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Several problems with my corn snake...

A

Aldor191

New member
So i'm a first time snake owner and in the last two weeks i have had a lot of problems with my corn snake. First of all, the guy at the store told me that she didnt need a heat pad but a week later after eating she puked the meal because of what i have concluded was insufficient heat so the hopper was rotting at her stomach all the week until her next meal. Shes been eating live prey only and the second meal (the day she puked) i tried feeding her thawed, but the funny thing is that without even eating or touching it she puked the last meal i was talking about before, probably because of the excitement of eating the new one. Now i bought a small repti therm heat pad but the manual said it was preferred to put it side mounted and so i did (i know it was a stupid mistake) just after i realized she needed the belly heat to digest so now ill try to take off the heat pad and put it under with duct tape since it wont be sticky anymore, is this safe? Well, now i havent fed her in almost 2 weeks (consider she is only 1 year old) because i was told that she needed to replenish all the acids in the stomach after puking; so today im gonna try feeding her a thawed hopper but i need to put the heat pad under the tank first so she actually digests the meal this time but the problem is that i dont want her to get belly burned if she lays under the substrate (zoo med repti bark) directly touching the glass. Also when she i turned on the heat pad the moment i side mounted it for like 5 minutes she lay directly next to it and then she moved to the cooler side for a lot of time even when i already had turned the heat pad off and then tomorrow morning she was again in her regular hiding spot.

In summary my questions are:

Is it safe to take off a side mounted heat pad and stick it under the glass with duct tape since it wont be sticky anymore?

How can i avoid belly burnings if the snake buries under the tank and lays directly against the glass? is there something that can be put in between?

How can i change my year old corn snake from live prey to thawed prey? Or should i just give it to her with a pair of tongues and wait for her to eat?
 
You should get a book. Do not rely on pet store employees for information. Kathy Love and Don Soderberg both have written inexpensive books on keeping Corn Snakes.

Corn Snakes need a thermal gradient (a warm area and cooler area in their cage). You should be using a thermometer to measure temperatures. The heating element should not allow areas in the cage to get so warm that the snake gets burned. If this is the case, get a better heating element (or get a dimmer switch). Whatever is used for heating only needs to raise a floor section of the cage 10 to 15 degrees if the snake is kept at room temperature.

Some snakes that eat live will often eat frozen/thawed without doing anything special. So that's what I'd try first - leaving the frozen/thawed food item in with the snake overnight (I'd place the food item in the cage in the evening). On the other hand, some snakes never switch over to frozen/thawed - so you should be prepared for that possibility.

Since the snake is stressed (as evidenced from its regurgitation and improper temperatures), I would not further stress the snake by offering it food in tongs.
 
Yes, you can stick the pad on with duct tape... but I just place the pad under the tank. You can skip the tape, it should stay in place.

To avoid belly burnings: either get a lamp dimmer (found at Home Depot) or a thermostat. Lamp dimmers are more affordable and if you are just gonna have the one snake, it is probably the way to go.
You plug the UTH (under tank heater) into the lamp dimmer, and the lamp dimmer into the wall. Then, you can 'dim' the UTH. It will take some trial and error to get it to the right temperature. Make sure you are using a digital probe thermometer and testing the temperature under the substrate, against the glass- which is the hottest place your snake can get to.

Until then, I wouldn't put the UTH under the tank without anything to lower the temperature. Your snake could get burned. I have put a towel between the UTH and the bottom of the tank as a 'quick fix' before, even though I guess that could be a fire hazard.

Make sure you are following Regurge Protocol now that your snake has regurged.
I wouldn't feed it an entire hopper today.
Since she will only eat live, I would feed her a pinkie. She needs small meals until she has built her stomach bacteria up. Usually, I would feed her just the head of the hopper, then wait 10 days and feed her the middle of the hopper, wait 10 days, then feed her the tail end of the hopper.
Hopefully someone else has more info they can add for Regurge Protocol?

There are many tricks to switch from live to frozen/thawed prey.
I would try braining the f/t mouse (stick a toothpick into its brains and kinda squeeze some out) then wriggling the mouse around with the tongs to try to entice the snake to strike. Make sure the mouse is good and hot. Move the mouse away from the snake, wriggling a lot.
 
1) Yes you can take the heating pad off and put it under the tank, duct tape will work fine.

2) Get a thermometer (I bought a handful of cheap aquiarium thermometers with probes from dealextreme.com, free shipping and were 3.29 each) Put the probe directly over the UTH on the glass under the substrate. Go to walmart (or similar) and buy a cheap plugin dimmer switch. You want to adjust it so it's between 82-85 degrees. UTH get up to 100 if not on a dimmer.

I have both Kathy and Don Loves books, as well as Soderbergs. I bought those two along with the cornsnake morph guide for about $50 CND and they were SO worth it. I'm re-reading Kathy's book again and really enjoying it.

Also do a search on the forums for regurgitation. You have to be very very careful when feeding a snake after a regurge as it can kill them.
 
FYI our petsmart here in TN has Kathy Loves book--and yours might as well so go buy it. Second the heat pad will restick I have peeled mine off and restuck it many times--but better advice is to attach it with heat resistant tape; third get a dimmer for your pad as well as a prob thermometer that you can lay on top of the inside of the glass just above the pad(adjust the pad until it is around 85)--I have posted at least twice here were to get the dimmer; fourth read this site throughly it will answer all your questions; fifth follow the regurge schedule that is posted on this site; sixth feed frozen only; lastly find a good reptile vet in your area that understands snake husbandry.
 
Don't use duct tape.
Plastic tape, when overheated, exudes noxious fumes.

Use metal electrical tape or (if using a purchased heat pad) simply peel off the plastic and adhere it to a sheet of aluminum foil. Then rest the pad under the enclosure.
(Place a towel or thin board between the pad and the table or capet that it rests upon, as the heat can damage the surface over time)

If you do not attach a dimmer or thermostat, just fill the enclosure with a deeper layer of substrate. The snake will lay where it is most comfortable, and not damage its belly scales.
The reason that heat rocks can damage the snake is because they are not insulated by the bedding. The snake only has 2 choices: air temp which is too cool, or heat source, a direct heat, which is too warm. A nice layer of bedding will provide indirect heat (which is easily adjusted by the snake moving a little farther away when it's too hot)
 
I didnt know awesomeness until i entered here, thank you so much for all the information i was asking so much things at yahoo answer but i only got poor answers but you guys are great, thank you so much!! I will buy the dimmer and the thermometer with a probe and i will follow kathys love plan on regurgitation. Thanks!!! Any other answers are still welcome.
 
Okay, so remember, the first meal should be a small fuzzy. I'd just go ahead and try a FT- your snake is going to be plenty hungry. I'd cut a lot of shallow slits in it on the back and sides. If you want to feed the snake in a separate container, get one of those Sterilites with the locking latching lid. Put the HOT mouse in, then the snake, and if he doesn't eat in five minutes or so, cover him up and leave him for an hour.
 
Additionally, I wouldn't use a UTH without a dimmer or thermostat. If you can't get that right away, put a piece of ceramic tile over it, in the viv.

The tape to reattach the UTH is silver foil tape- any hardware store should have it.
 
we just picked up a really great thermometer w/ a probe from target yesterday. What i like about it is it is an indoor/outdoor thermometer w/ a wired probe that way you can put the probe (outdoor) on top of the UTH and use the velcro it came with to attach the unit (indoor) on the wall of your cage to moniter ambient air temp :) its a good two in one! not to mention it was only $9 haha
 
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