>>I'm going to be getting my first corn snake, which will actually be my first snake, in about a week and I'd like some input on my setup. I also have a few questions in regards to feeding as well as sanitizing my terrarium.
I moved this to the top and thought I would start there.
As the snake will be quite small when I receive it, about 6-10inches,
The size of a tank mentioned below can be too large for a snake that small.
The set-up will be nice and I wouldn't throw out the plans you have, I would just delay them. For a lot of neonates a smaller tank can be better. Less stress on the little guy. They tend to like tight secure places when they are small/young. Get a small tank or small sterilite container to start the little guy out.
Give it somehwere to hide, water and security until it gets a little larger and it should thrive.
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>>The Terrarium
>>The terrarium will be a 30g aquarium that measures 36"Lx12"Wx17"H, I had from when I kept fish. It was stored outside, rained on significantly, and became very dirty, with lots of algae growth on the bottom (the bottom side of the glass, not the “floor” of the tank but it was kept upside down and never made contact with the ground.
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>>Cleaning
>>I started by washing it with just water to remove all of the surface dirt, then I washed it again with a 1:4 solution of vinegar:water to clean the glass. Follow by several more times with just water until I couldn't smell the vinegar and then one more time on top of that for good measure. I let it dry on a clean surface in the sun. Next, I purchased some Wipe Out 1 and cleaned it, inside and out, as per the directions, followed by another heavy water washing. After that, I felt it was safe to take it inside where I cleaned it with Wipe Out 1 once more.
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>>That's the state it sits in now. My question is if that is sufficient or if I should wash it with water and Wipe Out 1 a few more times before I introduce the animal?
I think the tank will be fine. If you are still a little nervous you could clean it once more with a water/bleach solution, rinse it well and give it 24 hours. The chlorine in the bleach will disipate in 24 hours.
Like I said, though, I think it will be fine.
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>>The Setup
>>The tank will be filled 2 inches deep with Repti Bark; an Exo Terra 16 Watt heat pad to one side, three hide boxes, a large, stable water dish filled half the snake’s width of bottled water, digital thermometer, large piece of grape wood for climbing and a large fake mandarin plant for extra cover. It'll also have a screen top.
I'm a little worried about it escaping, so I'm considering applying a 3-inch lip of plastic wrap all the way around the top of the aquarium as well as a weighed down screen top mentioned above. Are there any foreseeable problems with this?
I hope you mean the exotera pad will be under one side.
I'm not quite sure I understand what you mean about the water but if you have a nice large water bowl fill enough for the snake to soak if it wants/needs.
With the screen top they make clips to hold them in place. If you make sure to get the right sized screen top for the tank you can get clips to secure it. Put a couple of clips on each side and one on each end. That should secure the lid.
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>>Another concern is that it may burrow causing me to think it had escaped, tearing apart the house to look for it only to discover it hanging out happy as a clam still inside the terrarium.
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I was going to mention that above. I know you probably want a more naturalistic enclosure but I personaly would recommend aspen shavings. Easier to find a little guy in aspen, aspen is a lot easier to spot clean, very hard to see all the poop in reptibark, aspen actually acts as another hide as the snakes like to burrow through it. It is cheaper then reptibark. I find it to be less dusty.
>>Feeding
>>I've read a ton of articles and guides that say baby Corn Snakes should be fed up to twice a week, sometimes they mention how many pinkies they feed to their example snake, but they never explain how to gauge how many your snake needs. I'd like the snake to grow as quickly as possible without risking its health.
There are quite a few ideas thoughts and schedules that people use for feeding, I will give you mine and I'm sure others will give you theirs and you can work with whichever works for you.
I feed all of my snakes on a 7 day shcedule.
I start the little guys with a pinkie about the same diameter as the snake.
I feed them one of these a week until there is no longer a noticeable bulge. At this time I will up it to two pinkies a week. I will feed them two pinkies a week until these do not leave a noticeable bulge and then up it to one fuzzie a week. When this fails to leave a noticeable bulge I up it to two fuzzies a week.
When these fail to leave a noticeable bulge I up it to one hopper a week. When this fails to leave a noticeable bulge it's up to two hoppers a week and then on to one adult mouse a week.
Once I get them to one adult a week I keep them on one adult a week. Now the size of the adult may vary due to the size or appetitie of the snake.
a lot of people prefer to start the neonates on a four or five day feeding schedule. Nothing wrong with that. May be better may not. It sure won't hurt.
now these are just my opinions, ideas and recomendations.
Hopefully there will be more and you can work with what you feel will work best for you and your new snake
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Corn snakes and rat snakes..No one can have just one.
"Resistance is futile"
Jimmy Johnson
(Draybar)
Draybars Snakes
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