Baby Corn Snake

smarch

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So yesterday I went out and got a baby corn snake (and found a local reptile store so I wish I knew that was there when I got my Russian tort in 2012). And I’ve done a lot of research, but I’m back to the new pet thing where I’m constantly worrying, even more so since he’s a baby so I know he’s especially delicate. I have him in the little plastic tub I was given to take him home in (shoebox and literally the enclosure he was at in the store so bonus that he isn’t stressed about an environment change at the moment) I have my old 10gal tank hooked up with aspen bedding and a heat mat under it on one half, but it’s WARM Like I wouldn’t want to touch the glass for long under the bedding, will he burrow and burn himself or are they just smarter than that? I know he’ll eventually need a bigger tank as he grows. Basically I’m very confused on care, I know feedings a couple times a week, I have to wait till Monday for the shop owner to get xs pinkies for him because the smalls were too big, but that’ll give him time to settle. I just need general assistance and can’t seem to find a good place to ask, so hopefully someone here can either help with advice or point me to a forum you know where I’d be in good hands asking about corn snake husbandry.
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Levi the Leopard

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Ball-python .net is a great forum resource for snakes. Corns, too.

Yes, he'll burrow under the substrate. Corns love to do that. Now, I have used my laser temp gun on the UTHs and they get to 145°F. So, I don't ever use them without being plugged into a dimmer. (Some people use thermostats instead) But never just plugged in "as is".
Will he get close enough to be warm but keep enough distance to avoid the burn? maybe. But why risk it? Not for $16... *The dimmer switch is sold at Lowe's for $16.

I feed the baby corns once a week. As they grow (as does their prey) feedings graduate to every 10 days and so on.

I feed live pinkies and switch to F/T when the feeders have teeth.

Hope this helps
 

leigti

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That’s a cute little slick. Try put in a hide on both ends of the enclosure. I use overhead heating around the clock. And a temperature gun to make sure it stays the right temperature. You could try putting a piece of slate in the enclosure on top of where the heat pad is and then substrate on top of that. The slate won’t get as hot as the plastic right blabove the heat pad.
 

leigti

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Here is the set up for my baby hognose. Excuse the dirty water, need to clean that out today. It is about 10“ x 17“. And has a 50 W CHE 12 inches above the substrate. This keeps it at a nice temperature on the warm end and Harley spends about half his time on The warm side half on the cooler end.
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smarch

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Ball-python .net is a great forum resource for snakes. Corns, too.

Yes, he'll burrow under the substrate. Corns love to do that. Now, I have used my laser temp gun on the UTHs and they get to 145°F. So, I don't ever use them without being plugged into a dimmer. (Some people use thermostats instead) But never just plugged in "as is".
Will he get close enough to be warm but keep enough distance to avoid the burn? maybe. But why risk it? Not for $16... *The dimmer switch is sold at Lowe's for $16.

I feed the baby corns once a week. As they grow (as does their prey) feedings graduate to every 10 days and so on.

I feed live pinkies and switch to F/T when the feeders have teeth.

Hope this helps

I’ve ordered a thermostat, I found a corn snake group on facebook and multiple people told me that. So it’ll be here Sunday. So should I give him a thick layer of substrate if he’ll like that? I have to wait until Monday anyway for the guy at the reptile store to get pinkies in xs, he only had broken ones. But I know he has to settle in before feeding anyway. His current set up is the plastic enclosure tub he was sold to me in (so a home he’s familiar with) inside of the 10g which has the heater pad running without thermostat and he can’t burrow close to it because he’s in the plastic, so he has a slightly warmer side and a cool side because my apt is too cold to run it without the heat pad (I’m always running way too warm and need home to be cool to cool down and be comfy... and heat is expensive electric heat here!!)
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Levi the Leopard

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Glad you found a group to connect with. It can prove to be both helpful and confusing! LOL

(whether with tortoises, snakes or anything really) When receiving advice, look at the results the shared methods produce. If you like the results, follow the advice. If they don't have proven results based on the advice they are giving, take it for what it's worth.

Happy learning! Snakes are fun to keep. :cool:
 

smarch

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Well... I *had* a snake. Went to handle him last night while warming up his food, and though he was moving in the morning, he was gone last night. Talk about devastating.
 

leigti

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Well... I *had* a snake. Went to handle him last night while warming up his food, and though he was moving in the morning, he was gone last night. Talk about devastating.

That’s terrible! I’m so sorry. Losing an animal, any animal, is very difficult.
 

leigti

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Your snake was very very young. I think that always makes it more difficult. And you may not really know where he came from or how he was started. Just like tortoises I think that makes a big difference. When you decide to get another snake maybe try a sub adult, one a little older. And sometimes the best care in the world just doesn’t matter. Things happen. I’m sorry to hear about your little snake. Hang in there.
 

smarch

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Your snake was very very young. I think that always makes it more difficult. And you may not really know where he came from or how he was started. Just like tortoises I think that makes a big difference. When you decide to get another snake maybe try a sub adult, one a little older. And sometimes the best care in the world just doesn’t matter. Things happen. I’m sorry to hear about your little snake. Hang in there.

The snake group I’m in on Facebook said it may have been failure to thrive. I assumed that wouldn’t be a problem since I got him from a local reptile shop that I’d be far better off, he was actually getting ready to go to an expo the day after I got mine, I figured that was all good news. I knew having a baby would be harder I just didn’t know it would be a fine one morning gone at night kind of deal, I thought animals acted at least a little sick before going, he was exploring and everything up until that morning. He did, 5 days later still have food in his gut though, I bet that had to do with it, the bulge wasn’t visible from the top, only when I turned him over could I see a little bit of a bump at his middle.
 

leigti

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The snake group I’m in on Facebook said it may have been failure to thrive. I assumed that wouldn’t be a problem since I got him from a local reptile shop that I’d be far better off, he was actually getting ready to go to an expo the day after I got mine, I figured that was all good news. I knew having a baby would be harder I just didn’t know it would be a fine one morning gone at night kind of deal, I thought animals acted at least a little sick before going, he was exploring and everything up until that morning. He did, 5 days later still have food in his gut though, I bet that had to do with it, the bulge wasn’t visible from the top, only when I turned him over could I see a little bit of a bump at his middle.

Maybe they were trying to sell him too young. Maybe he hadn’t eaten well enough before you got him. Probably will never know. I have gotten my two snakes from a local pet shop, but I ordered them specifically because I know where they order them from. I did not have them shipped to my house because I work all day and could not be home to get them. Ask the local pet store where they order theirs from. If they’re shady about telling you then I wouldn’t trust them.
 

smarch

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Maybe they were trying to sell him too young. Maybe he hadn’t eaten well enough before you got him. Probably will never know. I have gotten my two snakes from a local pet shop, but I ordered them specifically because I know where they order them from. I did not have them shipped to my house because I work all day and could not be home to get them. Ask the local pet store where they order theirs from. If they’re shady about telling you then I wouldn’t trust them.

I know he goes to reptile expos (was actually going the day after I was there) and takes in “rescue” unwanted pets. He’d actually taken in a few Russian torts that had laid eggs soon after arriving and he had those in an incubator when I was there, I definitely trusted the shop, in fact the breeders name was right on the container I got him in and I may do more research on that, I think even some animals raised the best can still just decline when young.
 

smarch

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My tunes already changed from “I’ll never get another” to me looking and researching Ball Pythons, I didn’t realize they don’t need much bigger space as an adult than a corn snake because they’re not as active, and while they’re wide they don’t actually get that long. My friend has a BP, and I think I’ll be getting one shortly, I don’t think I could get another corn after holding Truffles lifeless body, it’s all I’d be able to think of even if I get a different morph.
 

leigti

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Hognose snakes are also active during the day. Even my little guy isn’t shy, I will see him out carousing around his enclosure. They have a ton of personality. I have been told that the females will sometimes be easier to feed than the males, my mail went on a food strike for about a month and it stressed me out. But I increase the overall temperatures and now he eats like crazy.
 

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