Had some extra time to grab some pics and thought I would share how we keep our baby corns (kings and milks will be in slightly larger tubs). We have only a few clutches so have time to mess with individual tubs and records (and yes - we are completely obsessive - so keep that in mind).
This year we are using an extra 75 gallon aquarium as a 'nursery' for the baby tubs. It is in the general snake room but is heated with heat rope attached to a sheet of plastic grid material, set on the back of the tank. The individual tubs are placed in the tank so they are 84 degrees at the back end and 80 degrees at the front end.
We got hooked on the use of sticky dots last year because one glance at a tub tells me everything I need to know about the snake at a glance.
Each hatchling gets a tub label with parent's names, it's individual number with a blue dot if male, red dot if female. In the area below the ID number, sticky dots are added as events happen, with the date abbreviated on the dot. Red are for hatch date and any weird events (regurg, refuse food), yellow are for fed, and blue are for shed.
We are using these on all our adult tanks and tubs now too and I find it helps me keep track. Everything is recorded in hard copy and computer file as well for the adults - but nice to have the visual reminder for my old brain.
The early stages are like this (these tubs cannot be immersed for cleaning, but a snake never moves out of his own tub til he moves up a size and we clean the inside with soapy water and a peroxide wipe)
and the labels peel off easily to be stuck to the bill of sale or to the next size tub. When the snake is older - the record is all there at a glance (we used red for feeding last year but have gone to yellow because it is easier to read the date)
The baby tubs are simple gladware, with holes around the edges, water dish and paper towel. What we add is a baby hidetube - these are conduit that is cut to 5 inch lengths and the ends filed smooth.
Babies spend the whole day curled up in them - lots of security for them in a tight space and privacy. They come out cruising at night and because the tube is the whole length of their tub, they get a temperature gradient within the hide spot.
Easy to put the nose of their feeder mouse in one end and they can pull it in to eat. The tubes cost about 15 cents each and take just a few minutes to wash when the water dish is being done, and shake to dry. We tried paper tubes, but I prefer the plastic because they don't get damp.
mary v.
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