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New to corns basic info

B

bball4life

New member
Hello, I am new to corns but am looking to get one. I have read alot of things about them, but am still alittle confused about somethings, can anyone help me? Some questions I have are: if it says on a website that sells corns that it eats "live pinkie mice" does that mean I cannot feed them frozen pinkies? What size of an enclosure should I keep a baby corn in that hatched in 2005? How should I start to handle baby corns? I am aware that the snake will probably nip me if it is a baby, but are there ways that any of you have figured out that nipping wont happen as often, and does it hurt?
 
There's a really good FAQ section here on the forum that will answer a lot of the questions you have. As far as feeding on live, you can probably easily change to frozen/thawed mice. I've never had one not make the switch as long as it's well heated to live animal temperature. Babies do well in smaller enclosures. I keep mine in a 10 gl. tank that I had left from my other baby, but they also do great in a rubbermaid shoe box with holes punched in the top. That's what I housed three of mine in. Give your new snake at least 3 or 4 days to get used to it's new home before handling or attempting to feed. Many babies won't bite, some do, some just threaten. Of my 6 babies, 4 did not do anything and were very calm, 1 didn't bite, but tail rattled, and one has bitten, rattled and musked. If you get the chance, try to handle the snakes first and find one that isn't trying to get away quickly, but acts calm in your hand. Investigating things, but not acting frantically. I find that when they are calm when they're babies, they tend to stay that way. My amel was like that. The calmest of all the ones I handled at the show. He's always been the most laid back, the best feeder, and the biggest snake in my collection. Good luck with your new snake when you get it. This is probably the best place in the world to find info. I've enjoyed being on here for a number of years now and have learned lots!
 
First - Welcome! :wavey: Its always great to see folks researching before they get their pets! Here is my .02 on your questions.
Many hatchlings are squirmy and may nip before they get used to handling. The nips don't hurt at all - they are so small their teeth don't penetrate and all it really feels like is a tap on your finger. It can startle you though. I usually try not to come at the hatchling from above, that seems to scare them. I simply put my hand in their cage and scoop them up - if they are very nervous, I'll be a bit slower and give them time to see my hand. Usually once you are holding them for a minute or two they calm down (they seem to like the warmth of my hand and just 'wander' around your fingers, wrist etc... Do shorter times 5-10 minutes at first and then lengthen as the snake gets more comfortable.
I have my 'pet' hatchlings (two) in separate 10 gallon aquariums and will move the aquarium size up as they grow. My breeding stock are in a rack system and are in sterelite shoe boxes and will be moved up into larger containers as they grow.
If a website says that the snake is eating live, it means just that - the snake is eating live pinkies. I would ask if they have tried to feed it frozen/thawed. Most will transition over, but I have one hatchling that would rather starve than eat anything but live. The easiest thing to do would be to find one that is already eating f/t (frozen/thawed) so you won't have to worry about it.

I hope that helps!
 
wow this is great info, thanks! And I just have one more question does it matter if the baby corn is male or female? Is there any difference in the way they act?
 
bball4life said:
Hello, I am new to corns but am looking to get one. I have read alot of things about them, but am still alittle confused about somethings, can anyone help me? Some questions I have are: if it says on a website that sells corns that it eats "live pinkie mice" does that mean I cannot feed them frozen pinkies? What size of an enclosure should I keep a baby corn in that hatched in 2005? How should I start to handle baby corns? I am aware that the snake will probably nip me if it is a baby, but are there ways that any of you have figured out that nipping wont happen as often, and does it hurt?
Click to expand...

Hi there and welcome.
It's good that your seem information before your purchases a corn. Anyway, when the website tell you it eat live pinky I think it merans that the snake(hatchling) is eating food more than live or frozen/thawed pinky. You should switch to frozen/thawed . Second a ten gal tank (Viv) should be fine to start a hatchling out with. Third, you should not handle your hatchling for about four to tens days after you get it. Let it "settle" in first. I would also wait to
feed him too. Just make sure he has fresh water. My only try to nip at me when I first put him in his Viv. I never had a problem with it though. They say then young one are more nippy than the older ones. And no it doesn't hurt.

Good luck with picking one out. and keep on reading .
 
I have not noticed any difference in males or females as far as temperment goes. If you are ordering a hatchling on-line from a breeder, you can also ask them for one that seems calmer. You will find that most adult corn snakes naturally have calm, friendly temperments which is one of the reasons they are such great pets.
You may also want to look at getting a yearling (born in '04) they will typically be less squirmy and a bit easier as your first snake.
 
ok now I am a little confused on what I should do. I really like these '05 corns but they eat live and there are some '04 corns that eat frozen or live, but I dont like them as much. What do you think I should go for? Also I wanted to know how I should set up one of the plastic shoe boxes? What should I have in there?
 
I think most will readily switch to f/t, just make sure it is properly warmed up to about the temp it would be live.
I have my boxes setup pretty much like a tank would be, just slightly smaller scale.
Everyone started off on paper towel for substrate so I could easily monitor. As they have grown and are establishing I am switching some over to the aspen(they really love it).Small water dish on one side, little bit of silk leaf vine for crawling and hiding and one or two small hides. I live in the southwest so mine stay at room temp (78-82 degrees), but a UTH could easily be used.I have air holes around the entire perimeter of the boxes which has kept a nice humidity.
Hope that helps a little :).
 
yeah that helps thanks, so you think I would be ok just getting one that eats live and switch them to frozen pinkies? I just dont want to get that lucky snake that would rather die than eat frozen, because I have no way of getting live pinkies.
 
If getting live are a problem, you may want to stick with one that is already established eating f/t. Just to be on the safe side. Most of mine eat f/t but I do have 2 that will still only eat live. Hopefully they will switch over soon, but in the meantime I do have to get live for the holdouts. Remember the coloration is different in the hatchlings and changes as they grow. You might want to look for pics of the morphs you like at different stages so you have a better idea what you might end up with and decide the '04 will work out.:)
 
ok I have just one more question I was wondering if something like this would be ok to keep the corn in for the first year its called the Lee's Herp Havens the measurements are 14.5"W X 8.5"D X 10"H I found a pic I just dont know how to put it on.
 
Sounds like what they sell as Reptile Ranches here. Clear plastic with colored plastic fully vented lid. I have a couple of those I purchased when I was only planning on having two ;). That should work just fine. How soon they need to move up in size will depend on how fast they grow. I believe the standard is that it be at least 2/3 the length of the snake.
 
ok cool. lets see I am trying to think if I have anymore questions hmm.... oh when I feed them should I hold the pinkie in front of the snake and he/she will strike at it, or should I just put the pinkie in the cage and wait for the snake to find it?
 
You can do a search on 'feeding' or 'feeding tubs' that will give you lots of options. Most people here use a seperate feeding tub, put the mouse in and then the snake. If you read up on it you will get a number of reasons why and the advantages.;)
 
You want to do some reading using the search function,too. Just type in words like housing, feeding, etc and you will find answers to almost any question you can think of and more. Another excellent source and good purchase is Kathy Love's Cornsnake Manual. Everyone here would highly recommend that as a must have.
 
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Kathy Love's book is awesome - all the basic info plus a lot on the different morphs, breeding, health issues. If your going to get a corn snake, I'd definately get it.

There is also a great FAQ here on the forum - just scroll down on the main page (the one that lists all the sub-forums) and you'll find it. It gives a lot of basic info and is well organized.
Enjoy!
 
ok, I have selected a couple things for the set up. So far this is what I am putting in: under tank heater, water dish, 2 hideouts, I looked at this one thing and they are clips so the snake cant escape, thermometer, aspen snake bedding. Is there anything else I need?
 
Sounds like you have it covered. If you use paper towel, you can feed right in the viv at first. Some of the babies can be a bit shy and won't eat if placed in a seperate container. I had two that were like that. I fed in the viv for a while and they all came around and are feeding in a seperate box now.
 
Before you open the package, make sure your UTH can be used with the plastic Herp Haven (slick little place for a baby!). Some can only be used on glass. If that's what you've got, I've got a couple of ideas... 1) Go back and see if you can get a UTH that can be used under plastic, and return the first one; 2) don't mount the UTH to the plastic (I wouldn't do that regardless...I did it once and have regretted it ever since) and layer several layers of newspaper between the UTH and the Haven. I feed my snakes in Gladware containers. I handle them some before feeding, and they go back into their vivs into the Gladware where their prey items await them. My new baby didn't even let me get her out of my hand before she nabbed her pinkie! She was hungry! They sell bamboo tongs...sometimes I tease Legoless just a little by tugging the mouse in front of him, and he usually jumps right on it. I think you'll be ok. I warm mine by putting them in a snack size zipper bag and warm them in tap water. It seems to work every time so far.
 
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