Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I caught a corn snake in my yard last week. After two different Moms nixed (boo) my idea to give it a neighborhood kid, I had a flashback to my youth and decided to keep it. I was very into reptiles between grade school and college (I might have been one of the few 9 year olds to read Snakes of The World) but it has been a LONG while. So long, that when I pulled my old snake aquarium out of the closet it was wrapped in November 17th 1973 newspaper!

Boy, things have changed!!! I went to the new reptile store I had seen locally, and what an amazing assortment of stuff: a wooden hideout instead of my old half flowerpot, wooden coconut chips for litter rather than paper towels,a water bowl rather than the old heavy ashtray I had, a snake heat light rather than my lab florescent. Of course, the old stuff would probably still work, but it's nice to no longer have a kid’s budget and I splurged. The old aquarium (stainless steel frame, LOL) and top still works, although it's only ten gallons.

Then I searched the Internet for corn snake. Unbelievable, the companies and resources available including this site..........

I even followed the store's advice and took him to the "reptile vet"who would have thunk?). Checked out ok.

Next step is to get the top I ordered for my empty 35 gallon fish tank that I had in the house and upgrade him to more size appropriate furnishings (he's about 30" at a guess)

I must be getting hooked again, I've search the yard the past several days and might hit the woods this weekend, after all, I'll have an empty 10 gallon tank soon!

Lloyd Heilbrunn
Palm Beach Gardens, Fl.

Isnt it amazing how things have changed?The resources are endless,incredible snakes,everything has been simplified.Vast networks of people of all ages here and elsewhere who dont think your a circus freak because you own a reptile.It's a great time to be a herp addict.Welcome back...Paul

Welcome back! I know how you feel - like a kid in a candy store (only better!) I had snakes as a kid, in that time & place there was a total of one book in the library, no internet, no herp societies, no one else around even remotely interested in herps of any kind. My gypsy lifestyle made it totally impractical to have any snakes for the next 25 years, but when I finally settled down I got a ball python in '01 & 2 little corns last year. WOW! How things have changed! Just wait til you go to an expo - it will blow you away! Enjoy!

I was really into snakes as a boy from ages 7-12. I had a garter, smooth and rough green snakes and a ringneck that I had caught on a farm on vacation in up state New York. I read every snake and reptile book my school and local library had. Over the yaars they all either escaped, died or were released. A parrot given to me for my 13th birthday moved my interest to birds. 20 years later my brother told me about a cool reptile store that opened near my house and that I should bring my kids because they would get a kick out of all the exotic animals. My 4 year old daughter was immediately drawn to the display case with a myriad of colors of baby snakes. She begged and begged(didn't take much coaxing but I had to put on a good show for my wife ) and next thing I knew I was bringing home a baby amel cornsnake. Now 2 years and 3 corn snakes later I'm hooked again. Like you said above, it's so great to be able to enjoy them with an adult's budget.

That is a beautiful story Lloyd. As a person who has been a snake (and other herptile) fanatic for most of my 29 years of life, it moved me to think about having a renaissance such as yours some day, but I think I'll just stay in the hobby perpetually instead. There are no more fascinating creatures to me than those of suborder serpentes.
snakepimp.com

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Jeremy J. Anderson
No one in the world ever gets what they want, and that is beautiful. Everybody dies frustrated and sad, and that is beautiful.

As with the others, welcome back. Since you're in PB County, as am I, let me know what you think of this site. Thanks!

~~Greg~~
Florida's Venomous Snakes

Hi Greg:

I tried to look at your site,but I got a broken link.BTW,what part of the county are you in?

To all: Thanks for the nice welcomes.

Right now, I'm down in Islamorada taking care of a herper friend's house & collection. I live in Loxahatchee Groves, about halfway between Royal Palm Beach & Lion Country Safari, where I ran the snake park from 1968 to 1972. My web-master mentioned something about the site being down temporarily. Keep trying.

~~Greg~~
Florida's Venomous Snakes

>>welcome back to the enjoyable, and addicting, world of corn snakes.
Just wait until you start seeing all the different morphs.
There are so many different colors and patterns of corn snakes now it make your head spin!
enjoy
Jimmy

17 years ago I was living in the San Fran area of Cali. with my folks. I was six at the time and walked into their bedroom with a six foot long bullsnake wrapped around my arm, across my shoulder, and down my other arm. That was the start of herping for me, and I haven't slowed down since. I now have a collection of 9 captive bred corns and two western hognoses... Got my first clutch from my snow corns in the incubator now... 19 good eggs, hoping they all hatch. What started out as an interest became a hobby and is now shaping into a career. A year from now I start my masters work on herpetology and two years after that I hope to get approval for my PHD grant on the same subject.....

Maybe one day my venom research will cure alzheimers or parkinson's or something.... If nothing else, I'll have a career doing what I love to do.... who can ask for more?

Glad you're coming back into it. Recently caught a Northern Black Racer that made me question my career path a bit... It was a 5ft. N. American colubrid that acted like it was a 10Ft. Black Mamba.... Thing dang near tagged me several times, but I got it under control... after all the twisting, turning, and lunging at me like I was a juicy mouse.... Gave me a whole new respect for the ol' boys that work with the really hairy species... Not ready for that quite yet, but one day, maybe.

Oh yeah... this is all after a fifth of Jack Daniels Green label.... so take it as it comes, mates. after all...

En Vino Veritas.... eh?

Dave.

When I was a little girl my brother did all the BOY type stuff.... our house was always a zoo... tortoises in the back yard, hermit crabs, hamsters, guinea pigs, bunnies, dogs, cats, parrots, mice, rats, parokeets, etc. One day brother brought home "the snake" ... .never had a name. It was a hefty adult bull or pine or gopher snake (I've tried to match my memory to the snake and nothing quite fits). I liked it. We fed it quite regularly (One adult mouse every month), and everyone gathered to watch the feast. He escaped often, and I was always worried he would find my cat's latest litter of kittens and eat them! I think that the snake slithered away shortly before my brother died. I was 15 and that was the end to that chapter of my life.

fast forward 17 years

In the spring of 2001 I was happily looking forward to my wedding planned for June. My fiance and I both lived and worked at a boarding school in Georgia. My "resident duties" included running a computer lab every evening. One day I was walking home from the computer lab to the faculty apartments, and I noticed a small snake slithering on the driveway. The snake and I continued our stroll down the hill to the apartments. I chatted with it, and enjoyed watching the slithery motions, though I didn't dare touch it... having grown up knowing the venemous species of California, I knew nothing about bad snakes in Georgia. It had a very distinct arrowhead shaped head and was only about 20 inches long. After a while there was a break in the curb and it slithered off into the forest. When I got down to the apartments I told my fiance of my little snakey adventure and suggested that when we were married, we might get a snake. He vetoed that quite heavily, and I laughed and we went on with life.

fast forward 6 months

Hubby and I got married as planned in June, and then we moved to Arizona to begin our foray teaching in the public school system. Less than a month into the school year, a small (4 inches) snake slithered into my classroom. 'Can we keep him?" I asked my hubby... and he agreed. He was a little ground snake. And the more research I did on snakes, the more my fond memories of "the snake" from childhood went prodding me. I really wanted a "big" snake. We got a rosy boa. Then some cal kings. Then an Arizona mountain king, then some apalachicola kings, then some corns, rat snakes, ball pythons, carpet pythons, tiger rats, etc etc etc.

We just had our third anniversary. Poor hubby, he had no idea I was going to go nutzo for snakes within six months of our wedding!

Now I have 4 corn clutches incubating, one kingsnake clutch, and two more king clutches that might still be laid. And then next year....
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~Sasheena

welcome back....to a whoooooole new world........

I did snakes in 1979 and all.....

this stuff in the 90's is all different......

....and usually captive bred......

good luck.....have fun

JY
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people???.........people are stupid.........
really???......really.........

Well,the 1973 newspaper was wrapping the aquarium I packed away after high school,I used the bio lab's stuff in college... so technically it's been around 27 years.