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My First Corn: Few Questions!! Help!!

R

RaLaser

New member
Hi everyone! I'm new to this forum and to being a proud owner of an adorable reverse okeetee named Laser. This is my first time owning a snake; I've owned basically every other domestic and pseudo-domestic animal and have wanted a corn for 4 years, so I'm really happy!

I have a few questions that I hope you can help me with!

1) I got Laser on Sunday (2/20) and he is being kept in a 20L latched screen tank with aspen bedding, a heat pad on about 1/3 of the bottom, and a giant hollowed out plastic "Snake Cave". He's been spending this entire time (3 days) in the Snake Cave, and I haven't seen him come out once. I fed him Tuesday (a fuzzy), per the shop's instructions, and he took it immediately.

Is it normal for them to hide for so long when you first get them? I'm worried he isn't getting any water or anything since I haven't seen him go to the water.

2) Is there any way to tell how old he is? He (maybe she) is about 1.5 ft. long and eating fuzzies.

3) I was told to feed him one fuzzy every 7 days. Is this appropriate? He is being fed Tuesday mornings.



Thanks for your help, and I'm sure more questions are to come!
Here's video of him eating: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oHNOS8BE_v4
 
To answer the hiding portion of your e-mail, it's normal for them to spend their time hiding when they're put into a new home. It probably comes out to explore and drink water during the night, when corns are most active. It took my corns several months before I started seeing them outside their hides (usually in the late afternoon/early evening). I have one who comes out whenever she sees motion, just about anytime of the day. And then I have one who is much more shy than the others. I only see that one poking her head out when she gets really hungry.
 
1) I got Laser on Sunday (2/20) and he is being kept in a 20L latched screen tank with aspen bedding, a heat pad on about 1/3 of the bottom, and a giant hollowed out plastic "Snake Cave". He's been spending this entire time (3 days) in the Snake Cave, and I haven't seen him come out once. I fed him Tuesday (a fuzzy), per the shop's instructions, and he took it immediately.
Click to expand...
Do you have the UTH (under tank heater)on a thermostat or a dimmer?

Is it normal for them to hide for so long when you first get them? I'm worried he isn't getting any water or anything since I haven't seen him go to the water.
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Yes it is.Like Kronos said they are nocturnal.
2) Is there any way to tell how old he is? He (maybe she) is about 1.5 ft. long and eating fuzzies.
Click to expand...
Can't say for sure because every snake has it's own growth rate
3) I was told to feed him one fuzzy every 7 days. Is this appropriate? He is being fed Tuesday mornings.



Thanks for your help, and I'm sure more questions are to come!
Here's video of him eating: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oHNOS8BE_v4
Click to expand...
I can't really tell how big the mouse is.The mouse should be about 1.5X the snakes head
 
1) I got Laser on Sunday (2/20) and he is being kept in a 20L latched screen tank with aspen bedding, a heat pad on about 1/3 of the bottom, and a giant hollowed out plastic "Snake Cave". He's been spending this entire time (3 days) in the Snake Cave, and I haven't seen him come out once. I fed him Tuesday (a fuzzy), per the shop's instructions, and he took it immediately.
Click to expand...
Ideally you need at least two hides, one on the warm side and one on the unheated side, so that they can thermoregulate properly.

They do prefer to be out of sight, because in the wild this would mean they're safe from predators. They're most shy when they first arrive and this can last for some weeks. They're even more shy when digesting, as they're less mobile and again, in the wild, they'd be vulnerable to predators as they couldn't get away as fast.

Is it normal for them to hide for so long when you first get them? I'm worried he isn't getting any water or anything since I haven't seen him go to the water.
Click to expand...
Perfectly normal, both when you first get them and thereafter. They tend to be most active at times of low or no sunlight, so look for them being out and about at dawn, dusk and overnight.

Some folks rarely see their Corns drink. Don't worry - again, this is normal. They don't need to drink several times a day in the way that a dog or cat would. They'll maybe have a mouthful every day or two and the chances of you seeing it are pretty minimal as they tend to be active when you're in bed.

2) Is there any way to tell how old he is? He (maybe she) is about 1.5 ft. long and eating fuzzies.
Click to expand...
No way, sorry. As has been said, they grow at individual rates.

3) I was told to feed him one fuzzy every 7 days. Is this appropriate? He is being fed Tuesday mornings.
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That sounds about right. I tend to go with the guideline that the food item should be 1.5 times the width of the body, rather than the head.
 
Thanks for your responses. I'm getting another small hide/branches tomorrow for the warmer side of the tank.

I do not have a thermostat for the under tank heater yet. I keep the room he's in at 73 degrees and the "warmer side" is noticeably warmer to the touch. He hasn't been to that side, yet, though. He stays in his rock.

The mouse seems to be the right size. I was just concerned with the frequency of feeding. Once a week seems so little! But, I'm a human, not a snake. lol.

I'm going to ask the people where I got him how old he is tomorrow.
 
This thread helped me too, so thank you for making it and thanks to all other answering his questions : )
 
RaLaser said:
Thanks for your responses. I'm getting another small hide/branches tomorrow for the warmer side of the tank.

I do not have a thermostat for the under tank heater yet. I keep the room he's in at 73 degrees and the "warmer side" is noticeably warmer to the touch. He hasn't been to that side, yet, though. He stays in his rock.

The mouse seems to be the right size. I was just concerned with the frequency of feeding. Once a week seems so little! But, I'm a human, not a snake. lol.

I'm going to ask the people where I got him how old he is tomorrow.
Click to expand...
opps sorry for the double post but I didn't see this.

You really should get a Thermostat or a dimmer both should be used with a therometer.
 
I'm going to get the thermometer you linked me to.

Do you put one of the probes on each side of the tank so it displays the temperature on the hot/cold side each? Or do you just place it in one spot and it monitors the general temperature?
 
I keep the room he's in at 73 degrees and the "warmer side" is noticeably warmer to the touch.
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You have a potential problem there. The floor of the tank immediately above the undertank heater needs to be in the mid-80s. This is actually lower than core human body temp and so should feel barely warm or lukewarm when you put your hand on the floor surface.

At "noticably warm", my guess is that the tank floor is a lot hotter than mid-80s, so I'd also recommend that you invest in a digital thermometer and temperature regulator (thermostats seem easier to use but cost more to start with).

The air temp in the room is a bit of a red herring, as the Corn isn't out there. With a UTH you need to focus on the floor temp in the tank immediately above it, as that's what the Corn is in contact with.

Remember that a UTH isn't designed to heat the air in the tank, so also beware of measuring the temp half way up the tank wall. That won't be telling you what the snake is experiencing.

Sounds like you're definitely heading in the right direction - keep us posted!
 
RaLaser said:
I'm going to get the thermometer you linked me to.

Do you put one of the probes on each side of the tank so it displays the temperature on the hot/cold side each? Or do you just place it in one spot and it monitors the general temperature?
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No because the thermometer I linked you is a thermometer and hygrometer so you put 1 probe( temperature one) on the floor on top of the U.T.H and the humidity one somewhere in the viv to check the R.H(relative humidity)and you put this thermometer probe on the cooler side.
 
Jdog - ah, okay. the first thermometer already shipped! that was fast. i believe i have a digital thermometer (without humidity monitoring) somewhere.

other than that, i think everything is set up well. i know the temp. is a huge thing and i should have it all worked out soon. in the meantime, he's all snuggled in his snake cave so i think he's perfectly fine. when i peek at him he perks up and moves towards me. he's a sweetheart.

tomorrow i'll go get him some beautiful branches to cruise around on.




thanks everyone for your responses. i know it's a little trial/error, but i'm not in any way jeopardizing his health. soon we'll both be in the groove of having a new pet/being in a new home.
 
RaLaser said:
Jdog - ah, okay. the first thermometer already shipped! that was fast. i believe i have a digital thermometer (without humidity monitoring) somewhere.

other than that, i think everything is set up well. i know the temp. is a huge thing and i should have it all worked out soon. in the meantime, he's all snuggled in his snake cave so i think he's perfectly fine. when i peek at him he perks up and moves towards me. he's a sweetheart.

tomorrow i'll go get him some beautiful branches to cruise around on.




thanks everyone for your responses. i know it's a little trial/error, but i'm not in any way jeopardizing his health. soon we'll both be in the groove of having a new pet/being in a new home.
Click to expand...

If the warm side is noticabley warmer, my guess is that is is likely 100F or more. IMO id shut it off rather than risk burns till you can check the temp.
 
The thermometer with the probes is coming soon in the mail. I bought a regular thermometer to stick on the wall on the "cold side" and saw that it was 68 degrees.

I got a blue-light heat lamp with a dimmer to bring it up a few degrees.

He had been hanging out on the colder side, and hadn't moved basically since Sunday and I picked him up and he was freezing cold. When I put him back in the tank, I placed him on the warmer side and he immediately went into the hide on that side and is camped out there now.

I also got some pretty artificial vines/branches (and the hide for the warm side). It's all coming together nicely.

I found out he is one year old.
 
I bought a regular thermometer to stick on the wall on the "cold side" and saw that it was 68 degrees.
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That's measuring the air temp where the snake isn't, so it's nothing to worry about. You need to place it on the floor surface, above the heat mat.

The cool side isn't as critical as the warm side. You really need to know how hot the floor surface is above the mat.
 
I've had a lot of lizards before (iguanas, anoles, skinks, e.t.c.), and everytime they were that cold they were listless and inactive, and we warmed them up immediately and they seemed much better.
 
A Corn Snake's ideal safe maximum temp (90) is below human core body temp. The snake should never feel warm to you unless you've picked it directly up from the surface above the heat mat. Of course, if that surface is too hot, the chances are he won't go there and will stay on the cool side.

You really need to know the temp of the floor above the heat mat, to be sure your fella has the correct conditions.
 
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