• Hello!

    Either you have not registered on this site yet, or you are registered but have not logged in. In either case, you will not be able to use the full functionality of this site until you have registered, and then logged in after your registration has been approved.

    Registration is FREE, so please register so you can participate instead of remaining a lurker....

    Please be certain that the location field is correctly filled out when you register. All registrations that appear to be bogus will be rejected. Which means that if your location field does NOT match the actual location of your registration IP address, then your registration will be rejected.

    Sorry about the strictness of this requirement, but it is necessary to block spammers and scammers at the door as much as possible.

Starting a Cornsnake Newbie FAQ

Kat

Kat

I'm talkin' to YOU.
I've been thinking... somebody (or a group of somebodies) ought to put together a list of newbie questions and their answers, and make a Cornsnake FAQ...

By newbie questions, I mean the ones which people ask over and over and/or panic about which are baseless...

Stuff like:

My snake ate his mouse backwards! Help!
(Ok, I admit that when I first started out, I asked a varient of this one...)

-or-

My snake is hiding and won't come out! Is he sick?



I also might throw in questions which get asked over and over again so much that they're almost annoying to have to answer...

Stuff like:

My snake won't eat! What do I do?

-or-

How do I tell if my snake is a boy or a girl?


I don't intend to replace the CSM, but rather give people an idea of what they should and shouldn't do, whether they need to worry or if they just need to be patient, and what to do if there IS a problem (and when to go to the vet).


Anyway, if you guys can all post newbie questions that you've heard asked (just the questions, not the answers) in this thread, then I'll see about possibly writing up the FAQ (or maybe I'll see how big of a mess I'm getting into, and run screaming into the night... ;)

And since SilverTongue nominated me to work on this project, I nominate her to help. ;)
 
LoL ok, I am great at moral support

2! 4! 6! 8! Who do we appreaciate!!! GOOOOOO KAT!!!!!

hehe Ok ok I will help :)
 
Ok, here are some questions I've been asked:

How do snakes poop?
There is a piece of shed skin stuck to it, what do I do? (ok, I'm guilty of asking that one! lol)
Do snakes need a stick to climb on?
I never see my snake, he's always hiding, is he ok?
What size mouse should my snake eat?
Do they eat crickets? (I swear someone asked me that)

Anyone else have any good ones?
 
I'll help too, but only if I don't have to answer either of the following:

Should I feed my snake live or prekilled mice?

--OR--

Can I house my two snakes together?

I am literally sick to death of both of those! Other than those, I'll try to answer any of them once and for all so we can put the questions to bed. I know Rich was thinking of creating a "Newbie Page" (probably would be called aomething else though) once he is out of the baby wrestling phase of his business. If so, then maybe this FAQ sheet could be the permenantly posted first topic?

Let me know if I can be of service -- Darin
 
I'd love to have help, and sure, I'll tackle those two questions...

Lesse... a few more questions I can think of...

What does het mean?

What does 2.0.1 mean? (and varients thereof)

Where can I buy cornsnakes?

What cage do I need?

What substrates can I use?

How do I breed my snakes?

How big does my snake have to be to breed?

Help! I have eggs!

Help! My snake bit me!

My snake escaped, now what?

Eww, he barfed.. what do I do?

His poo looks funny... is he sick?

How do I get rid of mites?

Can I keep my cornsnake in with my <species> snake?

One I'm debating on whether or not the FAQ should answer is 'what do I get if I cross X and Y?'... as that would be a bit more of a chore... perhaps just a link to the progeny predictor.




IMO the live/dead mice issue and the housing 2 snakes together issue are probably going to be the most controversial.

My take on it is that while you CAN do them, there are risks. If you're willing to take the risks, that's your choice, but it's not recommended you do. If someone still goes ahead and does it, not much anyone can do to stop them. Things could work out alright, or they could end in disaster, but the risk is (unfortunately) theirs to take. The best we can do is provide them with information.
 
some more ??s

What kind of heat should I use?

What do I need to build a rack?

How often can I play with my new snake?

How often do they shed?

How often should I feed him?

Also maybe a suggestion that people with "what kind of corn snake do I have?" questions take a look at all the photos on Rich's pricelist

good luck, you are a brave soul!
 
Last edited:
Hehe... here's another one I just ran across...


My snake is X inches long... how old is he?
 
Here's a new one I heard recently....


Does a cornsnake eat its shed skin?
 
LoL I actually went into a petshop recently and saw all sorts of crickets in the snake cages (corns, rats, and kings) and had to ask what the heck are you doing here?! LoL It want the manager or the assistant but the girl who works the cashregester who I guess was told to feed the animals fed all the snakes crickets because she thought that is what they ate! I guess as far as service you get what you pay for!!
 
I am absolutely AMAZED at the number of pet stores that have employees feeding crickets to their snakes! What is even more disturbing than seeing those animals stuffed into a cage with a bunch of carnivorous crickets, is that so many snakes are sold to people who have been told to feed crickets at home too! I wonder how many corns are starved to death each year just because the owner didn't know to throw a pinkie in there and get the crickets out!?!?

The buyers of those animals are responsible for the abuse because they should have been better prepared for their new charges. However, the pet stores are, in my judgment, criminally liable for telling people to feed their animals a food source that cannot sustain life!

Sorry about the rant, folks! Kat, that's a question I WANT to answer in the FAQ sheet! LOL
 
Hehe, fine by me...

If you're not off at Daytona like everyone else will be, we can meet online Saturday night and discuss the questions, answers, and format via IM's.
 
Kat,

If you need more input or help with the FAQ let me know, I'll be more than happy to pitch in. Also, I'm building a website about corns right now and I think the FAQ is a great idea.

Are you going to be distributing this for people to use or just posting it here or on your own website? I would love to have it posted on my site when your done (giving you and the others that worked on it full credit of course :) ) . Let me know if this is okay with you when you get it done because obviously, I wouldn't do it without your permission.
 
I was thinking that it would be distributable, so long as proper credit is given. And sure, if you want to help, that's fine. You too, SilverTongue.
 
In addition to others using it on their websites, etc., I would be in favor of us making a hard copy version of the FAQ (using quality graphics for black & white reproduction and the like) so that it could be photocopied and offered for free at pet stores to their customers. I'm sure the pet stores would appreciate handing them to their customers rather than having to answer the same questions, and we'd be doing a service to all those people (and their snakes) that have no idea we're available online.

Darin
 
I could drop some off at the stores around here as well. And in a couple of years when I have babies, I could hand them out to the new "mothers" and "fathers" with their purchase. That would be really handy.
 
With any luck, it'll turn out to be a great resource for the newbie... I don't intend for it to go into any kind of depth on more advanced topics, just cover the little stuff that seems to always get asked (and some of which is never addressed in any text just because non-newbies know better).
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top