substrate and a few other Q

[chamitch]

can peat moss be used as a substrate? what if u pack it down?

and if u use a heat pad are lights nessesary?

what kind of corn do u thin ki shoudl get? amel? albino/red?

cant wait

[Simon]

peat moss would be a bit too damp for them. I wouldn't use it. I'd recommand aspen, alpha chips or beta chips, paper towel, or even news paper. All those work great with corns~

if you are using a heat pad it is not neccessary to use a heat lamp. Just use either one.

"what kind of corn do u thin ki shoudl get? amel? albino/red?"

First of all are you saying amel and anery? If not then what do you mean by albino/red? Cause it seems to me like that you're asking the same kind of morph here. Amels = albino that lacks black. Thus a red/orange snake. Anery = albino that lacks red. Leading to a black/grey snake.

But I think that you should get a snake that attracts you the most. That's all~
A snake that attracts you is a snake that you will love and care for~ not something that others like~

[chamitch]

i thought amels had more orange. i thought of that but i assumed they are different. ohwell i guess i dotn have to maek a choice if yoru right. hahah

what if i kept it dry teh peat i mean? also what is alpha betta chips?
thanks

[vanderkm]

Dry peat moss would be a problem because it has fine particles that could be inhaled or could be stuck to the food and expand once it was eaten. Aspen shavings are the most commonly used bedding for cornsnakes, though many people use paper towels especially when the snakes are young. Alpha and beta chips are products that are produced from wood for laboratory animal bedding - I believe one is aspen based. Need to special order - not easy to find in local pet shops.

As Simon indicated amel is short for amelanistic which means no melanin pigment - so white where a normal cornsnake is black. They have saddles that vary from orange to dark red, with background color that ranges from white to dark orange and typically have at least some white around the saddles. Orange tones are also common in creamsicles corns which are an intergrade that have had great plains ratsnake crossed into the lines at some point in the past.

mary v.

[eyespy]

I don't like peat for any herps. In my rescue, we do nasal swab cultures on any herp that comes through the door. Two thirds of those kept on peat moss culture positive for aspergillosis, a fungus that can cause pneumonia, digestive problems, and liver toxicity. Some of the tropical frogs with fairly acidic body chemistry can handle peat okay but most herps have a hard time fighting off aspergillus.

[chamitch]

k no peat. just a Q i thin kill use astro turf or aspen.

[Linds]

I would steer away from astro turf for any herp. IMHO it cannot be cleaned thoroughly enough and isn't absorbent enough. If you don't like the look of newspaper or papertowel, a nice alternative is to use bath towels :)

[chamitch]

hmm. i clean mine well. soak in hot bleach water. then rinse, dry and then rinse again

[chamitch]

i guess towels woudl be cool. what abotu jsut a coupel layers of astro turf? and why woudl u need it to absorb anything? dryer teh better i thought?

[sapphire_moon]

I use care fresh, it clumps the fecal and urate up. using a towel for a corn........for snakes that can poop like every day- every couple of days, you might want something that you can just scoop out...lol, it was really frusterating when we had her on paper. We are also going to be using aspen shavings, getting some more this friday! :)