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NEW snake/first Snake

J

janoisol

New member
Hi all! Our first corn snake just joined our family this past Sunday (1/21/18) and I have a few questions :)

1.) She's about 2 months old and her feeding schedule has been a pinky every Weds. I'm wondering if we should go a head and feed her tomorrow, or give her more time to settle in? My kids and I are dying to handle her but have held off so far to give her some time.

2.) We have a twenty gallon tank with a UTH. It's been averaging 85-90* using an infrared heat thermometer on the substrate above the mat. I am adding a thermastat to keep it regulated closer to the 83*-85* mark. The room it is in is on the cooler side so the unheated side of the tank was dipping to the low 70*s high 60*s so I added a bulb close to the mid point to provide a little more warmth. Do you think this is necessary? There is a hide up towards the top of the tank on the side that the bulb is on that our snake seems to favor. The hide up top is at 85* as well.

3.) She has been super active since we brought her home. Constantly roaming the viv, climbing up and down the branch and vines, climbing around the ridge perimeter by the mesh cover and not really hiding much at all. Is this normal behavior?

Thanks so much for any help!
 
janoisol said:
Hi all! Our first corn snake just joined our family this past Sunday (1/21/18) and I have a few questions :)

1.) She's about 2 months old and her feeding schedule has been a pinky every Weds. I'm wondering if we should go a head and feed her tomorrow, or give her more time to settle in? My kids and I are dying to handle her but have held off so far to give her some time.

2.) We have a twenty gallon tank with a UTH. It's been averaging 85-90* using an infrared heat thermometer on the substrate above the mat. I am adding a thermastat to keep it regulated closer to the 83*-85* mark. The room it is in is on the cooler side so the unheated side of the tank was dipping to the low 70*s high 60*s so I added a bulb close to the mid point to provide a little more warmth. Do you think this is necessary? There is a hide up towards the top of the tank on the side that the bulb is on that our snake seems to favor. The hide up top is at 85* as well.

3.) She has been super active since we brought her home. Constantly roaming the viv, climbing up and down the branch and vines, climbing around the ridge perimeter by the mesh cover and not really hiding much at all. Is this normal behavior?

Thanks so much for any help!
Click to expand...
Hi there.
Congrats on getting a new corn.
When I got my corn she was 6 weeks old. The breeder had been feeding her on a Friday and I got her on either Tues or weds. I personally left her alone until the Friday when I fed her. Then after that I waited another couple of days until the Sunday or Monday before I handled her.
After a few weeks though, she had been putting on weight very slowly so I decided to up her feed to every 5 days and it made a big difference.
She was also quite active when I first brought her home. Roaming her enclosure and exploring.
I can't answer about the light bulb unfortunately. I personally use a Heatmat with a Thermostat and digital thermometer. I keep the heat between 82 and 85 24/7. Whether my house heating is on or not doesn't seem to make a difference to her. I still find her hanging out in her cold hide sometimes when I think the room is quite cold.
When you say infared, are you using an actual red bulb or a ceramic heater?
A ceramic heater you can leave on 24/7 (attached to a Thermostat) where as with the infared bulbs you can use them 24/7 But a lot of people believe you shouldn't as they believe the animal can still see that light and therefore never have any darkness.
Hope this was of some help anyway ☺

Sent from my Wileyfox Swift using Tapatalk
 
GRIMJIM said:
Hi there.
Congrats on getting a new corn.
When I got my corn she was 6 weeks old. The breeder had been feeding her on a Friday and I got her on either Tues or weds. I personally left her alone until the Friday when I fed her. Then after that I waited another couple of days until the Sunday or Monday before I handled her.
After a few weeks though, she had been putting on weight very slowly so I decided to up her feed to every 5 days and it made a big difference.
She was also quite active when I first brought her home. Roaming her enclosure and exploring.
I can't answer about the light bulb unfortunately. I personally use a Heatmat with a Thermostat and digital thermometer. I keep the heat between 82 and 85 24/7. Whether my house heating is on or not doesn't seem to make a difference to her. I still find her hanging out in her cold hide sometimes when I think the room is quite cold.
When you say infared, are you using an actual red bulb or a ceramic heater?
A ceramic heater you can leave on 24/7 (attached to a Thermostat) where as with the infared bulbs you can use them 24/7 But a lot of people believe you shouldn't as they believe the animal can still see that light and therefore never has any darkness.
Hope this was of some help anyway ☺



Sent from my Wileyfox Swift using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
 
GRIMJIM said:
Hi there.
Congrats on getting a new corn.
When I got my corn she was 6 weeks old. The breeder had been feeding her on a Friday and I got her on either Tues or weds. I personally left her alone until the Friday when I fed her. Then after that I waited another couple of days until the Sunday or Monday before I handled her.
After a few weeks though, she had been putting on weight very slowly so I decided to up her feed to every 5 days and it made a big difference.
She was also quite active when I first brought her home. Roaming her enclosure and exploring.
I can't answer about the light bulb unfortunately. I personally use a Heatmat with a Thermostat and digital thermometer. I keep the heat between 82 and 85 24/7. Whether my house heating is on or not doesn't seem to make a difference to her. I still find her hanging out in her cold hide sometimes when I think the room is quite cold.
When you say infared, are you using an actual red bulb or a ceramic heater?
A ceramic heater you can leave on 24/7 (attached to a Thermostat) where as with the infared bulbs you can use them 24/7 But a lot of people believe you shouldn't as they believe the animal can still see that light and therefore never have any darkness.
Hope this was of some help anyway ☺

Sent from my Wileyfox Swift using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Don't know why is posted twice. Sorry

Sent from my Wileyfox Swift using Tapatalk
 
Hi I got my first Corn he was 9 weeks old I would leave him till you’ve had him 1 week to feed him and to hold him
My George is now 15 months old
I’ve got a heat lamp and a heat mat
I use the lamp in the day and the mat at night both on the warm side and are both are on thermostat controlled
Good luck with your baby
My grandchildren love to hold our 2
Pat



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
A lot of people say to wait a week before feeding but I've fed both my recent additions within a few days of getting them (on the regular feeding day for the others) and they have both eaten and been fine. So I think it's just personal preference. Corn snakes tend to be good eaters and are very hardy so they aren't likely to die of stress from being fed less than a week in like some other species IMO.
 
I agree it is personal preference
When got my George at nine week he was due for feed a few days after we had him but did not want it since then he has been a regular feeder
It up to your snake
But don’t worry if his is not ready
Pat


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
For new people, I recommend waiting a week after the new snake arrives to handle or feed (especially babies). Once you have had them a while, you can recognize when they're stressed and how to handle it.

Some babies will eat right away when you get them, some won't.

That's good that you're getting a thermostat!
You want to put the thermostat probe at the heat source, not on top of the substrate or hide. Snakes will burrow down to the bottom, and can get burned.

Be sure to share lots of pics once your snake is settled! :)
 
i had my corn snake 1 week now learning new things everyday

my vivarium is a little warm today on the hot side inside the hide is 86 f but on top where she likes to bask is 92 so shes right in between the dish with the moss and the hide lol is about 88 degrees in there and the cold side is 80 so my baby corn snake likes it warm at night the temp drops a but like 82 on the hot side and 73 on the cold side the room shes in i try to keep it 74 to 78 degrees as is critical for temps inside the vivarium i have a blue/red 60 watt bulb for day/night cycle it seems to give good temps all around the tank i have another hide in the middle that runs around 82 f during the day and 76 at night so the snake has lots of options. this temps are gauged with an infrared thermometer so i take readings from the aspen bedding inside and on top of the hide,this is very cool to own a reptile.
 
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