ordering from Don may be a good choice. The price for an Amel or Hypo shipped would be about $70 which isn't too bad considering the price for a common corn from the pet store here is $50 plus tax and without any sort of guarentee to eat for me. I did think about trying to get a more mature snake, but I think raising one and watching it grow will be part of the fun. From what I have read, the amount of time needed to get a hatchling used to being handled is extremely wrong, hopefully I am right with this one. I am still deciding if it would be worth it to buy pinks in bulk. I don't really want to have leftovers from a bag of 50 pinks that I have to throw away (aka throwing away money). How long will the hatchling be on the same size pinks? Would I be better off buying smaller amounts? By the way I read the description of the build your own rheostat and I think thats right up my alley...haha. I have read about people bying Thermo/Hygrometers at wal-mart, does anyone know what dept. they are in? Thanks for the replies and keep em comin.
 
The thermo/hygrometers are in the hardware department around the outdoor thermometers, lights, paint, etc... somewhere in that area anyway.

And as far as not throwing away extra pinks, that's why I went with an older snake in the first place :)
 
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