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Care Info
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2007-2008. Rebecca Purdom.
All rights reserved.
Corn Snake Care Info
The information on this page is a condensed version of what I think is the most important to know when caring for a Corn Snake. Please do not consider this anywhere near the complete story and be sure to take a look at the links and recommended reading on the Links & Resources page. Thanks for taking the time to learn about Corn Snakes!
Corn Snakes I believe make one of the best pets out there for the average person. They have many qualities that help them fit well into our lives including small size, an easygoing temperament, a long lifespan, and an endless variety of colours! With Corns you have no fur to cause allergies, no voice box for barking, no paws and claws to dig up gardens, and no fleas to infest the house. As adults they do well with brumation, which means very little work aside from freshening the water once weekly. In the summer months you need to feed and freshen water at least once weekly but if you have a tendency to be active and out of the house a lot the snakes really won't suffer! There is often no need for a pet sitter, Corns are just GREAT, but be careful they are quite ADDICTIVE!!!
For a baby corn I recommend starting out with a 10 gallon aquarium or something similar which has a footprint measurement of about 20 inches X 10 inches. I feel that the average baby corn will feel more secure and "cozy" in this smaller tank which often helps them eat better. It's also much easier to find a small hatchling in a 10 gallon than the larger 30 gallon you might use for an adult. Indeed, I feel a 33 gallon is the minimum size I would recommend for an adult corn, these measure about 3 feet x 1 foot x 16 inches tall.
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Along with the aquarium you will need a very tight fitting lid or one that has clamps or clasps with which to secure the lid. Baby corns are very adept at finding any escape route possible, it's amazing some of the stories you hear about enterprising babies figuring their way out of "Fort Dodge!" I think it is often more a matter of when your snake will escape more than if so try to be as cautious as you possibly can to save yourself and your snake some grief! Check, check, then check again on the security of the top! |
If you do lose you snake there are a number of ways to recover it, and more often then not they will be back in their cage safe and sound with a little help from you, sooner than later. If you need help with different methods to find a lost snake, feel free to contact me and I will help you go over some of the most effective recovery methods.
Next you will need to choose a substrate. There are a few appropriate choices, each with benefits and downfalls.
One substrate you may consider is paper towel or newspaper. The benefits to this choice are cost and ease. It's obviously very cost effective, particularly if you use recycled newspaper . The ease enters in with the cleanliness, you won't have to vacuum bits and pieces after you clean the cage, and it's certainly not heavy to lug around the house! The downsides though are that it's not very absorbent and it's far from aesthetically pleasing. With the paper not absorbing much, you also really have to be on task with your cleaning and changing the paper. After all snakes would have no choice but to crawl through their own feces which can easily cause and spread disease, as well as deter you from handling your snake!
Another choice is the coconut fibre soil. This is much like potting soil and is very natural looking to the snake I'm sure. One name brand is Eco earth, but there are certainly more and more brands popping up on the market. It's not to expensive and it sure makes for a beautiful environment, but you would certainly have to do complete changes fairly regularly, as it would be difficult to find all the "poops" in there. It can also tend to be very messy as it sticks to the snakes, and you respectively as you handle the snakes.
The last choice I will discuss is Aspen. There are three
main types of aspen to choose from and those are small square chips
(often called sani-chips), large chips and the shredded aspen. All will
work fine, but I by far prefer the shredded aspen as the snakes can
burrow through it and many of their paths will stay intact to make
almost a tunnel system! This makes it almost serve as another hide in
the vivarium.
All three types of aspen lend themselves well to spot cleaning but should be completely changed approximately once a month. Another huge benefit to Aspen is that it will have less or no dust, meaning people with allergies can often put up with it and a much lower possibility of the snake getting a respiratory infection or irritation!
The downsides to Aspen are cost and mess. The shredded aspen tends to like to stick to almost any sleeves on clothing I've got, which end up in tracking them around the house a bit, but it is quite easy to just pick up with your fingers and toss it out!
Next you need to have a hide of some sort. This can range
from a decorative ceramic log or cave, all the way down to a paper towel
or toilet paper tube. You can easily use your imagination here as I have
seen HUNDREDS of different objects used for hides, including Lego, femo,
PVC pipes, margarine containers and many assorted kids toys, the sky is
the limit! I
tend to prefer plastic as you can usually clean and disinfect that well,
but I also use disposable cardboard boxes.
Heat is the next need that corns have. It's surprising how little extra heat they need, but it is certainly a need. Corns should have a basking or warm area that reaches about 85F. Their ambient can normally be close to what we have, but I usually tend to have it about 75F or so. I recommend under tank heaters over heat lamps as they are easier to regulate and don't tend to have the drying effect that heat lamps have. Heat lamps also frequently burn out, which can be quite costly as you replace the bulbs. There is usually a much greater risk of fire with heat lamps as well, especially if children are involved in the husbandry, as it is very easy to forget to turn the lamp off and just move it off the top of the vivarium to the nearest shelf or desk. I can't count how many counter tops, shelves and desks I've seen with that tell tale brown circle on them!
Getting back to the heat pads, I would strongly consider not
actually removing the adhesive backing of the pad to stick it to the
tank. If you use duct tape or foil tape to just tape the edges of the
pad down you will be able to remove the pad and use it for other vivs.
This hint will be particularly useful if you are starting with a small
tank and plan to upgrade to a larger tank at a later time.
Just as important as the heat pad is a thermostat or rheostat. Many heat pads sold it shops get much to warm for corns so a rheostat will help make sure our pets don't get burned. A thermostat is an electrical device with a probe that is placed directly on the warmest part of the vivarium. You can set a particular temperature with a thermostat and once the probe reaches that set temperature, the unit will either turn off or turn down the heating device. A rheostat is something that will just cut the power down on a heating device, they are less expensive than thermostats but the downside is that you can choose a particular temperature to maintain. Another upside to the rheostats is that they are easy to make at home and there are a number of web sites with directions on how to make them for less than $20.
It is very important to make sure no matter what heating device you choose you MUST have an accurate thermometer to keep track of your temperatures. By far the most effective and recommended type to use is a digital thermometer with a probe. You should expect to pay about $13 or so, but this little unit could save you so much heartache in the future. It is sometimes shocking how it feels when you put your hand on an are heated to 85 degrees. It really doesn't feel that warm at all! Don't forget that us humans have an internal temp of over 95 degrees. I know many people who don't think their pad is working unless it feels really warm, but it is! So let that thermometer be the judge!
Baby corns should be fed more frequently than adults. I recommend feeding one appropriate food item once every five days for babies which can be decreased to once weekly after about a year or once you see your snake start to thicken out a bit. Appropriate size for a corn is a maximum of one and a half times the girth of the snake. Mice make a terrific food item and should suffice for even the largest corn. I will sometimes rotate in the odd rat, but for the most part mice are a nice complete diet.
I always recommend feeding defrosted frozen mice over live
mice for a few reasons. One reason is that it will eliminate the
possibility of your snake being bitten or scratched. Snakes are very
slow to heal wounds as they only shed about once a month as babies and
once every few months as adults. Another reason to feed frozen is that
there is less possibility of transferring live parasites the mice may
carry to you snake. If you feed live you should DEFINITELY consider
worming your snake periodically. Yet more reasons to feed frozen are
convenience and price. You can easily go to the shop and pick up a dozen
mice at a time instead of going once a week, you might get a bulk
discount and better yet you won't have to deal with the stench of
rodents!
To defrost the mice I just sit them in some warm water for five minutes or so them pat dry with a paper towel. I then move the snake to a "feeding tub" and offer the mouse with a thermostat or forceps.
Now you need to consider a water bowl. Corns should always have fresh clean water available. I feel the bowl needs to be big enough for the snake to completely submerse in and heavy enough that it can't be easily dumped. Try to look for wide flat bottoms. Again, I usually prefer ceramic, glass or something that can be easily disinfected, you may want to have two or more matching water bowls so that when you change the water you can put the bowl right into the dishwasher and use your second bowl, rotating with each water change.
Well, there you have it, those are some of the most important ingredients to taking care of a cornsnake properly. There are many, many more things you could consider but it you follow the above instructions you will have a really strong start. Please don't forget to check out the suggested books and links, you'll be surprised how much there is to know about these "simple, starter snakes!" THERE'S MORE THAN MEETS THE EYE ;)
If you care to read even futher info. I would like to list a few of the frequently asked questions I seem to repeatedly get. Please remember that everything below is a matter of oppinion and my recommendations. I understand there are many people with different beliefs than myself and that there are many excellent methods to care for these wonderful animal!!!
Cornsnake FAQ’s
(Frequently Asked Questions)
Can I keep more than one corn in the same tank?
This method of husbandry is frequently referred to as “cohabbing”. As with all aspects of animal husbandry there may be positives and negatives to it. My personal choice and what I always recommend is that people keep only one animal per enclosure. Now I will explain some of the reasons con and pro.
CONS:
1. If you have two animals in the same viv and one regurgitates (pukes) or has diarrhea you will have no idea which animal did it. If you keep records on each of your animals there would no way to be truly accurate if you have to guess which animal did what.
2. When two corns are in the same cage, one or both can suffer from “stress”. Some symptoms of this would be slower weight gain or weight loss, improper digestion, regurgitations, nose rubs or constant movement about the enclosure.
3. Even with professional breeders, who have years of experience it is possible to mis-sex a female. If you unknowingly have a male and female together from birth the female may be gravid <pregnant> sooner than her body is ready for. This may end up in eggbinding, stunted growth or even death.
4. Cornsnakes are not considered “cannibalistic” however there are many documented cases of accidental cannibalism in corns. This can happen if animals are fed in the same enclosure, one finishes before the other then goes over and starts eating a mouse already being eaten by its cagemate. Cornsnake anatomy does not easily allow them to open their mouth to drop a prey item. Due to the angle and placement of their teeth they usually have to just continue swallowing the whole item down, other snake and all. This can and usually does result in the death of one or BOTH of the animals.
PROS:
1. Sometimes someone has a limited amount of funds or access to a single large vivarium. The same can be said for having a limited amount of space in ones home. The owner may not feel they want to donate an entire wall to sliding tubs, but rather have a single very large, enriched, naturalistic vivarium. The premise to this is that the inhabitants of the larger vivarium will have much better muscle tone, and more mental stimulation than a snake simply sitting in a tub and having their food placed in front of them regularly. People who use this reasoning strongly believe their snakes are much “healthier” than animals kept in tubs, on the other hand an argument back is that if you believe this and animal health is the first priority, why would you not just have ONE animal in this larger healthier vivarium?
2. There have been experiments on the brainwaves of snakes that are kept singly, and snakes which are cohabbed, the experiments seemed to show that the brains of animals that had stimulation from other animals in their environments were much more active and seemingly healthy than ones with no stimulation. I cannot cite these studies unfortunately, and you must take this point with suspicion of heresay. I believe this statement because it was given to me by someone who I very much respect, who has years of education along with multiple other accredations, and has been herping longer than I have been alive has practiced cohabbing on this premise for years, NEVER having an incident with negative repercussions AND she had access to many graduate studies and thesis. Take this point with your own educated opinion.
I honestly cannot think of any other points I would consider true “pros” or reasons for cohabitating. You cannot argue that there are risks every time someone decides to cohabitate. These risks are eliminated when keeping animals singly. If you decide to cohab, it must be an EDUCATED decision, and you have to take precautions which give the animals more chance at good health and a long life. Make sure you regularly weigh each animal with a digital scale and track their growth and weight gain regularly, the moment you see weight loss, or a halt in growth in a young animal, SEPARATE THEM IMMEDIATELY! If you see a regurgitation and it is at all possible to do so, SEPARATE THEM IMMEDIATELY! Whenever feeding the animals do so in individual feeding tubs and be sure each animal is COMPLETELY finished eating before placing back in to the community housing.
Lastly, if you are still thinking of cohabitating cornsnakes, I ask you to think one more time. Why are you doing it? Is it because your own “want” of having multiple bright coloured animals in one small area? Are the animals art or things or LIVING BEINGS that deserve respect? Is it because you have not made sure you have the funds to support your animals properly? What if a vet bill comes up? A single vet bill could EASILY surpass the cost of having just one more properly set up vivarium. If you or your family cannot afford the real possibilities of more costs coming up, perhaps it’s better to wait until you DO have the funds.
Is your reason to cohab because you want the animals to breed? Well, if you only introduce the male to the female for 15 minutes at the right time, you could very well have a large healthy clutch, whereas if you leave the male with the female she could EASILY be too stressed and loose the eggs, or worse lay them in the wrong location instead of a well set up nest box. How would you feel to lose an entire clutch when you could have EASILY avoided that loss?
Sometimes the right choices can be the hardest to make, good luck in your decision, and whatever you decide I sincerely hope you do not immediately judge someone else who has made a different decision than yourself. Animal keeping is not an exact science and there are multiple right AND wrong ways to go about things. It is a wish of mine in this hobby is that we aren’t too quick to judge each other, and we try to look at each aspect of cornsnake keeping with open minds, this way we will be able to move forward as we gather more collective knowledge.
When can I breed my Cornsnake?
This question is sometimes a very difficult one that can have heated arguments on more than one matter… The general “rule of thumb” is often called the 3-3-3 rule. It states that your snakes should be at LEAST one or more of the following – 3 feet, 3 years, 300 grams. Once you are more experienced and know your animals well and can assess body condition better, you may want to consider breeding some of your more robust younger females. I am personally more comfortable at this point to stick with the 3-3-3 rule and at this time will always recommend it above all else.
The problem lies in the fact that breeding your snake will ALWAYS be more dangerous than NOT breeding your snake. You must know that you may be risking your animals health by breeding them, therefore you should always do it only for reasons you believe are truly worthy. Some things you can do to ensure better chances at a healthier clutch from your female would be to make sure your female is well excercised and as muscular as possible. You can have them climb staircases, handle them regularly letting them crawl from one hand to the other, swim them in a tub of 80 degree water, or give them a larger tub or cage with climbing opportunites.
For males you can try to breed them much smaller. It is not uncommon for people to breed and have great success with 2 year olds. There is much less of a risk in breeding a young or small male snake, here the risk lies in whether he is fertile or not. Things you can do to ensure better chances at a healthier clutch from your female would be to make sure your female is well excercised and as muscular as possible. You can have them climb staircases, handle them regularly letting them crawl from one hand to the other, swim them in a tub of 80 degree water, give them a larger tub or cage with climbing opportunites.
Should I feed live or thawed mice? What about a “feeding tub” What size mice should I feed?
There are pros and cons with choosing which method to feed your cornsnake. There is another method not mentioned above called “fresh killed”. I would like to discuss each method.
Thawed mice should be THOUROUGHLY thawed no matter what, when you feed them to your animal. I soak mine in HOT water until I’m sure they’re well thawed, then they get set out on a paper towel for a time, it may be a few seconds or even a number of minutes. I do this so they are a bit drier when fed to the animal. Particularly if snakes are on shavings, the drier the better when you actually feed thus less shavings may cling to your food item.
Often before feeding I will take a pair of very sharp scissors and nick the skin of the mouse making slight cuts or slash marks in three or four spots along their back. This allows for the snakes digestive juices to get working on the mouse faster and allows less chance for an unwanted regurgitation. There have been studies that show snakes fed with the “slitting” method often grow much quicker and seem to get more nutrition out of their food. A word of caution though, this method is still being used on a “trial” basis. There has been some indication that if fed with this method their entire life, adult snakes can have more fat deposits throughout their bodies. It is a possibility that more fat deposits can decrease the animals overall health, thus cause lower fertility or production and more frightening a shorter lifespan.
Benefits to feeding frozen thawed mice are many:
1. Lower risks of parasites. When the mouse has been frozen it is less likely that you will ever have problems of unwanted parasites in your snake.
2. Convenience. You can buy frozen mice in large amounts at one time, storing them in your home freezer. Less trips to the pet shops!
3. Cost. When buying frozen thawed, particularly through mail order or internet your costs will be significantly reduced. Sometimes 200% or MORE!
4. No risk of injury. A frozen thawed mouse cannot fight back or defend itself. Your snake could easily lose an eye or get another very serious wound from a live mouse.
5. Humane. Reputable sources for frozen thawed mice kill their animals in a humane manner. At this time the most humane method agreed upon is Carbon Dioxide gas. The mice are placed into a sealed container or tub and carbon dioxide is slowly introduced. If done well this method seems to be quick and causes little distress. I have witnessed animals BREEDING as they were being killed.
I personally do not practice live feeding at this time. However I understand when there are some who feel it is the right choice for them. Some of the perceived benefits may be as follows:
1. Muscle tone. It is believed that the intense springing action that in some cases is elicited in live feeding can greatly increase the muscle tone in your animal. Let it be noted that OFTEN you can achieve this same strike action by using hemostats or tongs to “puppet” the frozen thawed mice about the feeding tub to emulate a live animal.
2. Mental health. In this hobby, as with any other involving animals, people sometimes take comfort in trying to anthropomorphize animals, trying to give credit for “emotions” that may or may not be present in our pets. No one knows for sure if a cornsnake does indeed have mental health or status when it comes to the need to hunt, but I understand that SOME people do indeed feel this may be factor. I cannot disprove it nor can I prove that they have no innate need to hunt. I can say that from many previous experiments in snakes habits and reactions and biology, I do not agree with this above reasoning.
3. Fresh factor. A live mouse has live bacteria and fresh food in their gut. Is it possible some of the same bacteria can survive and thrive in our corns? I do not have any facts or info. regarding this reasoning…
4. Ease. For some people they seem to have difficulty finding frozen mice. At times they cannot find the right size, or they may not have a credit card or funds to make a large online purchase
Fresh killed is defined as a mouse that is killed humanely then immediately fed to the snake. This method also has some benefits:
1. Fresh factor. See above
2. Ease. See above
3. Enhanced feeding response. Many snakes who may not eat frozen thawed no matter how it is presented, will take a fresh killed mouse with great fervor. This is an excellent method to bring these snakes to a healthy status to try to introduce frozen thawed at a later date.
Feeding Tubs
What about a feeding tub? A feeding tub is a container or cage that is used only for feeding. It is usually a fairly small size and bare bottomed, as the snakes sole purpose of being in the container is to eat, NOT exercise, hide, drink, thermoregulate etc. It is theorized that if you never feed the snake in its vivarium or home, it will be less likely to strike the keeper due to a strong feeding response.
Initially I fed exclusively with this method and had great results, now due to the time constraints as well as large number of animals I am feeding, it is just not a feasible practice. There are arguments that this method may not work or even be valid at this time, and I do tend to have a great number of animals that never seem to try to bite me when I reach in to handle, but if you have the time and ability to practice this method, I see no harm, rather the POSSIBILITY that some good may come of it.
Alternatively, there are other “snake training” methods based along this theory that also seem to work quite well. One such method is to always hook the snake or nudge it with a familiar item <I knew someone who used a small aquarium net> before handling. If it is done religiously the snake MAY figure out that there is never food after this response. Try it and see if it works for you!
Prey Sizing
Now the topic of size of prey. The rule of thumb on this one is to feed a prey item that is approximately the same girth of the animal at its thickest or slightly larger. Remember that frozen animals always tend to “shrink” a bit once thawed. If you feed the correct size item, initially you will see a small but defined “lump” of the prey item in the snakes stomach. If that lump looks completely gone the next day you may want to slightly bump up the size of your prey. Continue this step once weekly until you finally have a lump still slightly noticeable on day two.
On the internet, particularly on the website - www.cornsnakes.com a forum moderator has authored a “feeding plan” that seems to be particularly straight forward and easy to follow. This plan uses the weight of your snake in comparison to the weight of the prey items you may find. It is called – The Munson Plan. Many people find it extremely helpful and a very easy method to follow.
-When they're on single pinks (2-3g), I feed every 5-6 days. (Snake =
4-15g)
-Double pinks (3g x 2) every 5-6 days. (Snake = 16-23g)
-Small fuzzies (5-7g) every 6-7 days. (Snake = 24-30g)
-Regular fuzzies (7-9g) every 6-7 days (Snake = 30-50g)
-Hoppers (9-12g) every 6-7 days (Snake = 51-90g)
-Weaned (14-20g) every 7 days (Snake = 91-170g)
-Adult (20-30g) every 7-x days (Snake = 170+) See below.
Note: Adult females are fed more frequently than adult males (especially
following brumation). Adult females are fed every 7-12 days; adult males
are fed every 11-14 days.
This is by no means scientific, and not all corns will cooperate 100%
with the schedule. The weight ranges I gave for the prey and snakes are
approximate.