Please Help Me!

[snakebeginner]

I have just bought a cornsnake from the local pet store and ive never owned a snake before and I was wondering how long it takes for a cornsnake to shed its skin. and how is the fastest way to make it grow. Please help thank you, aaron

[Dark_Angel_25]

well first off, before you bought your snkae you SHOULD have done your research.

as for shedding that depends on how often and what size food you give it.. the bigger the prey and the more often it eats the more often it will shed. your goal however should not be to get it big quick.. and cornsnakes get long and thin... not so much large... someone else could help you more, i do not own and never have owned a corn snake.

I would suggest you read some caresheets also.. and nest time you want a pet, try to read up on it first to make sure you have everything it needs....

[Dark_Angel_25]

what do you have in the enclosure? what are your temps? howmany hides do you have... what do you use as a substrate and for heat? just curious....

[mykee]

I would suggest you go to the cornsnake forum on this site and read it all. The more you can learn the faster, since you didn't do any research before purchasing the snake, the better for the health of the snake. Good luck.

[snakebeginner]

I have it in a 10gal tank with a heat pad underneath the left side of the tank. I also have a large tube that it always goes in. and also a large rock. I read how to take care of it too. Is there anything else I should do? and also how can you tell a female snake from a male?

[snakebeginner]

Oh yeah and I also have a big margarine container cut in half for its water dish.

[Slannesh]

I would suggest adding a second hide, Most reptiles are more comfortable with a hide on the warm side and one on the cool side of the enclosure.

I do not keep cornsnakes myself so i'll echo Mykee's suggestion of checking out the cornsnake forum.

[sapphire_moon]

a butter bowl cut in half? Seems like that would be kind of sharp on a little baby corn snake. Try getting a small plastic dog/cat bowl.

What are you temps? If you don't know go get a indoor/outdoor with prope digital theremometer, found at, I believe I hear people mentioning canadian tire? home depot, wal-mart, only about 13 dollars USD.

Put the probe right on top of the UTH (the probe should be on the inside on the glass, the UTH *under tank heater* should be underneath the tank on the outside), if it is reading above 85 degree's then go buy a lamp dimmer and plug it in until you get the temps right. 80-85 degrees hot side about 70-75 cool side...

Ok, leave the new baby alone for atleast 1 week. Do not feed, handle, poke at, anything really. Just per her/him in a low traffic area and leave him alone. After about a week you can try feeding, if it is really small try a mouse pinky.

After feeding leave alone for atleast 2 days. Let your snake eat atleast 3 times (1 pink every 4-5 days for a while, then when it gets bigger every 7 days) before you start to handle it.

Can you snake get under the rock? is there any way for the rock to roll and crush your snake?

As for telling if it is a boy or girl you will just have to take it to a vet, or an experienced breeder.

And since you got it from a pet store I would suggest taking a fecal sample to a vet to have it checked for parasites and other bad things.

Good luck and as mykee said, try the corn snake forum, there are more people there that know more than I do, and will be able to probably help you better with any future questions. Try to get the corn snake manual also, by Kathy Love.

[snakehunter]

GO BUY THE CORNSNAKE MANUAL BY KATHY LOVE! its onlt ten or fifteen bucks, and its money well spent!

[Linds]

Slow and steady wins the race. Your goal should not be to rush your snake's growth, but rather just keep it healthy and let it grow it at a slower rate, so everything has time to develop properly. Should take a few years. If you rush them it may have all sorts of stress on their organs and structure.

[liltattyprinces]

Just to second what Saphire Moon said, deffinatly cheack the temps. If you are just using the UTh (under tank heater) without a dimmer attached to it, I can guarentee you that it is too hot. I have tested all of mine before and after putting the dimmer on it and they all were way too hot, the lowest temp i got without a dimmer was 103f, which will fry your baby snake. Just go to walmart or your local hardware store and in the lighting dept you can find dimmers for lamps either the extension cord kind or the ones I use are just the dimmer you cut the cord for the UTH and slide the cable into the slots and clamp it down they work great... Good luck with your new little one and it you have any ??'s or concerns just ask the ppl here you won't find a better group of herpers anywhere else.

Laura-Lee L

[MouseKilla]

I don't bother with the UTH for my corns, they just don't need that much heat at all. If you already have one you can raise your aquarium by putting a 1" piece of wood under each end of the tank and then put the heater on the table beneath, glue side up, leaving the inch of space between the glue side and the bottom of the tank. This breathing space prevents the glass above to get too hot.
If you have any kind of incandescent lighting, such as a 40 watt bulb with a reflector or an aquarium style fixture with the 2 spots for the long narrow aquarium bulbs these will give you the extra 10 - 15 degrees C you want over and above ambient room temperature (assuming that it's above 20 C or 70 F in your house). If you use the lights the UTH is unnecessary and may be raising the temps too high. Definitely get a digital thermometer with a probe so you know what the actual temps are but it is super easy to get the small amount of extra heat that corns need. You're shooting for anything in the low to mid eighties fehrenheit during the day and if you use lights to heat it in the day it's fine to let the temp drop down into the low seventies overnight. Until you know the temps it's less likely that you will leave them too cold than it is that you will make it too hot for them so you want to be careful.

[sapphire_moon]

cut the cord off! I've never seen one like that unless you make your own. The one I have you just plug in the UTH to it.

I have mine plugged into the wall, with an extention on it (with a ground plug) and I have both my uth's hooked up to the 1 lamp dimmer. Keeps both of them 90-95 hot side<-----for a ball python.

[Andy_G]

Don't mess with the U.T.H's cord, it makes the warranty void and if you make a mistake you can't fix it or get a refund.

[snakebeginner]

Hello everyone and thank you all so much for all the help. I also have another question. I have to normal lamps with 40watt bulbs. can i put them beside the tank for the snake?and would it be warm enough. and i also have a heat rock but i heard it burns your snakes. so would i be able to put the heat rock under the snakes dirt? my snake also looks happy in its cage I think. it crawls on its stick all the time and hides in both his burrows. thanks again

[Auskan]

I'm not sure exactly what you mean by putting the heat rock under the dirt. If its not plugged in, you can put it anywhere, but I wouldn't plug it in and then bury it. Apart from safety concerns in doing that, snakes sometimes burrow down to get cool - they don't expect the ground to get warmer as they burrow.

[snakebeginner]

If I cant bury the heat rock plugged in under the dirt, then is there any other ways to keep the snake warm with the heat rock? or else to lamps? also my snake is in a 25 gal tank and there is a glass devider that i put in there so I can have a Tarantula in there also. But the Tarantula also only has a quarter of the tank. If that makes any difference. It is snake proofed for sure though. My snake is also only about 32cm-35cm long.

[snakebeginner]

thanks again

[marisa]

Well I don't see why you are keeping a tarantula and a cornsnake in the same cage, divider or not.

And throw the hot rock out. They are HORRIBLE for ANY reptile. Your snake should have a heating gradient. Hot side around 84 with cool side room temp. Use heat lamps or undertank heaters only. Never hot rocks.

Marisa

[snakebeginner]

Ok thanks marrisa i will listen to your opinion and I will use my lamp cause i have a large light bulb.

[marisa]

Good stuff. :)

Make sure you use a decent thermometer and see what the temp is under the light in the cage. You wouldn't want to overheat the snake, and lights get HOT. Even the lowest wattage usually pushes temps far past 84.

Marisa

[Vanan]

Also watch out for dessication with them heat lamps. Heat great but tend to dry things out fast. Keep an eye on the water dish. :)

[sapphire_moon]

get the tarantula out of there, and take that snake to a vet and get a fecal done! especially since it is from a pet store! And learn to research things before you buy. Would you buy a car without driving it? Well it's kind of the same thing, you are making a commitment to something that can live 15 years (I think it's 15 years, I'm sure someone will correct me)

[snakebeginner]

I did do alot of research on cornsnakes and knowhere does it say that you should not keep a snake and a tarantula in a cage devider together. Its not like the snake can get into the tarantula cage. I snake proofed it. And besides what would happen to them? they cant kill eachother

[chamitch]

snakebeginner. they can transfer parisites/diseases to each other. not to mention snakes are sensitive to motion of other animals as are tarantualas. undo stress to both. but that again is my opinion.

later

[sapphire_moon]

I agree chamitch.
The only reason it doesn't say it is becuase it is a "common sense." Kind of like you don't house a croc next to a chicken coop.
It's not like they can be like, "oh it's only a corn snake/tarantula."

And I think you mentioned dirt!? What kind of dirt are you using?

[snakebeginner]

I am using peat moss is that bad? The guy from the petstore has all his snakes in peat moss. and the same at the other pet store here.