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This is not a fish-related thread, I promise! :)

C

corsara

New member
Hello,

Just signed up in here in preparation to what's coming. So, my little daughter (7) wanted a pet for quite a bit of time. Sometime ago me and my wife put in a system in effect that would allow my daughter to collect points towards getting a fish, one point for every day that was ended with a tidy room and all toys put in their places around the house before she goes to bed. She was to get the fish the moment she collects 30 points, but the catch is that she looses all points if she misses a day (so she needs 30 consecutive days of doing her only job around the house, hehe). Smart, huh :)

Well, she's been working on it for a while now and is getting better. We're at the point where she has a few more points to collect, so last weekend we went to PetSmart (here in Ontario, Canada) to look at the fish. We checked out aquariums, accessories, fish... all of a sudden we realized that it is not the fish she really wants---in her mind it was just a stepping stone for something else, something different, something you can hold! Needless to say, I'm not excited about fish, neither is my wife, lol..

We looked at all other animals, cats and dogs were out of the question because of me---I grew up in a home where my mother was a clean fanatic and animals walking around was always out of the question, and I'm used to that now. Hamsters---well, my girls liked that, but I am hamster-phobic, I used to have some as a child and I've been bitten a few times unexpectedly, I don't trust these little creatures, lol... Birds---too messy, too smelly. Rabits---I heard they pee everywhere....etc.

So, one thing led to another...we got to the reptile section, and the guy was holding an adult corn snake and playing with it.. we were standing there silent, and I'm pretty sure we all had the same thought in our minds (except the baby, yes, we have a baby as well). Next thing you know, we're at home researching, watching youtube videos all evening long, reading... It was decided! We are all so excited! We want to get an albino snowy corn snake! Her name will be Snowflake!

On the next day we went to the local reptile shop to ask a million questions (which we did), see what accessories they have, what snakes...hear some advice live in person as up to that moment all we knew was from youtube and internet.

This "introduction" is getting too long, so let me cut to the chase: we're getting a baby snow corn with red eyes early next week! We are so excited! We've been reading for days! Even my 7 year old is reading! I can't sleep because I'm thinking about it! My wife reads every single article I send her (normally she rarely reads my emails, but not now, lol). Can't wait for our 5th member of the family, Snowflake, to be picked up next week.

So, hello to you all! :)
 
Congrats on getting a corn! Snows are beautiful:) you are sure to have a fun experience!
 
Hello and welcome! from a fellow Canadian, I live in Ontario as well! ;)

aha! I can totally relate to your 7 year old, I too was planing on getting another fish.. but one thing led to another, and well one trip to a reptile shop and I was hooked! Got my baby about a month later, after all the research was done!

You guys will love the new additional trust me, MUCH more fun than a fishy, and I love fish! lol :)
 
Enjoy Snowflake! Allidraggy just turned 8 and LOVES her snake. Reptiles magazine and Reptilechannel.com are both good sources for young kids interested in reptiles (Reptilechannel.com has a special kids section where they can post pictures of their pet, play games, set up virtual vivs, and so on), and Allidraggy also enjoys reading (and occasionally posting-which is why there are sometimes some odd posts under this username on this board-fortunately, this is a great group) on this site. I'll warn you, though-the pictures are compelling and can lead to having a child who is extremely interested in BREEDING corn snakes and creating various morphs, and a long wishlist of snakes to buy in the future.

Anyway, welcome-and I look forward to seeing pictures of Snowflake!

--Donna
 
Welcome! It's always exciting to bring a new family member home :) My first snake was a snow corn. His name was Rune, and he was the sweetest being. Can't wait to see pics of your little Snowflake :)
 
Welcome! I know the feelings of excitement! I just bought my first corn last week. He's a yearling blizzard corn named Maximus. I'm sure you'll find this site very helpful in caring for your new addition to the family.
 
Thanks everyone for your kind replies!!! Needless to say, I'll post pictures once we get her :)

@Alli_Draggy: thanks for mentioning Reptilechannel.com, my daughter would love it!
 
Welcome! I truly enjoyed reading your introduction and the story behind your decision to get your first Corn Snake. It's wonderful the way you all were involved in the decision and the fun of the research and learning. Will look forward to seeing more updates from you!
 
That's great! My 4 kids love our snakes. Each kid share a corn snake with me, so that way when they want to hold one, usually there is no fighting over them unless someone is digesting that day.
 
Welcome to the corn snake world!

Glad to hear you are doing so much research. If you and your new pet get a great start the first few weeks, you will probably have a long and fun relationship. There are just a couple of tips I would add, in case you don't find them while researching.

One is to buy your snake from someplace that keeps them one to a cage. A breeder is preferable to a shop, but a shop that specializes in herps and has knowledgable employees who keep herps at home is preferable to a general shop with general knowledge employees. If they keep more than one per cage, the chances are higher that they won't know the feeding history of any individual animal, that if one snake has a health problem, they all have it, and that the snakes could be stressed and more likely to have feeding or health problems.

The other tip is that young children are really excited to have new pets, and of course, they want to handle them. But the best way to get the new snake off to a good start is to leave it alone and avoid unnecessary handling until it is a well established feeder at your home - as difficult as that may be. Once it has fed around 3 times or so, it is probably over most of the stress of adjusting to a new home. Then you can start gentle handling when there is no food in the stomach, and increase handling time little by little as the new snake gets used to it.

Hopefully those tips will help (along with your research) to get you and your new pet off to a great start.

Good luck - see you on the forum!
 
kathylove said:
Glad to hear you are doing so much research. If you and your new pet get a great start the first few weeks, you will probably have a long and fun relationship. There are just a couple of tips I would add, in case you don't find them while researching.

One is to buy your snake from someplace that keeps them one to a cage. A breeder is preferable to a shop, but a shop that specializes in herps and has knowledgable employees who keep herps at home is preferable to a general shop with general knowledge employees. If they keep more than one per cage, the chances are higher that they won't know the feeding history of any individual animal, that if one snake has a health problem, they all have it, and that the snakes could be stressed and more likely to have feeding or health problems.

The other tip is that young children are really excited to have new pets, and of course, they want to handle them. But the best way to get the new snake off to a good start is to leave it alone and avoid unnecessary handling until it is a well established feeder at your home - as difficult as that may be. Once it has fed around 3 times or so, it is probably over most of the stress of adjusting to a new home. Then you can start gentle handling when there is no food in the stomach, and increase handling time little by little as the new snake gets used to it.

Hopefully those tips will help (along with your research) to get you and your new pet off to a great start.

Good luck - see you on the forum!
Click to expand...

Thanks a lot for the tips. I just spoke about this with my daughter after seeing your reply, she is very understanding and will be very caring and definitely doesn't want to stress out the snake because of impatience.

As for choice of place to buy from, we have two reptile shops that we have around here. We already visited one of them the last weekend, where they had many babies....all of them in one place. Today I called the other shop, it has babies too, so we'll see when we get there.

After reading some more, I've got two concerns though, maybe somebody can give some advice:

1) The first shop we visited, the guy said that he is feeding the babies with live food. We told him we'll be using frozen, and he said it won't be a problem to switch it, and I quote "the corns eat like pigs". However, I'm a bit concerned about that. Somewhere I read that it's best to buy a baby that has been on frozen food from the beginning. The other shop I called today (couldn't visit because of work), the guy said the babies are eating frozen from the beginning, so I'm leaning towards that shop based on that. Should this be a good reason to consider one shop over the other?

2) Even though we already chose the name Snowflake, we didn't choose any particular snake yet as we will do that next Tuesday when it's time to bring it home (we don't want to get emotionally attached to the snake before we know that IT IS our snake and we're taking it home..). However, I just read that snakes from the albino family like the snow have a poorer sight because of their red eyes (are all snows albino?). They are beautiful (so are the other!), but it's going to be our first snake and right now we are very undecided if we want to get a snow, or some of the others, only because of this fact about their vision. What do you think?

Thanks in advance.
 
I wouldn't say they have poorer sight, but I think I read that long term exposure under lighting is bad for their eyes. My snows and amels (red eyes) are not in displays with lighting, and i use undertank heating for them. Snows are technically albino because of the red eyes, however more correctly, they simply lack pigment due to two recessive traits, amel (true albino), and anery (lack of red) being expressed at the same time.
 
AliCat37 said:
I wouldn't say they have poorer sight, but I think I read that long term exposure under lighting is bad for their eyes. My snows and amels (red eyes) are not in displays with lighting, and i use undertank heating for them. Snows are technically albino because of the red eyes, however more correctly, they simply lack pigment due to two recessive traits, amel (true albino), and anery (lack of red) being expressed at the same time.
Click to expand...

Our snake will not have light, we'll heat it with an undertank pad. I just don't know if we should be concerned, remember---it will be our first snake...hmmm
 
I have never noticed any difference between my amel (amelanistic, or snakes lacking black pigment) corns and my other corns. Because of the lack of eye pigment, I suppose they might be more sensitive in bright sunlight. But how often will they be in bright sunlight? (Maybe they could wear little snakie sunglasses, lol?).

Once a baby is a GOOD feeder (has fed many times) on live or f/t pinks, I have not had a problem getting it onto f/t. But there could always be an exception. You should always be prepared that even a snake eating f/t could get stressed and refuse food for a while in a new home. Sometimes a live pink or two can be "an offer he can't refuse", before switching back to f/t.

I would be more concerned with how well they are kept, how many times they have fed already (if they have grown a little already, they are better established feeders than hatchlings with just a couple of meals under their belt), and the knowledge and helpfulness of the employees, They should also sex it for you - not important now, but may be in the future should the "breeding bug" bite you someday.
 
Thanks for your reply, kathylove, I find it very useful. The only hatchlings I've seen have been on pictures, so I'd venture to say the ones we saw at the store were a little bigger. As for the lack of black pigment---we've got about a week to decide. After your reply I feel more ok with it though, we'll see.
 
Be sure to handle and observe several babies. Check the snake, and your hands after handling it, for little black bugs (mites) - treatable, but best to avoid. And check for firmness of muscle tone. The snake should have a strong grip. Avoid any that feel mushy in the middle - that is usually a snake with a very prognosis.
 
I have a snow stripe and she has the pink eyes. I don't take her out in super bright light very often (by that I mean the light in the kitchen is the brightest she sees, and only then when I am looking closely at her. She is getting prettier every time she sheds!) I have not noticed an issue at all with her vision, nor with my former corn's (he was a Snow also). I tend to keep my house fairly dark as I am a private person, and don't like bright lights myself lol.

My lavender baby (special needs) was purchased from the same breeder I got my snow stripe from and he told me upon inquiry that he was eating live pinkies but could be switched to f/t no problem, and man was he right (he's not named Omnom for nothin' lol). I have yet to have a corn that refused anything offered to them. All 3 of mine (past and present) have been little eating machines! That being said, they are all individuals and one may not want to eat f/t right away so do keep that in mind.
 
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