Reptile & Amphibian Forums

That usually sparks some red lights, the pet store guy said. But anyway, the pet store guy said I could use Zoo Med's Vita-Sand for my corn's substrate. I'm currently using Eco-earth but as he just swallowed a chunk I'm scared of impaction.

The package of the Vita sand doesn't say it is for corn snakes, and unless i'm mistaken corn snakes aren't exactly desert dwellers.

The sand is extremely fine powder, it is apparenlty fortified with calcium and is veterinarian approved.

My question is, will it be dangerous? It is so fine I doubt it will be abrasive, but perhaps it is so fine as to cause respitory or visual problems? the pet store guy said if he was going to be eating substrate, it might as well be healthy for him.

My personal preference is aspen. I avoid ingestion by either feeding in a separate container or keeping the prey elevated with hemostats while the snake is swallowing. When I feed in another container I usually use one that is small enough that I can simply place the container back in my snakes' cage when done and let him crawl out on his own.

I have no personal experience or info regarding the substrates you mentioned, but I would be skeptical at best regarding the sand-like material.

Lots of folks use newspaper, and I have from time to time, but my snakes like to burrow in the aspen and I like the look.
Duffy

i agree, i like the look of the aspen, and naaza likes to burrow in it, i have noticed since he can burrow and hide he comes out early in the evening. i also feed in a seperate container. i learned that here

Yeah that what a lot of people go with, aspen. The problem is then that you are forced to feed in a separate container. I do not know how to achieve this, seeing how everyone has advised me not to touch the snake before (stresses hatchlings out) and not to touch it 24 hours after (to avoid regurgitations and stress). So how do I get it in the other container?

If your snake is hungry its not gonna mind a little trip to the feeding tub. After handling your snake for a few weeks, stress isnt going to be that much of a problem. Some people make a big deal out of stress, but dont worry too much. Your little fella is going to be just fine.
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1,0 snow
1,0 amel
1,0 texas corn
1,0 aney stripe motley
0,1 normal
0,1 charcoal
0,1 motley
1,1 oketee
0,1 tx rat
1,0 diadem
4,5 ball python
1,1 dumerils boa
1,1 columbian red tail boa
1,1 green iguana
1,0 leopard gecko
1,2 dogs
freezer full of mice & rats

The only time to be so worried about handling a snake too close to its having been fed, is if it already has shown a ppropensity toward regurging its food. If your snake doesn't, don't worry about handling it.

I have been a cornsnake enthusiast for some time now. I don't have all the answers, but I don't have to ask many questions any more either. There is one one hard and fast rule I know about corns:

There are no hard and fast rules about corns!

All of this "24hr. no handling" rule thing is fine as a GUIDELINE for people who don't yet know how their new snake is going to accept its new surroundings, but to say one cannot touch a baby corn for 24 hours (I've even read 48 hrs.!) is preposterous.

What's worse, after someone has taken that advice, and their baby corn doesn't regurge its food, they believe its because they didn't handle it within the "no touch" period, rather than simply assuming that their baby, like the vast majority of corns, doesn't have a regurge problem. So, this wisdom gets passed on from one generation of corn keepers to the next, until it becomes the end all, be all rule that it is in the minds of so many.

What's the point of having corns, if you can't handle them? You might as well have goldfish.

I handle all my snake all the time. It doesn't matter when or where, if they've just eaten or are about to...they're all fine. Now, if I got one that was a problem feeder, or had a history of regurging...THEN I'd start using some measures to counteract those problems.

But we need to stop telling people to take the cure, when the "illness" hasn't even shown itself, folks!

There's my rant for the week...

Back to your regularly scheduled progamming!
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Darin Chappell
Hillbilly Herps
PO Box 254
Rogersville, MO 65742

that I deal with so many brand new keepers that I like to give them some "better - safe - than- sorry - rules" that they can use to get them started with the least liklihood of problems. True, most of the time, they could bend or break "the rules" without any trouble. But I think we will have a better chance of keeping them in the hobby longterm if we advise them to be a little over cautious the first several weeks to get them off to a good start. Then they can loosen up as they begin to know their individual animal and learn its quirks.

I agree that I would hate to see these guidelines viewed as absolute. But beginners are the exact people who will find it more difficult to deal with possible problems. So they are the ones who I like to see start cautiously, until experience allows them to decide which rules don't apply to their own situation.

Since most pet store guys (not all) are idiots, you can just about bank on doing the opposite of what they say. My only comment is that corn snakes dont live in the desert so do you thnk your snake wants to live in sand?
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1,0 snow
1,0 amel
1,0 texas corn
1,0 aney stripe motley
0,1 normal
0,1 charcoal
0,1 motley
1,1 oketee
0,1 tx rat
1,0 diadem
4,5 ball python
1,1 dumerils boa
1,1 columbian red tail boa
1,1 green iguana
1,0 leopard gecko
1,2 dogs
freezer full of mice & rats

np
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1,0 snow
1,0 amel
1,0 texas corn
1,0 aney stripe motley
0,1 normal
0,1 charcoal
0,1 motley
1,1 oketee
0,1 tx rat
1,0 diadem
4,5 ball python
1,1 dumerils boa
1,1 columbian red tail boa
1,1 green iguana
1,0 leopard gecko
1,2 dogs
freezer full of mice & rats

>>Although a lot of corn snakes live in areas with sand they do not live exclusively on sand. They move into leafy areas, grassy areas...etc. In a closed environment such as an aquarium, critter keeper or rubbermade container they have no option they are stuck in the sand 24/7.
You will probably find that most people use aspen, newspaper or paper towels. There are other substrates but these are the main three.
Aspen is easy to spot clean, not dusty, acts as a hide (they love to burrow under/through it and it isn't expensive.
When feeding in a seperate container just get a tupperware or gladware dish (with a few air hole) and place the snake and the prey item in it.
Place the container back in the viv, or aquarium or whatever, and leave them alone for a little while.
Check on it and when the snake has eaten just gently pick it up and place it back in it's viv. This has never caused any of my snakes to regurgitate. Now, you don't want to handle it for very long or roughly but moving it from the feeding box to the viv will not cause undue stress.
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Corn snakes and rat snakes..No one can have just one.
"resistance is futile"
Jimmy (draybar)

Draybars Snakes

I wouldn't use sand. People hired at pet stores know next to nothing, I worked at one a couple years ago. Nobody knew what they were talking about. Needless to say, new guy coming in telling them how to take care of their reptiles... i didn't last long, lol.

Don't use sand. Now you have me confused a little bit... you made it sound like your snake is eating the substrate? Or is it just a little bit getting ingested when eating a mouse? A very small bit won't hurt... it's organic and will pass. the problem is when you get a big clump of it, thats too big to get ingested so it causes an impaction.

Sand is non absorbant, therefore when your snake craps it wont get absorbed, and when he crawls over it he'll get the germs on him, and that will go on you. Since it won't absorb, the bacteria will multiply expodentially and first off stink to high heaven, and it will create an unsafe environment. Also, it has been thought that the silica in the sand (a fine white dust) will cause RI's to occur. And come back.

I'd just use aspen.
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Chondros and colubrids... my 2 favorite types of snakes!

"Life is hard. Life is harder if you're stupid." - John Wayne

I use Jungle Mix lizard litter in all my tanks.

It just looks more natural, the dark bark color sets off the snakes better...it's almost dirt consistency so it's absorbent and forms a clump that's easy to remove. It seems a little less dangerous for impaction (I feed mostly in containers but make exceptions)

On the minus side it is dusty (though I've never had an RI knock on wood) and expensive.

I have aspen shavings in house, for rabbitry, but I like the dark substrate better in tanks...

I agree, sand is not a good substrate for corns. I have always used aspen or pine shavings. Feed all my snake in their cages and never had an impaction in over 30yrs.