Corn snake living off bugs

jaleely · 10-25-11, 11:35 PM

I really don't think it can thrive. SO, I work at PetSmart....today there was some lady who came in to buy worms, and mentioned it was for a snake. I asked what kind of snake, since to my knowledge only the rough green snake, etc., can live off bugs. She said it was a corn snake. I politely told her an ear full, but she insisted that the snake was doing fine.

Bothered me all day long!

What do you guys think? Personally I think she's a moron, but hopefully i got her to think and at least look up a care sheet on how to take care of a corn snake. She just kept insisting that anything else was too big for the snake, but she also mimed that i was like a foot and a half long. blah!

infernalis · 10-25-11, 11:53 PM

no.... their physiology is all wrong.

They eat lizards and rodents.

kernel · 10-26-11, 12:11 AM

It really angers me how ignorant people can be. A monkey could take better care of that poor snake. You have to be dumber than spit to think that you can keep a healthy corn snake on worms, for crying out loud! I could go on and on, but I will put a end to my rant now.

**millertime89** · 10-26-11, 12:57 AM

some people...

aj099 · 10-26-11, 01:50 AM

i just rescued a snake from a couple similar people
they would feed the thing 6 mice in one day then not feed it for month`s
and they were to scared to ever take it out so it hasnt been handled in over a year....i have had him 2 days and he is very calm and i can hold him easily they said he would bite anybody and this and that
just another poor misunderstood snake by the way this thing is 6 feet long and still eating tiny mice i gave him a big rat today he rather enjoyed it

damn bloody idiot`s!

RegenerationRep · 10-26-11, 04:29 AM

Maybe they have something like a garter or ribbon snake and are just simply uneducated on what species they have... I don't see how it would be alive at all, or even eat the worms lol

infernalis · 10-26-11, 04:44 AM

garters and ribbons don't eat bugs either.......

The only arthropod feeders in the US are smooth green snakes and rough green snakes. and they thrive on spiders and caterpillars.

the ones sold as pets usually perish in a year or less from cricket diets.

redsided · 10-26-11, 08:05 AM

That snake is doomed.

I hate people like that "the snake is doing fine" whatever clueless.

youngster · 10-26-11, 08:26 AM

Next time she comes in try getting her license plate # and call animal control. Or trick her into telling you :P

daddy and son · 10-26-11, 08:29 AM

That poor corn is doomed. Before I got my corns, I read a couple of books on them. I went back and double checked one thing. It said even feeding chunks of beef, chicken, pork, etc. is insufficient as the snake needs the calcium from the bones of it's prey. No bones, no calcium...simple as that. Perhaps next time she comes in, show her a book on corn snake care and feeding. Maybe, just maybe if she sees it there she'll realize the error of her ways.

kernel · 10-26-11, 10:09 AM

Wayne, aren't nightcrawlers good for garters?

youngster · 10-26-11, 10:21 AM

Worms aren't really bugs :P

**millertime89** · 10-26-11, 10:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kernel

Wayne, aren't nightcrawlers good for garters?

Quote:

Originally Posted by youngster

Worms aren't really bugs :P

this is what I'm thinking, they were told to feed it worms, because its actually a garter, but they just think its a corn.

Jaleely, see if you can get them to bring it in with them so you can identify it properly.

infernalis · 10-26-11, 11:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kernel

Wayne, aren't nightcrawlers good for garters?

Quote:

Originally Posted by youngster

Worms aren't really bugs :P

This.....

Worms are invertebrates, but have no exoskeleton, therefore non arthropod.

jaleely · 10-27-11, 12:29 AM

Ah, I'd make a terrible witness in a robbery. She just looked like any other old lady who comes in, though I do think i might recognize the son if he was with her. I actually wanted to run out after her in the parking lot *lol* had other customers in line since i'm just a cashier, but ugh.

I mean jeez, petsmart may not be the best petstore but they DO even have like, dumb little pamphlets on snakes and stuff that's just sitting there waiting for stupid people to pick them up and read them. Oh well.
Hey, someone gave me a corn snake the other day, and she's been nice and clean, happy habitat, and eating like crazy since they called in looking to offload it at the store! I'm in the right position to do SOME rescuing....but you just can't save stupid!!!

oh well. I've been keeping an eye out for plain looking old ladies buying bugs and worms, at least *lol* if i do identify her she is going to get an ear full, and frankly i have no qualms at all about calling animal control on her. The only problem is, most of animal control is just about as smart.
I was there today, and none of the women wanted to be near the snakes, so they didn't get fed unless a guy was on duty...and the one guy who paid attention just had them sitting on newspaper under a heat-lamp. No water. The snakes were dry as a bone. (see here for their story