Getting my first snake!

limey · 06-16-12, 02:17 PM

I've decided on my first snake. It's going to be a Jameson's mamba!

...Just kidding

I'll be getting a corn snake next month. Been doing plenty of research as of late as I've been interested in snakes a while but never owned one.

Was having trouble deciding between a corn, king, milk or ball python. Took a trip to Petco and fell in love with a ball python (stunningly beautiful colourations and temperament) but think it's going to be a big too chunky for me.

The corn snakes were cute.

I have most of my setup ready - got a sterilite tub with tight fitting lid, carpetted bottom for tank, eco earth substrates, small hide, water bowl, twigs and rocks, fake foliage and UTH.

Pretty excited. Anything else you guys would recommend or anything I should know before picking up my little one?

alessia55 · 06-16-12, 02:20 PM

Congrats! That is really exciting

Are you getting the corn snake that you saw at the pet store?

You'll also need TWO hides, and you'll need a thermostat.

Snakefood · 06-16-12, 02:25 PM

yep, 2 hides and heat control (the heat pad plugged into the wall is WAAAYYY too hot)

other than that, you seem to have it covered, other than the food.

Is the corn you're planning on getting a hatchling, yearling, sub-adult or adult???

And what morph is it??

Curiosity KILLS!!

limey · 06-16-12, 02:37 PM

Thanks for the feedback guys.

Yeah, I'll need a thermostat... forgot about that! How does that work then? Do I plug that into the heatpad somewhere to set the temp? Never used this stuff before...

Also, I have one hide for the hot side, then for the cool side I have two small rocks - one leaned against the other with a gap underneath. I found the rocks on a beach and cleaned them up. Would this suffice as a 2nd hide? Or should I just buy one?

One of my other concerns is the tub... it's perfect for a young corn snake (not too massive) and it also has some height for him to climb (foliage/ twigs etc) but there's not a whole lot of ground room. I'm worried it might be a bit cluttered with all the stuff in the bottom (2 hides, water bowl etc).

Do they need lots of ground space?

It's 8 - 10 weeks old from the pet store, not decided on a specific morph yet. Just didn't want an amel or albino... I prefer the darker patterning.

Snakefood · 06-16-12, 02:43 PM

corn snakes are terrestrial, therefore groundspace is important, they almost never climb, so hieght means nothing. Get a different tub.

The rocks will work, just hot glue them together, you dont want him knocking the top rock off and squishing himself.

the thermostat works just like that, you plug the heat mat into it, have the probe placed over the hot end where the heatmat is and set the correct temps. I also use another thermometer with a probe set right beside the thermostats probe as a backup, in case the thermostats probe fails.

limey · 06-16-12, 02:55 PM

Cheers for that.

I'll post a pic of the tub size now. You might think it's okay. I just picked it up today, so hopefully you might approve. If not, looks like I'll be taking it back for an exchange

limey · 06-16-12, 03:20 PM

Here's the size of the tub... remember this is for a very young one. He's about the size of my pinkie.

Will this be big enough for now? (my wallet is there to give some scale to the size of the tub)

Snakefood · 06-16-12, 03:29 PM

sure that should work ubtil he's 6-8 months old (depends on how fast he grows).

I put my hatchlings in the rectangular glad disposable containers till they are about 2 mos, then they go into plastic "shoeboxes" until they are 6-8 mos old, then into plastic "sweaterboxes" which they fit into until 1.5-2 yrs old, then the "under-bed storage" for the rest of thier lives.

limey · 06-16-12, 03:33 PM

Great! Thanks again snakefood. I'll upgrade the container when he grows... tubs are cheap enough eh.

I'm really excited about this... I wish the wife were enthusiastic about it (she's not keen) but guess you can't have everything. He'll be staying in our spare room and be well looked after.

Will be sure to post pics!

Snakefood · 06-16-12, 03:37 PM

they sure are, especially if you stock up when they are on special!!

Sometimes the spouse gets into it afterwards, my hubby took a while to warm up to it, and now he loves my snakes. Although he still rolls his eyes when I aquire a new one!! LOL

snake man12 · 06-16-12, 06:00 PM

If you can find a reptile show near you could check out some different morphs and usually cage furniture is cheaper their plus you will know were the snake came from by talking to the breeder