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Is my corn snake acting normal?

B

bandillo

New member
I just got my first corn snake; an ultramel named Esmerelda. I'm wondering if her behavior is normal. I've had her for a little over a day now and this is what has been going on. All throughout the day she will sit in her hide and lay there and I picked her up without annoyance about 4-5 times. She lets me pick her up often and touch her head and she doesn't seem to get phased. She'll just wrap around my hand and chill, periodically exploring my arms. I fed he a fuzzy at around 7:30 because she was due to eat that day. Right around the time I was going to feed her (later in the day) she moved around her home a lot more and perked her body up when I opened the tub, this was all after I put in her heat pad under her hide (I put it in late because the store was out of stock, so I had to go find another store). Then I fed her and she still kept moving around; she wouldn't go under her hide. I felt in her hide and it didn't feel very hot. When I open up the tank she moves up to the rim and looks at me. Is she ok? Am I doing something wrong?
 
You'll probably want to give her a few days of no handling now to let her settle into her new home and digest her meal. Do you have a thermostat on the heat pad? If it's too cold or too hot she may be moving around looking for the right temperature to digest. Or if the hide isn't small or dark enough she may be looking for somewhere she feels safer to hide out. Being brand new, she may just be checking out the new digs. If the temperatures are right and she has good hides and water, I would just leave her be for a few days before handling her again. Moving and handling are stressful and stress plus food can equal problems. Nanci has a great care sheet for settling in a brand new snake... I this is it:

http://www.cornsnakes.com/forums/showthread.php?t=129732
 
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Read, read, read. And when finished, read some more. There are lots of great reads on here for beginning snake keepers. Make sure not to handle her for a couple days after eating. If she regurges her meal, you will have a much tougher road ahead. Let her have a week to settle in.

Your warm hide wont feel warm to you. It should be kept at 85 degrees. It will feel warm to her.
 
I agree, handling her in the first week or so is not a good idea, neither is feeding in that time. Read everything you can on this site (the stickies, the care sheets, the recommended books) before handling her again so you know what you need to do that will be the best for her.
 
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