Corn snake Check List - Page 2

Smilts · 02-13-09, 03:47 PM

I prefer a pad over a lamp as they need belly heat more buy corns dont need to very hot or humid

Smilts · 02-13-09, 03:48 PM

your candy can has some nice colors mine is in shed in that pic but im hoping to keep lots of white and get some dark rich red as well

Chu'Wuti · 02-14-09, 11:27 PM

That snake you're thinking about getting is gorgeous--I swear it glows!

Faequine · 02-18-09, 11:58 AM

OK was at the store got another hide and some feeding tongs. The snake is currently being feed F/T which i have no experince with. I do have a book that explains it but id still like pointers. hopefully this week ill start setting things up.

Chu'Wuti · 02-19-09, 10:27 PM

Take the frozen prey animal out of the freezer & put it in a small (big enough but not huge) plastic bag, like a ziploc type bag (I use the cheap ones). Put it in some warm/cool water or in the refrigerator to thaw. Once it is thoroughly thawed (depends upon the size of the animal), put it in hot water to warm up beyond your skin temp; get the head really hot, and offer it to your snake. As Aaron & Mykee explained to me, use the feeding tongs to hold the prey animal by one of its back legs & kind of twitch it in front of the snake. Usually they go for it pretty quickly.

Some snakes will be happy to take the prey without so much work--I had a milk snake that knew a board in its enclosure was where the food appeared. I'd lay the prey item on the board, and it would come up and start eating its dinner after I got out of its way. No twitching necessary. But from what I've been hearing BPs aren't so likely to accept the prey if its not moving. I don't know about corns--maybe someone else can give you more info.

Good luck!

Oh--find an online source for your feeder prey & buy in bulk--even paying for the dry ice/special shipping, it's waaaaay less expensive than buying mice or rats one or two-three at a time at the petstore. Or start breeding your own . . .

Kmef07 · 02-20-09, 09:54 AM

ok gotta add that what i do it get tap water as hot as i can in a really cheap cup. then i throw in the couple rat pinks right out of the freezer. i put a paper towel over the top and then let it sit for an hour the water is still really warm when i drain it and it gets the pinks hot and thawed out quick. the plastic bag can slow down the process a lot and not get it as hot.

Faequine · 02-20-09, 10:45 AM

ugh, ill have to handle dead mice.....*shudders* ..... maybe ill switch it to live. I dont really know why but the handling might be easier. I'd like to know that if given the opprotunity would it eat a live animal properly? Ive a fear of the snake escaping, or i loss it, and it starves because it cant feed itself. And i later find it dead dried up body. *Shudders again* I think that if i can get used to f/t ill still offer live as a treat.

Chu'Wuti · 02-20-09, 04:37 PM

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get tap water as hot as i can in a really cheap cup. then i throw in the couple rat pinks right out of the freezer.

from what I've read, that's an unsafe way to thaw frozen meat:

Quote:

The best way to thaw frozen meat is in the refrigerator. When thawing meat, it is best to leave it in the packaging material to prevent dehydration. Thawing meat in the refrigerator may take a considerable amount of time especially for larger pieces of meat.

Another good way to thaw meat is in cold water. Put the meat in a leak proof bag and immerse in cold water. Change the water every 30 minutes. Thawing in cold water will thaw the meat more rapidly and may reduce drip thereby preserving more of the meat's nutritional value. Never thaw meat in warm water as this will allow bacteria to grow on the warm outer surface. .

from Thawing Meat

With pinkies, I think you take the risk of cooking them half-way through with hot water. I've been thawing in cold water while watching a TV program or writing, then warming up for feeding.

Chu'Wuti · 02-20-09, 04:41 PM

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ugh, ill have to handle dead mice.....*shudders* ....

Use your feeding tongs to handle them. But, yeah, I understand. Not my favorite thing to handle, though I've gotten used to doing it anyway.

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Ive a fear of the snake escaping, or i loss it, and it starves because it cant feed itself.

Never fear. Snakes run nearly entirely on instinct, and believe me, its instincts about catching live food are still excellent. So it would readily eat a live mouse/rat.

But--then you have to watch and hear the poor thing die, and you have to worry about your snake getting attacked by the prey. If you want to do this both the most humane way for the prey AND the safest way for your snake, stick with F/T.

Kmef07 · 02-20-09, 05:07 PM

I dunno chu, I know that is the case with human food, but im not so sure with food for animals. There are a ton a breeders that do it with putting many mice at one time in hot water for a few hours and im sure if it were bad they would have found out by now. I will defiantly be doing to research now before i feed next week. BHB reptiles actually has videos called snake bytes TV and they even do it by throwing a bad of 50 frozen mice in the hot water for a while. maybe covering the top also prevents bacteria from settling on the water and in the food.

Chu'Wuti · 02-20-09, 05:12 PM

Yeah, I bet a lot of people do it that way. I did to begin with, too, until I was told by a breeder that I shouldn't. So I guess it's one of those (many) things that there are lots of opinions about!

It probably isn't as much of a problem with a whole bag of mice--they'd cool the water off really fast. But a few pinkies or mouse for one snake? Still might be risking a partially cooked mouse or rat!

Kmef07 · 02-20-09, 05:18 PM

well my snake actually split open one of the rat pinks it ate today and it defiantly was not cooked it was really gross. my son and girlfriend,jamie, wanted to see me feed the snake so i showed them and the first one it split open the side skin a little and jamie about puked i thoght and Tristan, my son, just said ewwwww in his 2 year old voice. it as cute but he had to watch the whole thing of course

Chu'Wuti · 02-20-09, 05:19 PM

Quote:

he had to watch the whole thing of course

Of course! I remember when my sons used to discuss road kill in great detail at the dinner table . . .

Faequine · 02-23-09, 01:47 PM

when will this queezy feeling go away?
hahaha
i heard f/k is good but i guess thats if you breed your feeders.....
i also heard snake on f/t stop constricting thier food... then that fear sets in again.

Kmef07 · 02-23-09, 02:37 PM

Nope we have a thread about that somewhere on here recently. but my brb will constrict the first f/t pink that i give her and then the other one she will only strike and pull it away. but when i go to the expo this sunday im going to get a live one along with my frozen supply and im going to do a little experiment to see if she is still good at constricting because she has been on f/t for about 4 months of her 6-7 month life.