Newbie

bugger · 02-18-09, 02:22 PM

I'm new to this hobby.
I just bought 3 corn snakes at a reptile show in mesa this last weekend, and thought I'd get on to see what I can learn about these, and other guys.
I live in the Phoenix area.

Bought a snow corn, and a red corn from the snake vault, and an okeegee, or whatever he is, from a fella from california. Nice looking snake.
They are all hatchlings, around 14 inches, and the red is a big larger than the other two, and lazier too. He only hangs out in the hide, haven't seen him out since I put the first hide in the tank.
The okee would go in there with the red, but when I but the piggy bank in the okee started hanging in there.
My snow corn won't go into the hides. It prefers hiding under the bedding. He also seems a bit more unhappy when handled. Grumpy, eh mate...

I stopped by the pet store on the way home and bought a couple frozen pinkies and fed them. Went in the next day and bought 2 male and 4 female mice to breed for pinkies.
One of the males got out of the bag and box he was in, and hid under the back seat of the car, so the next day I bought a havahart live trap and he was in it the day after that

After the second male escaped I dedided to put the 4 females with the one male, and I think I'll get a couple more females for the second male so I can get many pinkies fast, in case something happens I'll have a supply, not to mention have some new stock to raise to replace the old Yummy mice. MMM Mmmm good.

See ya in the forum

The were friendly at the show, but they are very shy now that I got them home. Maybe I need to put 500 miles on em and change the oil...
I put them in a low 20 gallon tank with a slide top, and a saucer of water, and aspen bedding. I put a commercial hide, with a lifting top on it, and a piggy bank turned sideways for hides. One end of the tank has a repti heat pad attached directly to the bottom glass with space between the tank and table it's on, to lift the tank up for heat venting.

phil_7870 · 02-18-09, 05:53 PM

do u have them all in the same tank

Kmef07 · 02-18-09, 06:55 PM

i had a mouse get loose in my car and i spent about an hour and a half trying to get the stupid thing out. It bit me twice and then when i finally caught it i threw it all the way across the parking lot. i was so pissed off it was hiding under my seat and i have a two door sports car and the damn thing would stay under the seat when i moved it forwards and back and it was just horrible. after i threw it i wondered if it lived or not but hopefully it didn't as mean as that sounds it hurt like hell when it bit me and it made me late to work.

Wolfus_305 · 02-18-09, 08:06 PM

Hi and welcome to the forum! Everything you have ever wanted to know about herps and more is here!! Take advantage now that you have this resource.

"Kyle! Why are you an hour late today?!"
"uh...there was a mouse in my car...?"

I have had some spiders get loose in my place. I remember a wolf spider decided to escape and start living in my couch... never found it.

I have a friend who keeps reptiles and spiders and lizards...etc.
He had a venomous spider. The hospitals within our area didn't have the anti-venom or whatever it's called. Anywho, this spider escaped and he looked and looked and looked and couldn't find it. Then later that day his son found it crawling up his dad (my friends) back. it took them a while but they caught it and nobody got bit.

Kenny

Smilts · 02-18-09, 08:37 PM

welcome to the forums I have a bunch of corn snakes there great.

siz · 02-18-09, 09:14 PM

Hey there,
welcome! If you want any help with your snakes this is the place to go!
Just one thing, you should house all your snakes seperatley. This makes for happy, healthy snakes

bugger · 02-19-09, 01:46 PM

The guy I bought the snow and red from said the 20 would be good for them in the future, but was fine now, but they'd like a 10 gallon just as well. He said he houses 4 at a time in his tanks, but I don't doubt they'd like to live alone, they're snakes

I do have other empty, smaller tanks. I just have to clean them up. I get them at yard sales for $3, or $5. I got a 20 gallon for $5 a couple weeks ago. Has a bunch of herp stuff with it, but I wonder if their snake didn't have problems so I won't use that tank or stuff till I sanatize it well.
The red and the okee were hiding together, but when I took the okee out to check him out, seems strange to say 'play with him', he didn't go back into the commercial hide. He was hanging in the bank, which is warm cause half is over the heater, but I find him hanging out more under the aspen, and that where the snow corn has been all the time.
The snow doesn't seem to like the hides.
I just want to give them room to roam a bit. I want to put a stick in, a manzanita branch, but I don't have time to hike up into the mountains to get one for them right now. It would also have to be shorter than I want to fit in a pot to boil or the microwave I have for 'sterilizing' stuff for the animals. I keep a free yard sale microwave out in the storage to nuke stuff before it goes into the enclosures or worm bins.
I pulled the red out today, first time I've seen him outside the hide since I put him in the tank saturday. I just saw the okee peek out of the com hide, so he musta moved in when I took red out this morning, and taken it over

Reds much stouter than the other two, so I was told he would be the one that would swallow the others if I didn't feed them well

My cousin told me he had a live mouse trap, after I bought and caught this guy, and I coulda saved myself $22. Oh well, now I'm equipped

I have a bunch of tools and reference material for work in the car and didn't have any inclinition to move it all to chase a mouse under the seat.

Are there any other critters than can be housed with the snakes that will get along with each other?

I'm sure these can't be housed with them, but I have some tarantulas, and fish, and turtles, along with mantis', and the feeders I keep for them.

Kmef07 · 02-19-09, 06:52 PM

no nothing else in the tank especially what you have.

citysnakes · 02-19-09, 09:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kmef07

i had a mouse get loose in my car and i spent about an hour and a half trying to get the stupid thing out. It bit me twice and then when i finally caught it i threw it all the way across the parking lot. i was so pissed off it was hiding under my seat and i have a two door sports car and the damn thing would stay under the seat when i moved it forwards and back and it was just horrible. after i threw it i wondered if it lived or not but hopefully it didn't as mean as that sounds it hurt like hell when it bit me and it made me late to work.

...seriously? thats pretty damn despicable on your end man.

siz · 02-20-09, 08:41 AM

The only thing I would house in your snake tank besides your snake would be a mouse and I doubt it would last long LOL. Actually though, one tank, one snake. If you do a search there are lots of threads on here that explain the reasons why not to house your snakes together, if I have time before work I will post a link for you.
You definatley got some super deals on those tanks. I'm not sure why you use a microwave? You can either boil items, as you said, to disinfect, or cook 'em in the oven at about 300f for 25 mins or so. Just keep an eye on the wood! My boyfriend had burned a peice before. Also, at work we use a capful of Quatzel (hopefully I spelled that right) and dilute it A LOT with water, spray some of that on the tanks and give them a good rinse. One capfull into a windex sized spray bottle and fill the rest up with water. (don't use an actual windex bottle)
Hope this helps!

Kmef07 · 02-20-09, 09:46 AM

Quote:

...seriously? thats pretty damn despicable on your end man.

I know Julian, but it really hurt and by the time i got the little jerk out of my car i was just really mad and I knew i was going to get yelled at for being late to work so i just wasn't thinking. im really not ever mean to animals just that one time. other than that im really humane with animals even bugs and rodents

bugger · 02-20-09, 12:10 PM

The microwave is actually for cooking to kill microbes before I put manure into my worm bins. I keep earthworms for composting, and compost my kitchen garbage with the worms in the house. They like manure so I feed them some sometimes, and try to kill the bacteria and suck with the nuking.
I won't consider boiling or baking crap in my house, thus the microwave in the storage room.

As to the mouse being flung, you can call that cruel, but is it any more cruel than feeding it live to a snake ?
I personally don't think so.
In fact, I think I'd enjoy the rush of flying through the air before I died much more than the fear of a snake cornering me, and smelling it's breath before and during being dinner.
Lets not kid ourselves here, I'm into kindness to animals, but what's the outcome of the mouse and snake situation anyway. I say the less painful the better.
The thing that really bothers people about this treatment is that it could happen to them, but do you actually see anyone trying to feed you to a snake?

I considered buying a kill trap, for much cheaper, but I kinda thought the mouse was 'cute', and I knew if I was raising them that I'd need the trap again, so I made the bigger investment now, which should pay off in the long run.
I went into a pet shop a couple weeks ago, and they pulled up their live trap with a mouse that had escaped, so I figured if they're losing mice with the experience they have, then I'll probably do it also, thus the investment.

Chu'Wuti · 02-20-09, 05:04 PM

Oh, a vermiculturist! That's great! But . . . earthworms? You don't use red wigglers?? From everything I've been reading, it should be red wigglers (Eisenia fetida) for home organics composting; earthworms have higher mineral requirements than the Eisenia do. Also, the Eisenia secrete something that kills pathogenic bacteria, so you don't need to nuke anything for them. I've been reading about them in "Toolbox for sustainable city living" by Scott Kellogg & Stacy Pettigrew, and my stepson is also a vermiculturist, so we're talking about building some big outdoor bins at our house (we have two acres, so plenty of room.)

Anyway, sorry to take the thread off-track--just couldn't resist finding out more about the vermiculture!

Kmef07 · 02-20-09, 05:14 PM

you compost in your house???????????? that has to smell like absolute crap...

Chu'Wuti · 02-20-09, 05:22 PM

Quote:

that has to smell like absolute crap..

Not if it's done correctly. If you overload the worms with more organic stuff than they can eat in 24 hours, then it would. Red wigglers can actually eat their own weight in organic materials in 24 hours, so a pound of worms can eat a pound of scraps--before they ever start to smell! Then you have great compost material for your vegetable garden!