Corn snake help?

[Gato'smum]

Hello all! I have a question:

I'm getting a corn snake in a few weeks. This will be my first snake, and I'm wondering if there's anything I need to look out for (i.e. crankiness, etc.). I know it depends on the animal, but is there anything I should know about corn snakes in general?

Thanks~

[Karen]

How old is the snake? Has it been a pet all along? Who are you getting it from? What gender is it? Before you get it, you should make sure you have a snake-knowledgeable vet nearby, and do you have the tank, etc., or are you getting that with the snake?

Sorry, lots of questions, I know!

[Gato'smum]

It's a female, and she's pretty young, only a year or two. She belonged to my friend's brother, who's going to college and couldn't take her with him. She already has a cage, bedding, water bowl, heat lamp, etc.

[Karen]

You should be able to ask him about her temperament, then. It varies snake to snake, a lot. Be prepared for an adjustment period, let her get used to you before handling her too much, but enjoy!

[Gato'smum]

I will, thanks!

I take it you're a snake owner...?

[sana]

I will, thanks!

I take it you're a snake owner...?

She doesn't have any pet but, she knows a LOT about them!

Good Luck with your little snake Post some pictures of her if you can

[Karen]

I do not have a snake right now, but know a lot of snake owners, and think they are really interesting pets, and always have been interested in them.

[BitsyNaceyDog]

The main thing I'd find out is what she eats and how often. My guess/hope is pre-killed (frozen/thawed?) pinky or possibly fuzzy mice, weekly. Corn snakes are usually pretty good eaters, so hopefully you won't have any trouble.


You'll likely be able to tell when she's about to shed (though some color morphs are easier to tell with than others), her colors will looks dull and her eyes will look cloudy. Then right before she sheds her eyes should clear up. This is a time you should just leave your snake alone. There is a good chance she won't eat during this time too, that's ok.

Of corse it varies from one snake to another, but in general corn snakes are very easy going and they're usually great starter snakes.

[Gato'smum]

Good Luck with your little snake Post some pictures of her if you can

thanks, I definitely will! I can't wait to bring her home

[snakemama]

Congrats! Snakes are so much fun! I've been keeping snakes for 16 years now, and I love them!

First thing I'd do is chuck the heat lamp and get an under tank heater and a rheostat to control the temperature. Heat lamps can really dry the air in a snake's cage, and it's also very difficult to regulate the amount of heat getting to the snake when using a lamp. An under tank heater without a rheostat or some way to regulate its heat, on the other hand, can get WAY HOT...so the rheostat is very important! The warm side of the tank should be around 80-85, and the cool side 70-75. Make sure your thermometer is on the floor of the tank! For some reason, people like to get those wall thermometers for corns...but corns hang out on the floor! So that's where the heat should be measured!

I'd give the snake a full week to settle in before handling it, and at least a week before attempting to feed. Find out from the previous owner if the snake has been on live, pre-killed, or frozen-thawed food. Frozen-thawed is the best option for MANY reasons, and the vast majority of corn snakes will readily take food that way. The mouse should be no bigger than 1 1/2 times the width of the widest part of the snake. A few minutes before feeding time, drop the mouse in a bowl of hot water and wait until it's thawed all the way through. Set the mouse near the snake, make sure the snake can't escape, dim the lights, and leave the room for several hours. Lots of people put their first snake off of food by checking on it every twenty minutes to see if it's eaten yet. If your snake senses a big predator nearby it may spit out its food so it can be prepared to make a run for it! Most snakes eat once a week for the first 3 years or so, then they slow down to every 2 weeks or so.

Corns are generally really really docile. If you're nervous handling it at first, gloves can be a really big help. A snake can tell if you're tense or jittery when holding it, and will respond appropriately! I recently got a new girl who bit me as I was putting her in her cage, so for weeks after that I was nervous while handling her, and she was jumpy and irritable too. My sister in law came over and picked her up confidently, and my darling snake was calm as could be! I felt like a dummy. Signs of a grumpy corn snake include: tensing into an 's' shape, flattening their head into a triangle, and rattling their tail!

Do you know what morph the snake is? Most morphs are very easy to tell when they're going into a shed cycle. The eyes turn milky, then clear, and a few days later they shed. Ideally, snakes shouldn't be handled or fed during a shed cycle. My corns are all snows, and it's almost impossible to tell when they're going to shed...so they do get handled and fed during that time, but if I could tell I would avoid it. I feel like it must be stressful for them not being able to see well, and they do have a higher change of regurgitating their food if they eat while in shed. (a snake regurgitating is a BIG DEAL!)

Hmm..what else? A gram scale (like a little kitchen scale) is neat to have. I like to weigh my snakes and see how fast they're growing.

Health problems to look for...not much! Regurgitated food, after the snake sheds make sure both of the eyecaps have come off.

Here are a few pics of my corns...

Kostya: He's a Bubblegum Snow from Low Belly Reptiles, and with any luck he'll be a daddy in the spring.


Pearl: She's a Coral Snow originally from South Mountain Reptiles, and hopefully she'll be the mama! She decided to taste me upon arrival to my house. I don't blame her, she'd just been shipped overnight from Texas and she was cranky!


Mirasol: (Atrocious picture, I know!) She's a Champagne Snow Stripe. She'll be Kostya's other wife...in three years!

[Gato'smum]

Wow, thanks for all the information! I really appreciate it. I volunteer at a museum, so I work with snakes pretty frequently; I kind of know the basics of handling/caring for a snake, but not on a 24/7 basis...

[snakemama]

It's not much different than caring for them occasionally. Honestly, sometimes I go days without opening any of the cages. As long as they have clean water and no poop in the cage, they're happy. Mira is a little more high maintenance at the moment just because she's so tiny, but everyone else gets a once over weekly when I feed them and then only occasional handling.

[Gato'smum]

So, from your experience with them, how well do corn snakes generally put up with being handled?

[snakemama]

Quite well. Thery're one of the best "first" snakes because they are calm and easy to handle. The bite from Pearl is the only corn snake bite I've ever recived, except for nips from teeny babies! They're also good classroom pets, because they tolerate handling by a variety of people.

[sallyandsnowx]

Wow, shes gorgeous! My cousin use to have a python, but he eventually had to give him away because he went away to college. I always thought snakes were interesting pets. I wish I could have one, but I don't think my mom would be too happy about that.

I'm new here too and I had trouble posting pictures at first! What I did is made a photobucket account (at photobucket.com) and uploaded the pictures there. Then I copied the IMG code onto here and voila...pictures!