Hello All! Newbie here with 2 rescuees.

[Tiaret]

[F]Hello Everyone!

I just got home with my two new baby corn snakes. I've had various pets all my life, but never snakes before. I currently have 2 dogs and a small fish tank. I had been kicking around the idea of either a corn snake or a bearded dragon for a while now, but kept putting it off for one reason or another.

Just over a month ago one of my coworkers told me about his teenage son bringing home 2 snakes. They were a birthday present from his buddy (who wasn't aloud to keep them, from what I can gather). My coworker is deathly afraid of snakes and was not happy about the situation. I told him that if it didn't work out that I'd take them. Well it didn't work out and here they are.

I have been reading a lot about them the last week, and have a fair idea of what they need to thrive. They have been kept together their whole lives I guess. From everything I have read, this is a NO NO, right? And I don't think their cage has been cleaned EVER. They have a water dish and a couple of other hides, and the bedding appears to be bark of some sort. The only heat source is a heat lamp on top of the cage, with a 60wt household light bulb in it. Looks like I will be off to the pet shop here very shortly. I was planning on getting aspen shavings and possibly a heat mat for under the tank. Any pointers would be greatly appreciated.

My poor babies! They must be terrified, and their day is probably gonna get a lot more stressful before it can get better. They are huddled up inside their water dish. I picked it up to make sure they were in there after I got them home, and two tiny heads poked out at me. I decided not to bother them yet, and put the dish back and filled it with water. Later, while I have them out to clean the cage, I will take pictures. I think they are red albino. [/FONT]

 

[Destarte]

Congratulations on your rescue. You're soon to be addicted. I promise. Photos on this forum are a MUST. I recommend setting up an account on www.iherp.com. It allows you to track growth, feedings, sheds, etc. Petco has 20gL tanks for $20. I would recommend separating them asap. In this case, you'll need at minimum 4 hides, 2 water bowls, 2 UTH, 2 thermometers with probes, 2 tanks, 2 hydrometers, substrate that isn't cedar and stay away from pine that isn't "kiln dried" or whatever it's called. Finely shredded aspen is fairly cheap. The proper name for "red albino" would be Amelanistic or amel for short. I use bottled water for all my babies. As far as cleaning, I spot clean every day, and do a serious clean while they're out feeding. Oh, you might want to get two tupperware dishes to keep them in while they eat. Poke holes in it. Most people on the forum will recommend fresh killed, or frozen thawed mice. F/T will be cheaper at your local petstore than live. Be sure to thaw it COMPLETELY. I'm not sure what else I could add apart from Welcome to CornSnakes.com!

 

[Tiaret]

Hi Destarte! Thanks for the pointers.

I went to Petco today and got aspen, a heat lamp bulb, and some drift wood and fake viney plants. I did not get a separate cage yet, but I do plan on it in the near future. I spent nearly an hour trying to wrangle the little guys out of the bottom of their water dish. It has a deep lip on the bottom of it and they were tucked up in there good. One of the snakes (I named it Carmine) was a lot more curious than the other, and it would come out some to check me out, but would dart back in when I tried to touch it. This went on for quite a while. I was pretty nervous about the whole thing. I've held snakes before, but always with someone who knew what they were doing! lol Eventually it decided to come out enough that I was able to pick it up. I transferred it to a Tupperware container, then went on to try to get the other little guy out. I named it Rufous. This one refused to come out at all. I eventually encouraged it to come out by rubbing him on one side of the other till he tried to get away from me. But neither one of them ever tried to bite me. I fed them each a pinky mouse, since I had them out anyway, and cleaned the cage out good with bleach. When I put them back in the new setup, they both explored a little bit, then burrowed into the aspen. I hope they like it here, because I already love them! They are adorable. I took some pics, and will try to get them posted soon.

 

[Buzzard]

Welcome, to your new addiction. lol

 

[Destarte]

I hope the bleach was extremely diluted. There are many things that are toxic. Regarding handling. The rule is leave them be for 48 hours after eating to fully digest. Handle them very little if at all while blue. When you pick them up, be firm but gentle. And be very deliberate in your movements. The more you poke and prod and twitch, the more nervous they become. Heat lamps are good, as long as their regulated properly. Belly heat is much more encouraged to help them digest easier. Which is why it's recommended to get an UTH(Under Tank Heater). They'll run you about $20 for a 10/20g size.

 

[jonnyw]

I would recommend getting a uth they are more suitable for corns, but whatever you use you need to regulate it with a thermostat or rheostat. Welcome to the site

 

[Tiaret]

I only used a little bleach mixed with water and I also rinsed everything really well. I was afraid to use anything else. The cage was really dirty. I don't think that it had ever been cleaned.

Is there any brand in particular of uth that you recommend? The heat lamp is keeping the tank between 80 and 90 degrees. The boy at the petshop said to turn it off at night as long as my house didn't get too cold. Is that right? I did for tonight and the temperature on that area is at about 70 degrees right now.

I haven't seen the snakes since I put them in. I didn't want to bother them too much for a day or two. Poor little guys have had quite a stressful day. I didn't even pick them up, I just lowered the Tupperware into the cage and let them come out on there own. They never had anywhere to burrow before. Hopefully they're ok in there. Guess I will find out in a day or so.

Thanks for all the pointers.

 

[AliCat37]

Since they did just eat I would turn the light on, other wise you may run into digestion problems such as regurgitations. When you measure the temperatures, are you using a dial thermometer or a digital one? I recommend using digital thermometers with a probe so you can know what the temp is where the snake is. Like others have said, an under tank heater is most often recommended for corns, though some people do use lights. I don't like my snakes dropping under 75 degrees at any time, so if they're sitting around 70 that's another reason to turn the light on, especially if that is their warm side. The best temps for corns on the warm side is 82-85 degrees, the cool side does not matter as much, like I said, I personally like it around 75, but I have an entire room dedicated to my reptiles so it's easy to do that
A thermostat is a must, otherwise your light or uth can over heat and kill the snake. 90 is the MAX a corn should ever go.
They'll definitely be okay under their aspen I've noticed that each of my corns are different, one will be under the aspen all the time, and the other two prefer to stay on top of it. My hatchling is on paper towels until she is older. Good luck with your new babies! Corns are pretty hardy, so they are wonderful snakes to learn with

 

[Destarte]

Go with what Ali was saying. She's pretty knowledgeable. The brand of the uth in my opionion doesn't really matter. I have a flexwatt homemade, a zoo med and a zilla. They all work about the same. Just make sure you have a probe therm and a rheostat to adjust the temp. Also, most folks will tell you not to handle them about six days after they arrive in your home. Lots of new stressful things. Don't worry if you don't see them. They will come around in time.

 

[Tiaret]

Well I just went out to turn the heat back on and they were both out! Didn't last long, but at least I know that they're still in there.

 

[Destarte]

Yeah, gotta remember, they're nocturnal. I only see mine late night and early morning unless its feeding day.

 

[Tiaret]

finally got some pictures

Ok, here are the promised pictures. This is the old cage setup. It was really dirty and smelled awful. The snakes were hiding in the bottom of their water dish. Carmine was the brave/ curious one. I didn't have too much trouble getting her out once I stopped being so timid of them, lol. Rufous, on the other hand was a much different story. He did not want to come out. It took a looooonnngggg time to coax him out.

(Btw, I have no idea of their sexes. I just don't like using "it" all the time.)

 

[Tiaret]

more pictures

I know that you can't see them very well, but they were pretty skidish and I was afraid to take pictures with the lids off.

Carmine is the first one. She seems to be a lot more easy going. The previous owner said that she got handled a lot more often than Rufous. Probably because she is a lot easier to get out!

Rufous is in the second and last photo. He tried very hard to get the lid off of the tupperware. Actually, he had escaped at his previous home, but came back a few days later. I hope to avoid anything like that!

 

[Destarte]

It's rather hard to tell, but I believe you have two ROs there. At least Rufous looks like it. Looking forward to more pictures, and plenty of updates on your new babies!

 

[Tiaret]

New Diggs!

Here is their cage after a good scrubbing.

That's my son, Matias, checking things out. He's not quite sure what to make of all this. He isn't afraid of snakes, but when I told him I was getting them his response was: "Are you sure that's a good idea?!?"

 

[Destarte]

Ahh.. I really need to donate so I can EDIT.

EDIT: They're still small enough to pop. . Kathy love has a great video demonstrating it, here.

 

[Tiaret]

1 and 2 are Carmine

3 and 4 are Rufous

 

[Destarte]

Well, looks to me like you have a standard amel(red albino) and a Reverse Okeetee. ROs are also amels, just bred to have a specific pattern. Lots of orange and red, with wide white borders around their saddles.

 

[Tiaret]

Thanks! I will have to try that soon. How old do you think they are? The are about 12-14 inches long and about as big around as my finger.

 

[Destarte]

Some people, like myself have fat fingers lol. I suck at texting, I end up hitting 3 keys at once. I'd say, at that length, if they were fed properly, 2-4 months old. Closer to 2. It's much easier to judge based on weight, in grams.