Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hey, I'm a bit of a new Herper. My mother finally said I could get a snake if I paid for the whole package and started my Eagle Project for Boy Scouts. I'm most likely going to get a corn snake.

Anyway, I've heard from several sites that Baby Corns will not eat if placed in a vivarium to large for them. Is this true? If so, would a 20 Gallon long cause this sort of stress? And in the interest of my personal budget, could I remedy this by simply inserting a fitting piece of cardboard down the middle of the cage? (Effectively making it a 10 Gallon tank for the snake's purposes.)

Much Thanks!
- Lexxicos

If you get a hatchling, yes a 20 gallon bare would be too large for one. I would start out with a "reptile ranch" or "kritter keeper". These things are about 8x15 inches or so, clear plastic. They're great for hatchlings. Then when they grow larger you could put one in a 20 long. The thing is you can put it in any size tank you want. figure when they're in the wild they're in a HUGE cage. But what doesnt drive them crazy is that they have so much coverage there are plenty of places to hide. If you want to put a hatchling in a 20 long (which I wouldn't reccomend), get a lot of silk leaves from micheal's or some flower store. Make sure to get a lot of hides.

Also the reptile ranch (I got it from walmart), they are about $8. Look at that price vs a 20 long. $30 for the tank, $15 for the screen top, and $5 for clips. I would still put the silk leaves in the kritter keeper to give it something to climb on/hide in, so $1.99 for a thing of leaves vs maybe 4-5 for your 20 long. When it reaches about 18-20 inches you can make the investment in a 20 long and it'll be a lot happier. Also by that age it wont be as easy to escape from the cage.

For more information go to the info sheet i wrote out

Care Sheet
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The reason mainstream thought is thought of as a stream is because it's so shallow. -George Carlin

Battling ignorance one stupid person at a time.

Current snakes:
0.1 Licorice Stick Black Rat (Lola)
1.0 Neonate Black Rat (het for Lic Stk's) (Frankie)
1.1 Texas Bairds (Jose and Rosa)
0.1 Blue Beauty (Brunhilde)

Thanks, Crtoon. I have a 10 gallon that I used to keep Hermit Crabs in, as well as a couple hiding things from when those crabs were still alive. I may decide to clean out that cage (still has all the sand and shells in it) so there's no more smell and keep the Hatchling for a few months in there.

By the time I actually get my snake, I should have around $185-$205 saved up. There's a very nice 20 Gal. at the pet store for around $40, screen and all. The best part is the screen is not clip on, but slides out (You can't lift it up; It'slike a desk drawer). All I'd need is maybe a lock to keep the screen in place and I'd be fine. But still, before I actually get my adult cage, I won't know the budget I'll have left for the snake and any other necessary things that arise along the way. The price of snake and other possible feeding or caging problems are variables as I see it, the essentials are the main, unchanging part, probably around $120.

- Lexxicos

Slide in screens are a no-no with little snakes--they squirm right out. For the time being, my advice is to clean out that 10 gallon and put a screen top and cage clips on it. Once you clean out the sand and gunk, soak the tank in a bleach/water solution for ten minutes to disinfect it, and then rinse it like crazy. Add substrate, hides, water bowl, cage decor and a small under tank heater on one side, and you'll be ready for your hatchling corn. Best of luck!
regards,
althea

Slide in screens are a no-no with little snakes--they squirm right out. For the time being, my advice is to clean out that 10 gallon and put a screen top and cage clips on it. Once you clean out the sand and gunk, soak the tank in a bleach/water solution for ten minutes to disinfect it, and then rinse it like crazy. Add substrate, hides, water bowl, cage decor and a small under tank heater on one side, and you'll be ready for your hatchling corn. Best of luck!
regards,
althea

We must be talking about two different sliding screens. The ones i'm thinking of are built into the top of the tank, and they are escape proof, as long as you close them properly. Standard disinfection solution is 200ppm chlorine, around 1 capful to a gallon of water. I always use a hell of a lot more bleach than that, but I also take my tank outside and rinse it out with a hose for about 5 minutes. I would put the bleach solution in there and scrub your tank with a paper towel and you should be good from there. Or just spray it down with a product like Clorox Clean-Up (strong bleach cleaner). MAKE SURE TO RINSE IT WELL. I can not stress that enough.

I would also use that 10 gallon tank, get yourself 2 clips to hold the lid on. what you may also want to do is get a narrow piece of weatherstripping and put it on one side of the tank because the lid does not fit snugly.

Aspen is the best type of substrate. I think. There is a lot of debate on that. I know my website doesnt say that but I just started using it and I love it! Need to update that page.

How big are your hides? They need to be really small. I actually have some cardboard boes cut that are very small...they like the hides to touch their back. This makes them feel a lot more secure.

You should be good to go.
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The reason mainstream thought is thought of as a stream is because it's so shallow. -George Carlin

Battling ignorance one stupid person at a time.

Current snakes:
0.1 Licorice Stick Black Rat (Lola)
1.0 Neonate Black Rat (het for Lic Stk's) (Frankie)
1.1 Texas Bairds (Jose and Rosa)
0.1 Blue Beauty (Brunhilde)

For the little snake I was thinking of using some small containers around the house, but I also have a log-hide from the crabs. It is a little too tall for a little snake, but I was thinking of digging it down into the substrate a little, to reduce the hite and size of the hiding space. Then, once it gets bigger, I just move it up. However, it is a bit moldy along the sides of the wood. Anyone know how to kill mold?

- Lexxicos

um...jomax and bleach. but i dont know about how it may bother a snake.
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The reason mainstream thought is thought of as a stream is because it's so shallow. -George Carlin

Battling ignorance one stupid person at a time.

Current snakes:
0.1 Licorice Stick Black Rat (Lola)
1.0 Neonate Black Rat (het for Lic Stk's) (Frankie)
1.1 Texas Bairds (Jose and Rosa)
0.1 Blue Beauty (Brunhilde)

don't know about the mold issue but when my corns were little, even my milk and now a gopher, they LOVE paper towel rolls. I also have a bandaid box in with my gopher. save your money for decor when your baby is bigger. it may not look 'natural' but they work.
one of my corns and my milk still use the paper towel rolls but my other corn out grew it.

To clean and steralize the wood hide w/ mold:
1.) Clean it well with water w/ a very littel bleach.
2.) rinse for a few minutes.
3.) dry and rinse again.
4.) back it in Moms oven - 275 F for 2 hours.
5.) Cool and ready to go.

We use a lot of cleaned grape vines using this method and in 4 years have had no problem. It works for cage rocks that we use too....good luck.
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2.3 Albino Nelsoni Milksnakes
0.1 Snow Corn
0.2 Sunglow Corns
1.1 Albino Motley Corns
0.0.23 '04 hatchlings
0.1 Albino Corns '03
bunch.bunch Bearded Dragons
some Bearded Dragons Cooking
1.3 Albino Leopord Geckos
1.0 Pictus Geckos
1 great wife
2 great boys
0.2 dogs (they're great too!!)