Reptile & Amphibian Forums

1. Do cornsnakes (or any snakes) typically yawn? My 4-month-old male Anerythrystic named Hector opens his mouth till his snout points stright up, his jaw points toward the floor, he wiggles his jaw and then closes his mouth and looks at me indignantly. Is it normal?

2. Is it also normal for him to want to stay in the cooler area of his terrarium? I use a heating pad and it warms the substrate to between 83 and 87 degrees, but he rarely hangs out over there. He prefers dangling from his plastic bonsai tree near the screened lid. Should I cover some of the lid to keep in some of the heat?

3. Finally, what is the largest mouse (by weight) that fully-grown cornsnakes typically eat? Hector still eats newborn pinkies, but I want to be prepared for my little monster's future eating habits. Thanks!

>>1. Do cornsnakes (or any snakes) typically yawn? My 4-month-old male Anerythrystic named Hector opens his mouth till his snout points stright up, his jaw points toward the floor, he wiggles his jaw and then closes his mouth and looks at me indignantly. Is it normal?

Yes it's normal. I'm not sure they are actually yawning rather than just adjusting their jaws, but either way, it's nothing to worry about.

>>2. Is it also normal for him to want to stay in the cooler area of his terrarium? I use a heating pad and it warms the substrate to between 83 and 87 degrees, but he rarely hangs out over there. He prefers dangling from his plastic bonsai tree near the screened lid. Should I cover some of the lid to keep in some of the heat?

I've found that mine tend not to like it too hot, only about 80 F tops. You also may want to make sure it really is only 83-87 F. If you don't have a good thermometer, it could be much hotter in the cage than it is registering.

>>3. Finally, what is the largest mouse (by weight) that fully-grown cornsnakes typically eat? Hector still eats newborn pinkies, but I want to be prepared for my little monster's future eating habits. Thanks!

I only feed one adult mouse per meal to my adults, regardless of their size (well, none of mine are larger than 4 feet though). The size of the mice they eat are about 25-30 grams. Some people feed small rats or multiple mice per feeding, so they could handle about 50-60 grams total, maybe more.
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