beginner question

[jay76]

Hi,

I'm hoping to get my first snake at the St Jacobs show this weekend, and was going to make it a cornsnake (or maybe a king - depends on what I find that mesmerizes me ;)) but I was hoping to ask a few questions first.

What's a good size of tank? A baby might do better in a smaller one, but as an adult what would I be looking at? A 10 or a 20?

Also, how long do they take to grow to adult size? Not as fast a beardie, I hope!

Just one more (grin) - what the heck is a 'creamsicle'?? it's been a while since I was looking at getting a snake, and this morph seems to have appeared while I wasn't looking :)

Thanks!

Jay

[Scotty Allen]

Yes Jay, a baby will definately do better in a smaller tank. An adult corn snake (3-4 feet) will be okay in a 20 gal. but you should consider something a little bigger. California Kingsnakes are about the only of the commonly available ones that are small enough as adults to stay in a 20 gal. A cornsnake could grow to three feet in as many years, maybe a little faster.

*S* What is a creamsicle? This is a colour mutation or "morph" of the common cornsnake which is basically a soft, pastel orange colour. If you check with me at the show on Sunday, I'll be able to show you a picture of one or go to http://www.corn-utopia.com/ Kathy Love is the premier breeder of cornsnakes on the planet and she has lots of pictures on her site.

[josefg]

Like FlatwoundScotty said here, an adult corn snake can stay well in a 20 gal tank. Also, a water bowl (or 2, one on the cold side and one on the hot side needs to be present in the enclosure).

The cornsnake requires a temperature between 85 to 90 degrees Fahrenheit on the hot side. I recommend that u provide this temperature using and under tank heater (UTH) together with a thermostat. The UTH should be placed under 2/3 of the enclosure and not cover the whole surface.

As for substrate i would recommend that you use paper towels as they are the easiest to clean. You can also put some hideboxes for the cornsnake so that it feels more secure but mine totally ignored the hidebox and went under the paper towel

As for the creamsicle, it is a hybrid between a Great Plains Rat Snake (Elaphe emoryl) and an amelanistic (albino) cornsnake (Elaphe Guttata Guttata).

If you get a cornsnake I also recommend that u buy 'The Cornsnake Manual' by Bill and Kathy Love, which is THE cornsnake Bible.

Hope that this was helpful enough. If u need some cornsnake caresheets, do not hesitate to email me, and I will send you some.

[jay76]

Thanks Scotty & Josef... I've been reading the caresheets, and am pretty sure that I know what I'm doing. Except for the UTH with thermostat... was that an actual thermostat that controls the temperature, or something homemade like a digital thermoter and a dimmer? If a thermostat, have any recommendations as to what kind and where to get one (such as home depot etc)?

Thanks!
Jay

[Syst3m]

Hey Jay, Just wanted to add my 2 cents here for you.

Corn snakes are very easy to keep, doing well at room temps sometimes. A decent UTH on one side of the cage with a basking lamp would probably be fine, They are not temperature critical snakes, When they say use a UTH with a thermostat they mean just that, its a device that monitors temps and adjust to regulate. Unfortunatly I do not agree with any of the cheap thermostats on the market and could only suggest you use an expensive proportional thermostat. (difference is proportional adjust the current to control temp, normal ones just turn on raise up to temp and turn off, repeating this cycle.)

Don't fear you don't really need either of those devices. If you buy a rheostat (dimmer) from your hardware store, and set your temps up using that monitoring them for a short while all is well. Corn snakes do not need high temps at all, as a matter of fact I think higher temps would be dangerous. Give them a basking spot of 90f during the day time and temps of about 70f at night and they will do fine.

As far as caging, a 20L aquarium should be proper for an adult corn of almost any size, prefering more spacious accomodations myself.

Corns are hardy active snakes, that do not have very demanding needs.

Oh BTW is that Signature line from Hook?

[Syst3m]

Oh Crap, Creamsicle. From what I understand it is an albino corn crossed with a rat snake.

Elaphe guttata guttata x emoryi

hope that helps.


This is right from Cathy loves site

A beautiful peachy orange to yellow (almost caramel or butterscotch-colored) amelanistic strain created by crossing corns with Great Plains rat snake E.g. emoryi bloodlines. The large hatchlings are very hardy, and are among my most popular strains.

Found that after I actually posted this.

[jay76]

Hook? You mean the Peter Pan movie? It might be from there, but I thought it up for myself because everyone I work with thought I was nuts just for buying crickets at my lunch hour and owning lizards. The fact that I now have at least 5 snakes on my most wanted list isn't helping... but neither is me reading 'the ball bython manual' and 'your first snake' during breaks ;)

Thanks!

[lanalizard]

i really dont believe a ball python should be a beginner snake at allll...
i got my beginner snake as a corn snake, snow phase and he is my baby and is 20 inches long now..woohoo.

then i got a ball python....even tho you know they are finicky eaters and think from reading manuals, internet, etc, that you would be okay when it decides to stop eating. WRONG. most often, like me, you panic, something is wrong, you need to make him eat...a month is too long without feeding....but really, its okay.

All in all, i think you should get a corn snake..they are great snakes.

[tai_pan1]

Hey Jay, did you get a snake? What kind. Tells us about it.

[jay76]

Hehe... I described him in another, but I can brag some right? Right (*pausing in the face of utter silence* I got a sweet little male ghost corn from the Gillards (thanks again!) and named him Casper :)

I went home at lunch to check in on him... he was sleeping in corner coiled into loops... really cute. Too bad my camera sucks for up close pics :(

[tai_pan1]

Cool! My daughter really likes the pictures of the ghosts she has seen. Unfortunately, I have four corns now, and probably won't be getting any more soon. Good luck with Casper.