caging tips?

[b23ball23]

i am pretty sure that i am getting a cornsnake and i am wondering if you guys have any tips of keeeping them ex(size of tank, heating accesories, what temp, how many hide boxes), anything that u guys are willing to share




thanks -ben

[sapphire_moon]

Corns are pretty easy to keep. For a hatchling either a 10 gal tank or a rubbermaid (shoe box kind). I would say atleast a 30 gal tank for an adult.........oh a GOOD LOCKING lid. If they can get their nose through it, their body WILL follow! atleast 2 hides, one on the cool side and one on the warm side.....and of course a bowl of water! Thats all I can think of right now......I'm sure someone else will be able to help you better.

[b23ball23]

thanks, lol i cant wait for my mom to actually let me get one (god willing)

[ChokeOnSmoke]

I have some really good advice for you
Go buy the corn snake manual by Bill and Kathy Love it is considered the corn snake bible
Corn snakes like temps from around 70 to the high eighties. Try and make a temp gradient in their enclosure. Like Sapphire moon said two hides. I find they like a hide just big enough to fit in. If you have one that is too roomy crumple up some papertowels or something in it. You can keep an adult in a 20 gallon but bigger is better. For a young snake keep it in a smaller enclosure. What morph are you think of? Some are harder to get started on pinkies that others. Peace

[sapphire_moon]

I knew I was forgetting something! lol. I don't think different morphs are more difficult to get started on. Plus if you buy from a reputable breeder the snake should already be started on feeding.

b23ball23 where are you from? I know that the member on here called simon breeds snakes in canada. And if your in the states I can give you the name and website of a person I bought my first corn snake from.

[ChokeOnSmoke]

Sapphire, my miami is a year old and will still only eats anole scented pinkies(and thats only when she feels like it). Could just be bad luck but I've heard that miamis are notorious for it. B23Ball23 I'm not trying to scare you off either they are great to own and my other 2 are pigs that have never refused a meal. Most are pigs I think.

[sapphire_moon]

how big is she? She is only eating pinks at a year old???? Our Motley Amel. is about 3 (going on 4) months old, and eating 2 fuzzys every 5 days.

[vanderkm]

The advice already given to buy the Cornsnake Manual is a great idea - everyone who has corns should own a copy - tons of great information.

The housing for our corns ranges from rubbermaid tubs for babies and young adults to 40 gallon wide (36 inches by 18 inches) aquariums and custom built cages for adults. Hot spots are 85 degrees during the day, cool side is 75 and they drop by 5-10 degrees at night.

The most basic set up we use for babies is a rubbermaid shoe box with holes in the sides for ventillation, a dog dish for water that has holes on either side so the baby snake can crawl underneath to hide on the warm end and a piece of plastic tubing for an alternate hide (because it runs the whole length of the tub it covers the whole temperature range). We use undertank heat pads for these and the one in the photo is in a rack, but we use others that have the lid clamped on.

Baby cornsnake tub
http://www.ssnakess.com/photopost/data/509/63hatchling_tub1.JPG

We heat adult tanks with either undertank heaters (on a dimmer switch) or heat lamps. We use tubes for hides while snakes are small but switch to flower pots with holes in the bottom when they get bigger. We keep the hide on the warmer side, but the snakes often come out to bask right under their heat light. While aquariums are not the best for retaining humidity for some species, we find they work fine for cornsnakes and most of our kings so we continue to use them. The photo is of basic 10 gallon (for babies) and a 50 gallon (bought before we found out how much better the 40 gallon wides are). We like backing on our tanks to provide increased security for the snakes. The lids in the photos look like they would be secure, but a snake can easily lift the corners of the doors and escape so we use weights on all the doors until the snake is big enough so that it can't squeeze out. Stronger snakes can also lift the corners of these lids, so don't consider them secure.

Aquariums for corns

http://www.ssnakess.com/photopost/data/500/63small_and_large_tanks.jpg

This wooden cage made from left over plywood and plexiglass now houses one of our male corns. He loves the branches for climbing - just another example of what you might do.

http://www.ssnakess.com/photopost/data/500/63Corner_cage_reduced1.jpg

mary v.

[Simon]

Mary,

Those set ups looks great~
Especailly the bigger tank that holds your corns now~
it's great looking!

[b23ball23]

thanks soo much guys....i will definantly look into the book
and thanks for those great pics mary v
sapphire_moon:
i am from maryland where the pet store have mainly boas so an internet site would be great (i currently look at south mountain reptiles)

ChokeOnSmoke:
i am thinking on getting an anerythristic a corn snake but that is no where close to final...i really dont care about what type to buy ... all i want is a cool snake:D

You guys are great!! thanks for the help!!!

[sapphire_moon]

South Mountain Reptiles is where we got ours! He is really awesome to work with and replies to your emails (usually!) almost instantly! we got the motley amel corn. since you only see adult on his site if you email him and request a pic of what the baby looks like (if you want) then he might send you one.
I will definitly buy from him again!

If you want to ask me any questions about how the snake arrived or whatever else comes to mind just let me know!

[Weather1]

Mary... How do you heat the large corner cage?

Kevin

[vanderkm]

Kevin,

The cage is heated by an overhead bulb that is not visible in the photo - you can see a bit of the red tinge from it though. It gives a hot spot of about 90 degrees on the top shelf and raises the temp of the floor to 82 during the day - drops by about 5 degrees at night. Cage does not have a lot of airflow so stays quite warm. The jungle carpets used the top branches almost exclusively, but the corn moves down to the hide on the bottom or the bottom shelf at night most of the time.

mary v.

[b23ball23]

vanderkm: what type of substrate do u reccomend?
and
can u buy a big tank for babies? and just keep it as the snake grows?
ex: 25 gal for life

[sapphire_moon]

should be able to as long as you have PLENTY of hides ( like 4-6 hides, some fake plants in the middle for extra security etc...etc...) But if you don't have a 10gal or something like that use a rubbermaid, they will probably feel more secure in something smaller....

[vanderkm]

We have been using aspen shavings for all our adult corns, milks and kings but although it looks nice and natural I am not too happy with the absorbancy. We are using Soft Sorb, which is a paper based litter in the tubs for juveniles (it is in the photo of the baby snake) and it is great so far - clumps like cat litter around the feces and makes them easier to pick up. I will be switching everyone to that or Care Fresh when they come out of cooling in the spring.

As Sapphire Moon says - you can use a bigger tank for a baby snake as long as you have a good heat gradient and plenty of tight hide spots - and - more critical - as long as the lid is secure so that a baby cannot escape. I would go with a rubbermaid tub for youngsters - they are cheap and really secure.

mary v.

[b23ball23]

thanks

more questions: what type of snake do you reccomend; an okeetee corn or an anery a corn?(or something else)

is there any difference in feeding preferences, attitude, ect??

what size rubbermaid??

when you feed the snake...do you feed it in the cage or do you have a separate one?
if you feed it in the cage ....does it ever eat the substrate along with it??

lol i'm new to snake keeping...thanks for your help!!!1:D

[Will]

We have been using aspen shavings for all our adult corns, milks and kings but although it looks nice and natural I am not too happy with the absorbancy. We are using Soft Sorb, which is a paper based litter in the tubs for juveniles (it is in the photo of the baby snake) and it is great so far - clumps like cat litter around the feces and makes them easier to pick up. I will be switching everyone to that or Care Fresh when they come out of cooling in the spring.

I have mine on Pine Shavings right now. I switched from aspen and although it smells alot better, it has the same clumping problems(as in it doesn't :)) as the aspen, so I'm willing to try alternatives. What is the cost compared to aspen or pine...? Where do you get the Soft Sorb from...?

[ChokeOnSmoke]

sapphire moon sorry she isn't on pinkies anymore but only on fuzzies she is tiny about 22 inches and skinny

[b23ball23]

thanks

more questions: what type of snake do you reccomend; an okeetee corn or an anery a corn?(or something else)

is there any difference in feeding preferences, attitude, ect??

what size rubbermaid??

when you feed the snake...do you feed it in the cage or do you have a separate one?
if you feed it in the cage ....does it ever eat the substrate along with it??

lol i'm new to snake keeping...thanks for your help!!!1

[vanderkm]

Will - the SoftSorb is a bit more expensive than shredded aspen, way more expensive than pine. We get it from PetSmart - it is finer grain than CareFresh and lighter color, so easier to spot feces of baby snakes, we will likley use CareFresh for the adults because it costs less than the soft sorb.

b23ball23 - only a few corn morphs are more difficult to start feeding than most and I have not seen enough information to suggest that any color is different in attitude than any other - so I would say choose the color that you find most appealing - one of the great things about cornsnakes - so many to choose from. We use rubbermaids that are about 11" X16" for babies and move them up to 16" X 24" ones by the time they are 6-8 months old. We feed in the cage - just clear the bedding out of the way. They have no bedding under their waterdish hides and I put the mouse's nose in the entrance to the hide and the snakes pulls it in - no problem with eating substrate. Some people do feed in separate containers without substrate though to be completely safe.

Good luck,

mary v.

[ChokeOnSmoke]

b23ball23 sorry I think I've totally distorted this getting them to eat thing. Just pretend I didn't said anything because much more likely than not its not going to matter. Like Mary said its up to you, pick the morph you like best. I feed two of mine out of the cage but its not really necessary. I feed the other one in the cage because she is shy. If you are going to feed them in the cage either lay a piece of paper on the substrate or what I do is cut a hole in the side of a container and put the mouse in that in the cage.

[sapphire_moon]

The carefresh is great as long as you don't have 5 tanks to put it in! A smaller rubbermaid with something on the top, like a rock on the lid, so it can't get out....Drill EXTREMLY small holes all around the top sides of the rubbermaid. Feed incage, so when and if you get more snakes it won't be a hassle to feed them (personal preferance though).

Put paper down over the subsrate you are using........unless of course your using paper or paper towels! lol.

[sapphire_moon]

Oh ya our little corn is about 2 feet, probably longer. Perfect size, fat right now because she just ate 2 fuzzy mice. when we got her she was about 6-8 inches, and skinnier than my pinky finger, And she was going on a month old. Now she is going on 3 months old, a little over 2 feet probabaly, and eating 2 fuzzy mice every 4-5 days.

[b23ball23]

thanks for the rubbermaid tips....but yesterday i stubled upon 2 10 gallon glass aquariums for 8 $ each at walmart..i couldn't pass up so i bought them both. I put a garter snake that i bought from walmart in the first 10 gallon cage and planning to get a corn to occupie the 2nd aquarium.
the garter is a beauty and has already eaten a goldfish the first day!
but i cant wait to get the corn
thanks for your help..i will try and find the soft sorb of carefresh to put in the cage..but for now i am using newspaper


-ben