Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi guys, I'm getting my first corn snake on Feb 6th at a herp show (it's in Pittsburgh in case anyone else is in the area - www.freewebs.com/pghrepshow ). Anyway. It's about an hour drive from the show to my house, and then another 3 hours back up to school for me. How do I go about keeping the snake warm in the car, or is normal temperature (inside the car anyway, it's really cold outside right now obviously) usually okay for them?

I guess I could get another question out of the way here too.... I've read a lot about mouse or anole scents being used on F/T mice. Does it usually come down to actually needing that to get the snake to eat, or is it really worth getting in your opinion?

A hot water bottle, two small towels, and a medium sized styrofoam container. That simple to keep your new corn warm when in 'winter transport'.
Fill the bottle with warm water . NOT HOT WATER. About 90-100 Farenheit is good for 3-5 hours. Remember that your own temperature is roughly 98 degrees and what feels warm to you is roughly 90-100. Wrap the hot water bottle two or three times in one towel, placing it in the bottom of the styrofoam container. Wrap the deli cup or whatever your corn is purchased in in the other towel, place it in the styrofoam container, and put the lid on. Take the lid off in the car every 15 to 20 minutes for just a few seconds and you'll be good to go.

Now the anole scenting question. Anole/lizard scenting is used for picky feeders. In my experiences (300 or so corn hatchlings over the years) I've only had maybe 15 hatchlings that didnt eat pinky mice within their first three atempts. Miami cornsnakes are often more likely to need anole scenting to get them started, as their anscestors from the Miami area ate predominantly anoles and small lizards.

Anole scenting shouldn't be a concern for you on this purchase anyways. Fact is, any hatchling you buy on February 6th is going to be 4-7 months old, having hatched last June to October. He or she will be well started on pinkies, and possibly already onto fuzzies.

If you haven't already picked up 'The Corn Snake Manual' by Kathy and Bill Love you absolutely should. It is available at just about any pet store for 10-15 bucks and a wealth of information on corsnakes. Lots of great pictures too.

Good Luck.

BB

Thanks for the reply. I probably should've specified a few things in my original post. I'm looking for a normal corn small enough to keep in a 10g aquarium til May 14th (when I'll no longer be an undergrad ) but larger than a new hatchling...so roughly the size you mentioned. I've been reading up on corns since last June, and I actually saw that book in November. I glanced through it a little, and other than the genetics explanations, it all seemed to be stuff that I had already read a thousand times online on various websites so I didn't get it. I still might though, I dunno.

Just to let you know the Pittsburgh herp show keeps moving. It was supposed to be on the 6th and then the 13th but now it's the 20th of Feb at Hamar House. If you click on the link at the bottom of the kingsnake page it takes you to their updated site. Just so you don't go and expect a herp show. The one in March is scheduled for the 6th as of right now.

~Katie
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2.1 Cornsnakes (Slink, Shadow, Suzie)
0.3 Leopard Geckos (Cutie, Lily, and Miss Piggy)
0.1 Savannah Monitor (Sam)
1.2 Pac Man Frogs(Gordito, Spud, and Diablo)
1.2 Suriname Toad (Squishy & the Squishettes)
0.0.2 Giant Millipede (Mega & Mila)
0.0.1 Green Iguana (Iggy)
lots of snails and fish...

Hmm....that's good to know. Thanks!