questions for new corn snake

SydneySpider

Arachnosquire
Old Timer
Joined
Nov 7, 2005
Messages
56
Well I just bought my first corn snake! :D I'm very excited! I've been thinking about it for a while, and saw a gorgous baby (under a foot) for sale. Its a 'ghost' morph, similar to a snow, or that's what i was told. Anyway since i got it at a petstore i want to check the information they gave me. First, what should i use for substrate? They are using crushed walnut shells. They advised against aspen (or any wood) shavings. What should i use? I'm using the walnut shells for now. They are larger than sand, but about the consistency. That's my main question. For light i'm using a 50W ExoTerra "SunGlo" Basking Spot Lamp. Then an under terrarium heater on one side. Plus a heavy water dish, a large rough lava rock (suggested for molting/shedding) and a hide. They say he is eating a fuzzy once a week. Is that about right? But they are feeding live (and only sell live) but i guess before he was eating frozen because they say he doesn't constrict them, just tries to eat them live (he assumes they are dead). So should i start buying frozen again? Anything else I need/am forgetting? And what's the best book for corns or snakes in general? I purchased "the corn snake manual" (bill and kathy love) it was the only one at the petstore. Sorry for all the questions! I want to be a good owner. I'll start looking for more answers online, but i trust people here. Any good website suggestions? I know you can't trust everything online. Thanks very much!!
 

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Malhavoc's

Arachnoking
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Jul 12, 2003
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Gorgeous There amazing snakes, although kinda odd (see my recent thread) I bought mine around that size too, and now its..well.. nearly 4-5 feet I think.

as far as housing n'what not mine goes off a heat lamp, A cardboard box for a hide, a water dish, a piece of drift wood and good ol' astroturf for an easy clean substrate. and one mouse a week. he she it has been rather happy for the last 3-4 years on the easiest of basics.
 

Snipes

Arachnoprince
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Feb 25, 2005
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1,385
Its under a foot and taking fuzzies?! Mush have a hell of a girth lol {D
 

nightdwarf

Arachnopeon
Joined
Apr 1, 2005
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5
baby corns are cool. i would use pine or aspen for the bedding, i dont use lights for mine belly heat is better ,give him a couple hide boxs (one on either end of the tank) and a water bowl and u r good to go , and make sure you lock the lid down real good or it will get out they are really good at escaping.
 

padkison

Arachnoangel
Old Timer
Joined
Dec 8, 2005
Messages
901
I raised a corn for 4 years from a pencil to 4'. Use aspen shavings. Water bowl. Rock for abrasion for shedding. Angled stick for climbing (he used it). Shoe box hide (adjust to the size of the corn, they like to be snug). You can get a water bowl with holes or make a hole and they will hide under it. I had a heat mat, but unless you put it on a rheostat, it may be too hot for your corn. Mine never used it, so I just kept at room temp (68-78F). If you use a heat mat, put a hide at the hot end and at the cold end. The Corn Manual is a good book.

You can order bulk frozen mice from Rodentpro.com and keep in a ziplock in the freezer. They will be good for a year. Thaw in a bowl of hot water for 10 minutes prior to feeding. Rodentpro will ship lots of 50 of any size if you ask.

I fed mine at the small end of mice, girth size or smaller. Mainly because I thought it would be better for digestion since he was kept at room temps. When growing, I fed 2x/week and cut back to 1x/ten days when he got large.
 
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Thoth

Arachnopharoah
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Jun 9, 2005
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1,321
I use aspen with my corns (avoid pine or cedar may cause respiratory issues with your snake). I feed my snakes in a different box so I avoid the prooblem swallowing any substrate. I'd swap out the dayglo with one of the red heatlamps, just because they are crepuscular/nocturnal, so you might see him more often. I use both a heat mat and lamp wih corns but they are on a thermostat. Also they do like to burrow or mine do, at any rate.

Nice snake.
 

Cirith Ungol

Ministry of Fluffy Bunnies
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Dec 22, 2004
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3,886
My homeproduced baby is now about 1½ft and gets 2-3 rat pinkies every (3-)4-5 days, all depending on what the belly looks like. It's growing like..erm.. weed :D

I just yesterday heard of a baby corn that was fed 1 pinky every 3-4 weeks and it was now a year old and still hadn't grown! :eek: Not very surprising and good it got a new owner!

You could almost say that a corn puts into lenght the same as the feeders are long ;) So I guess it's a bit up to you for how long you want a cuddly squirmy little snake or if you want a 20ft supercorn within a year or two ;)
 

dirtborder4life

Arachnoknight
Old Timer
Joined
Jul 19, 2005
Messages
169
corns

I agree with what most of what ppl have already said.I currently only have 1 corn(a snow),I keep him on aspen shavings,water bowl,two hides(one on each end),a branch for climbing and shedding,and a heat mat on one end.He's getting 3 fuzzies a week right now(trying to use up the last of them),but is about to go to small adults.
 

ErikH

Arachnoangel
Old Timer
Joined
Mar 8, 2006
Messages
841
I agree with pretty much everything already said. Two hides, one on the warm side one on the cool. The warm side should be between 82 and 85F. The cool side should be no cooler than about 70. Aspen is good, newspaper works as well. Fresh water daily. Frozen prey should be fine, just make sure it is not much thicker than the thickest part of the snake. Put the frozen mouse in a zip-loc bag and put it in warm water for 15 minutes or so. Use tongs or a hemostat to handle the mouse, you don't want your hand smelling like mouse when you put it in the enclosure.
 
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