Arabian Night
Well-known member
=200%What You Need for a Corn Snake
Cages
You will need a 10 gallon tank for a baby corn snake. When they mature, and grow over 20 inches, they will need a 20 gallon long tank. (But bigger is always better! Of course a 20 gallon would be ok for a baby!) The tank you buy will need a very secure screen lid. Corn Snakes are escape artists, and will look for weaknesses in the lid, so you need to make sure your lid is nice and tight.
Substrate
There is a wide variety of substrate choices, such as Repti-Sand, Aspen, CareFRESH, very fine dirt or sand, newspaper, or paper towel. Newspaper and paper towel are recommended for babies, because it is easy to clean and cheap. Fine dirt and sand are not recommended for younglings, because it can get impacted in their nostrils and they could ingest it, because of their aggressive eating behavior. CareFRESH and Aspen make great burrowing material, and is fun for them to slither through. My baby Corn loves dirt; she always buries herself in the sand and slithers around under it. (She does get it in her nostrils sometimes though)
Water Dish
Your baby corn snake will need a big enough water dish/bowl for him to curl around, and bathe in it, with a comfortable amount of room in it. You will need to change the water often. I recommend ever 1-3 days. Because your snake may defecate in the water, and you don’t want them drinking the water they are defecating in, it can lead to illness. They may also use the water dish for shedding. Snakes will often have a good soak before their shed.
Hide - Aways & Climbing Structures
Your snake will need some sort of hideaway in his cage. It provides a sense of comfort, and safety. If your snake does not have a hideaway, he can become stressed, and ill. I often choose very smooth rock-based hideaways, because your snake can also bask on top of it.
A climbing structure will help your snake to not get bored. Popular choices are leafy tree-like structures, branches, stacked rocks, and large sticks. You can buy all these at your local pet store. They also give a great nature-themed cage look.
Lighting and Heating
There are no special lighting requirements, but I prefer to use a 75 watt white light bulb lamp that I place on top of the screen lid, and turn on in the morning and off at night.
Your Corn’s cage must stay between 70-85° Fahrenheit. Lower or higher than that for a period of time can lead to sicknesses.
You have a choice between a heating pad, and a light. Heating pads must go on the outside of the cage, on the bottom of the cage that the hide is on. It must be on the cave side of the cage. Not the water bowl side.
You can also get Lights, like I described in the first paragraph of this section.
But the light must also be on the but side, not the water bowl side.
You will also need a Thermomiter and humidity gage, to make sure the temperature stays from 70-85° F and around 20-35% humidity. 60-70% humidity is ideal before your snake sheds. You will know before they shed because their eyes will get a milky look, and the scales will seem dull and 'dusty'. This is called Blue.
After your snake completes her shed, her eyes and scales will be bright, clean, and normal again.
Feeding
When your snake is small, they can eat a Pinkie. A pinkie is a dead or alive newborn mouse. So if you have a snake, you have to be ok with feeding baby mice. (If you wish to feed worms and such, black snakes and garter snakes are a better choice for you.)
If you feed frozen, you will need to keep the pinkies in the freezer until the day you are going to feed. Then, you must put the frozen pinkie in a bag (or the bag it’s in), in a bowl or cup of lukewarm water, and let it thaw for 2 hours.
Then, you can move your snake to a separate cage, tank, or box for feeding. This helps with your snake not accidentally biting your finger, thinking its food, when you reach in to grab him when he is in his regular cage.
Next, dangle the pinkie from its tail with prongs, offering the food nose-to-nose with your snake. Your snake should strike, grabbing the prey with its mouth. When it does, let the snake do the rest of the work. Your snake will not constrict its prey.
Then after your snake has eaten his pinkie, you can move him back to his regular tank. Try not to handle your snake for at least 18-24 hours after his meal. If you frighten him, right after her has eaten, he may regurgitate his prey.
If you feed live, Buy your pinkie the day you are going to feed your snake. (You can also breed mice for snake food.) And then move your snake to its separate box, and plop the pinkie in with your snake. Your snake should slowly approach the pinkie, then strike. He should then, coil around the pinkie, constricting it. If your snake doesn’t do this, and eats the prey while it is still alive, this usually means the pinkie is too small. (A rule of thumb is, snakes can eat as much to 2x the size of their head, or largest part of their body.) Like I said above, after your snake is done swallowing the prey, move him back to his own cage, and close the lid.
After your snake grows out of pinkies, he will move on to fuzzies, then hoppers, and then adult mice. Small rats are fed to monster sized Corns.
Remember to never underfeed your snakes. They should be fed every 5-7 days.
Handling
Corn Snakes, for the most part, are extremely docile snakes, making them great for beginners. Don’t handle your for snake 2-7 days after you get it. This will allow your snake to get used to its new set-up, and used to you.
But after that, the more handling, the more friendly and the sociable your snake will become. This will pay off for when he is older. Bad habits are harder to break in older snakes, because they can cause more injury to you than baby snakes. But like I said, corn snakes almost never strike their owners, and if they ever do, it doesn’t break the skin. It might cause a scratch if it is an adult, but it won’t hurt very much at all.
Size & Lifespan
Corn Snakes get up to 5 feet in length, but stay very small in width; about 2” at most. This makes them easy to handle when they are adults, unlike adult pythons or boas.
Corn Snakes can live up to 15 - 20 years, so you have to be ready for a big commitment. Buying new bedding when needed, buying food every week, and your time and effort to keep them happy and healthy. By Arabian Night/Petlover500If you choose to use this someplace else, please give me cred, and provide this link available: http://animalsforever.freeforums.org/what-you-need-for-a-corn-snake-t15.html
Cages
You will need a 10 gallon tank for a baby corn snake. When they mature, and grow over 20 inches, they will need a 20 gallon long tank. (But bigger is always better! Of course a 20 gallon would be ok for a baby!) The tank you buy will need a very secure screen lid. Corn Snakes are escape artists, and will look for weaknesses in the lid, so you need to make sure your lid is nice and tight.
Substrate
There is a wide variety of substrate choices, such as Repti-Sand, Aspen, CareFRESH, very fine dirt or sand, newspaper, or paper towel. Newspaper and paper towel are recommended for babies, because it is easy to clean and cheap. Fine dirt and sand are not recommended for younglings, because it can get impacted in their nostrils and they could ingest it, because of their aggressive eating behavior. CareFRESH and Aspen make great burrowing material, and is fun for them to slither through. My baby Corn loves dirt; she always buries herself in the sand and slithers around under it. (She does get it in her nostrils sometimes though)
Water Dish
Your baby corn snake will need a big enough water dish/bowl for him to curl around, and bathe in it, with a comfortable amount of room in it. You will need to change the water often. I recommend ever 1-3 days. Because your snake may defecate in the water, and you don’t want them drinking the water they are defecating in, it can lead to illness. They may also use the water dish for shedding. Snakes will often have a good soak before their shed.
Hide - Aways & Climbing Structures
Your snake will need some sort of hideaway in his cage. It provides a sense of comfort, and safety. If your snake does not have a hideaway, he can become stressed, and ill. I often choose very smooth rock-based hideaways, because your snake can also bask on top of it.
A climbing structure will help your snake to not get bored. Popular choices are leafy tree-like structures, branches, stacked rocks, and large sticks. You can buy all these at your local pet store. They also give a great nature-themed cage look.
Lighting and Heating
There are no special lighting requirements, but I prefer to use a 75 watt white light bulb lamp that I place on top of the screen lid, and turn on in the morning and off at night.
Your Corn’s cage must stay between 70-85° Fahrenheit. Lower or higher than that for a period of time can lead to sicknesses.
You have a choice between a heating pad, and a light. Heating pads must go on the outside of the cage, on the bottom of the cage that the hide is on. It must be on the cave side of the cage. Not the water bowl side.
You can also get Lights, like I described in the first paragraph of this section.
But the light must also be on the but side, not the water bowl side.
You will also need a Thermomiter and humidity gage, to make sure the temperature stays from 70-85° F and around 20-35% humidity. 60-70% humidity is ideal before your snake sheds. You will know before they shed because their eyes will get a milky look, and the scales will seem dull and 'dusty'. This is called Blue.
After your snake completes her shed, her eyes and scales will be bright, clean, and normal again.
Feeding
When your snake is small, they can eat a Pinkie. A pinkie is a dead or alive newborn mouse. So if you have a snake, you have to be ok with feeding baby mice. (If you wish to feed worms and such, black snakes and garter snakes are a better choice for you.)
If you feed frozen, you will need to keep the pinkies in the freezer until the day you are going to feed. Then, you must put the frozen pinkie in a bag (or the bag it’s in), in a bowl or cup of lukewarm water, and let it thaw for 2 hours.
Then, you can move your snake to a separate cage, tank, or box for feeding. This helps with your snake not accidentally biting your finger, thinking its food, when you reach in to grab him when he is in his regular cage.
Next, dangle the pinkie from its tail with prongs, offering the food nose-to-nose with your snake. Your snake should strike, grabbing the prey with its mouth. When it does, let the snake do the rest of the work. Your snake will not constrict its prey.
Then after your snake has eaten his pinkie, you can move him back to his regular tank. Try not to handle your snake for at least 18-24 hours after his meal. If you frighten him, right after her has eaten, he may regurgitate his prey.
If you feed live, Buy your pinkie the day you are going to feed your snake. (You can also breed mice for snake food.) And then move your snake to its separate box, and plop the pinkie in with your snake. Your snake should slowly approach the pinkie, then strike. He should then, coil around the pinkie, constricting it. If your snake doesn’t do this, and eats the prey while it is still alive, this usually means the pinkie is too small. (A rule of thumb is, snakes can eat as much to 2x the size of their head, or largest part of their body.) Like I said above, after your snake is done swallowing the prey, move him back to his own cage, and close the lid.
After your snake grows out of pinkies, he will move on to fuzzies, then hoppers, and then adult mice. Small rats are fed to monster sized Corns.
Remember to never underfeed your snakes. They should be fed every 5-7 days.
Handling
Corn Snakes, for the most part, are extremely docile snakes, making them great for beginners. Don’t handle your for snake 2-7 days after you get it. This will allow your snake to get used to its new set-up, and used to you.
But after that, the more handling, the more friendly and the sociable your snake will become. This will pay off for when he is older. Bad habits are harder to break in older snakes, because they can cause more injury to you than baby snakes. But like I said, corn snakes almost never strike their owners, and if they ever do, it doesn’t break the skin. It might cause a scratch if it is an adult, but it won’t hurt very much at all.
Size & Lifespan
Corn Snakes get up to 5 feet in length, but stay very small in width; about 2” at most. This makes them easy to handle when they are adults, unlike adult pythons or boas.
Corn Snakes can live up to 15 - 20 years, so you have to be ready for a big commitment. Buying new bedding when needed, buying food every week, and your time and effort to keep them happy and healthy. By Arabian Night/Petlover500If you choose to use this someplace else, please give me cred, and provide this link available: http://animalsforever.freeforums.org/what-you-need-for-a-corn-snake-t15.html
