Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hello, I am the proud new owner of a baby(I think)corn.. I purchased today from Petco(I know im gonna get blasted for this) He is the normal pinkish orange corn and is about 13-14 inches long.. I am a real newbie and was looking for some help..
1st, what morph would he be? is he just considered classic? he is the comman pinkish corn w/red eye(will post pics in a few days) also, How would I know if he is still a hatchling? Petco says that he/she is, but she is already 13 inches long, but very very skinny, skinnier then a pencil, which leads to another question, they say it ate once per week, im really not sure of this cause he is sooooo skinny, will he be able to handle a Pinky? I ask cause the pinky is bigger then his body, also how many and how often should I offer him pinkys? I have not offered any food yet cause I want to give him 3 days to get used to his tank.. also, when I feed, should I feed in a separate container like a shoe box? He is on aspen bedding, so I dont think I want to feed in tank...I forgot, he is in a 20 g long tank.. has hides on each end, plus driftwood for climbing in middle... I use bulb for heat, cool end is room temp 71-72 and warm end under light is roughly 88..at night I switch to a blue moonlight which drops the warm end to around 81 degrees and cool end stays at room temp,,,I do not wish to use UTH at this time...are these temps ok? I appologize if this is long, im just a newbie w/questions......I did notice him cruising around tonight, which is his first night home, he came out when i shut lights off, how long should I not handle him/her for? thanks again..Pete

Without seeing a pic it is hard to say what morph you have but it sounds like it is probably an amel. With the length, it is probably an '08 hatchling. It'll be skinny because Petco only probably fed it one small pinky a week when by now it should be on fuzzies, or 2 pinks at least. Increase the food size and the snake will gain girth pretty quick, but don't feed prey that is much bigger around than the snake itself is.

Something that just hit me with you being a new corn owner....Are you sure that the corn is skinnier than it should be? Without a pic, it's going to be really hard for any of us to tell.

Your temps sound pretty much right and you're giving hides, that's a good start. It probably wouldn't be a bad idea to feed the snake in a seperate container.

I don't know if you're feeding frozen/thawed or live mice but when dealing with pinks and fuzzies it doesn't really matter. You can leave the food in with the snake all night in a dark out of the way location and check it in the morning. Please make sure that the feeding container is escape proof.

You might have an aggresive feeder that will let you watch it eat or you might have a shy feeder that wants to be left alone. You're just going to have to learn how your snake is in that aspect but for the first couple of feedings I'd suggest leaving it alone to eat unless it just snatches the mouse and starts swallowing before you can close the container lid.

Well, I won't blast you for buying your corn from Petco, or wherever. Thats a personal decision on your part. However, I will blast you for not reading up on the basic care requirements prior to buying. THAT is a major issue I have when dealing with herps. There are several good books specifically dealing with the care of cornsnakes and provide photos and information on all the various morphs out there. And, these are usually in the reptile area close to the animals being sold. This is the best place to start any herp project. I know this isn't answering your questions, but hopefully the rest of my post will.

Your snake does sound like a hatchling from last year (08). I quess it would technically be a yearling now, or close to it in age. Many breeders and petshops keep their snakes on a maintenance feeding schedule until sold to cut back on food costs, so your snake may not be as plump or be as large as one of similar age that has been fed more. Based on the size of your snake, it should take pink mice pretty easily. Feed prey 1 to 1.5 times the size of the thickest part of the snake in general. You want to shoot for a slightly visible lump in the belly area after it eats. You can probably feed it two pinks at this point. Your snake sounds like its either an amelanistic/albino, or snow corn. A good book with color photos and searching the ads and forum pictures here on Kingsnake.com should help with determining what morph you have.

Your day temps in the upper 80s sound a bit high. Your daytime temps should be similar to your night time temps you posted. The high between 80-85 degrees. Also your tank may be too big right now. However, if your snake can't escape and feeds in it, then no big deal IMO. It may get shy in such a large tank, it may not. You can place the snake in a smaller, ventilated, plastic container to feed so it won't ingest substrate, or put the pink in its cage on a plastic lid or small paper plate to prevent substrate ingestion.

Good luck with your new corn. They are great snakes. But please, buy a good book on them. It will only help you with future questions and can go into more detail then these forums can.

Im sorry, I did purchase a book and care guide, and actually researched for about 3 weeks before i purchased him...but still, getting tips from owners is better then any book in my epinion...I do have question on the temps.. you say it may be too warm? on his cool end it is around 72, in the middle of tank it is around 76 and on the warm end it is around 82, it is 88 right directly underneat the light, but that is only a small area where the beam hits...the rest of the tank is not that warm, and he hangs out on the cool end during the day anyway at this point...is this still too warm for him?

Since it appears to be that warm in only a very isolated part of the tank, probably not. It sounds like the snake has more than enough options to find a temp suitable at any particular time. Thats the benefit of using a longer/larger enclosure. They provide better temp gradients from warm to cool with more choices for the snake in between. I would make sure it still has an area around 80 degree at night, especially after feeding to make sure it digests properly. Otherwise your set up sounds fine.

I didnt mean to come across badly in my original post. I just remember reading books for quite awhile before I was allowed to get my first snake many moons ago. I still pick up a care quide or book on any new herps I am interested in even if I wind up not getting that particular herp.

Getting back to your corn, most of the chain petshops feed frozen thawed and even have policies against the sale of live animals for prey. Based on that I would assume your's is used to frozen thawed. It may be shy at first, or not feed at first until it gets used to its new cage. Some don't care and feed aggressively no matter where they are.

Good luck and enjoy the new critter.

>>Im sorry, I did purchase a book and care guide, and actually researched for about 3 weeks before i purchased him...but still, getting tips from owners is better then any book in my epinion...I do have question on the temps.. you say it may be too warm? on his cool end it is around 72, in the middle of tank it is around 76 and on the warm end it is around 82, it is 88 right directly underneat the light, but that is only a small area where the beam hits...the rest of the tank is not that warm, and he hangs out on the cool end during the day anyway at this point...is this still too warm for him?

The temps probably won't be too bad. As long as he has hides on the warm end and cool end and with a tank that size migyt as well put one in the middle as well. Give him about an inch and a half to two inches of substrate to allow for burrowing and to allow a buffer between him and the light on the warm side.
There have been a few times where I have used a light instead of an under tank heater and in these instances I liked to place a flat piece of rock under the light to give the snake a place to warm it's belly to aid in digestion. Kind of like when they come out onto the rocks or even roads.
I would recommend an under tank heater, though. Just works better for the snake.
One problem may be the size of the tank compared to the size of the snake.
They can sometimes be stressed when in an enclosure that is too large. They feel safer in tighter more secure surroundings. If, in a few days, he doesn't want to eat this may be a reason.
He is large enough to eat a pinkie. That won't be a problem.
Give him three of four days to acclimate before you try to feed him.
When you are ready to feed him, place him and the pinkie in a deli dish or glad container, spmething small you can place back in his enclosure and small enough where there's no chance he won't find the pinkie. Leave him alone for a couple of hours before disturbing him.
BUT..as mentioned before he may be bold enough to take the pinkie immediately. You can watch him for a few minutes after placing him and the pinkie together. You will get a pretty good idea if he is a shy feeder or doesn't care who's watching. As he grows and get's used to things he will get less and less shy at feeding time.
With the red eyes and pink coloration it would be a pretty good guess that your snake is amelanistic...an amel for short.
amelanism removes the melanin (black) from corn snakes leaving brighter colors and red eys.

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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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