Hello everyone. Some of you may remember me from coming on here a while ago. I have two leos, and reccently have been thinking of adding a corn snake to my herp collection.

I've begun doing some readings on them, and have a few questions because I haven't seen anything posted about these issues. So if you could please just answer my questions, that'd be great.

Are corn snakes solitary, or could/should they be housed together with how corns?

As for feeding, generally how much does a pinkie, and other foods cost? Could their food be stored for a while (in the feezer), or does one have to buy a pinkie and feed it to their snake right away?

Do these guys hibernate or go through any type of dorment state?

Any suggestiongs on good breeders (that can be reached through the internet) and other care sheets?

Thanks.

Myth

Well, first of all, nice choice on Corns. :wink:

All snakes are solitary, and should only meet when breeding. If they are together, they will compete for warm/cool spots, and become very stressed. It also makes it very difficult to keep track of, let's say, who regurgitates. Or who sheds.

The price of pinkies vary greatly. You can get them in bulk from www.rodentpro.com , for 0.17 cents each. But if you want smaller quantities, like me, you might have to come to buying from a pet store, where they sell for $1.29!!!! But it can be cheaper then other reptiles because of their slow digestive system, and metabolism, resulting in the need to eat every 8 to 10 days as an adult. Every 4 or 5 days is good for a hatchling.

If you are going to feed f/t (frozen / thawed), then you can store them next to your favorite flavor of ice-cream, for quite a while. If you feed live, you are going to have to feed soon.

No, they do not hibernate. Although in some cases they do go off food in the winter months.

As far as breeders go, here are a few I like...

www.cornsnakes.net

www.moreptiles.com

www.cornutopia.com

lol welcome to the snake side....

Alec pretty much said it all, I'll add my own slightly repetitive bit

1) Definitely solitary, they could even eat each other. Of course breeding is a different story, but even that is very limited/controlled. A lot of pet stores have them grouped together in tanks, but a lot of pet stores are clueless as we all know....

2) At PetCo I get them about 1.29 like Alec said. I usually buy 2 months worth at a time, so I don't have to go back too often, but realize young snakes can grow quick sometimes, so you might end up changing sizes before you know it.

3) I've heard corn snakes may go dormant during winter months, not eating for a couple months with slightly lower temps. I don't know of many people who do this, but supposedly since this can occur in nature, it's possible. Not worth attempting. (a side question --- isn't something similar done when breeding?)

4) word on the www.cornutopia.com

Ok thanks!

They seem like a very cool animal and I love handling snakes, I just hope my mom would let me get one...

lol

I already know al about pet stores and "their infinite wisdom" don't worry. Everytime I walk into one that has poor conditions (which is 99/100 pet stores) I wanna kill someone... lol

Just one more question, substrate. I've heard that no loose substrates are good for them, but I've also read on here that some are... What's the truth? If you can use some kind of loose substrate, could you just have a bin or something of it for the snake to dig in if it wishes to, and everything else in the cage a solid for easy clean ups?

Thanks.

Well, you can use paper towels, old newspaper, aspen bedding, but make sure not to use cedar or pine ( dangerous to the health of your snake. ) That's all the substrates I could think of.

I've never thought of something like that. I wonder if it would work.

I don't have a corn yet, but I will soon, and I was checking out the prices for mice. At petco, their mice ( f/T ) are 10.99 for six. Is that a lot?

11 bucks for 6 pinkies?? That's quite a lot.

It seems the most commonly used substrate on the RR is Aspen. I use it. Never had any problems. Doesn't smell, dust free, easy to spot clean, and cheap. Don't use anything containing pine, cedar, or fir. Their bark is toxic to snakes. If you want something VERY cheap, but not as eye appealing, go for newspaper. It's really up to you, though.

Well, what I was thinking of is using ceramic tile, and reptile carpet as a main substrate. And then, placing a bin in the enclosure with a hole (or open lid) so the snake many climb in and out freely. In this bin I would have the loose substrate (aspen).

Could you shed the newspaper and use that a loose substrate?

Thanks for the ideas.

That's a good idea—like a little litterbox. I have something like that for my corn, only the rest of her viv is full of aspen too, heh. I replace the aspen inside her hidey-hole with moist sphagnum moss when she's in her shed phase, then take it out again when she's through. ...But I digress.

Shredded paper might work okay. It may be a little time consuming unless you have a paper shredder, though. And I don't know how well it would absorb things... never tried it, so I can't say for sure!

yes, I do have a paper shedder, which my parents are constatly jamming up, I was just thinking it could be something for a snake to burrow in for fun and it'd be cheap and easy to replace.

The shredded paper idea seems good... I would try it if I were you! Of course, if it doesn't work out, you could always switch to something else.

Is it really?

ooooo im relly thinking about getting a corn i heard they are the most tolerante at handling plus i have a extra 10 and 20 tank available but does a young corn HVE to start in a 10 or should i just put it in a 20 ?


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1 leopar gecko 1 bearded dragon

You can start it in a rubbermaid/sterilite sweaterbox. and yes 10,99$ is expensive. I pay anywhere from .69$ and 1$ for a pinkie to a large mouse. You could go to a reptile show and pick up frozen mice there.

Cornsnakes are ABSOLUTELY solitary. Do not house them together.

There are a variety of websites that sell frozen mice ranging from $.17 to around $.60 for adults (cheaper for pinkies).

I personally will NEVER buy anything from Rodent Pro ever again, and I strictly use The Mouse Factory, but others are out there.

www.themousefactory.com
www.bigcheeserodents.com

You can also check local reptile shows, as most have frozen mouse vendors there. If not, try a local reptile store/pet store---they're usually a bit cheaper than buying from Petco. And yes, $11 for 6 pinkies is ABSURD. I can get a bag of 50 pinkies from The Mouse Factory for less than $11.

Cornsnake DO brumate in the winter if you allow them to. Brumation is not the same as hibernation. In fact, 99% of breeders (myself included) brumate their adults in late fall through early spring at reduced temps (low 50's) to 'reset' their clocks. They get warmed back up in early spring and know that it's time to start producing eggs and all that good stuff. Brumation for just a single snake that you don't intend to breed isn't necessary, but you could certainly do it if you so choose.

As far as breeders, the top three in country are:

Kathy Love (www.cornutopia.com)
Don Soderberg (www.cornsnake.net)
Rich Zuchowski (www.serpenco.com)

You cannot go wrong with ANY of them. There are MANY smaller breeders out there (myself included) that produce some spectacular hatchlings and actually sell them for less then those 3 do. Smaller breeders don't have the name recognition so unfortunately nobody is going to pay $100 for a bloodred from Joe Schmo when they can get it from South Mountain Reptiles for $100 as well. Also, you'll find that smaller breeders tend to have better detailed records that come with snakes.

Btw, you might also consider a yearling for your first corn purchase. Those are a bit hardier and have some decent size to them, and are less prone to 'mistakes' made my new owners.

Kathy and Don have caresheets available on their websites, and there are MANY available online as well.

Just some general guidelines...

You'll need some form of heat, preferably an under the tank heater with either a thermostat or rheostat and a digital probe thermometer to measure the temps in the tank. You want your hot end to range from 82-85 and your low end to be in the mid 70's. Temp drops to 70 will not harm the snake at all.

You obviously need a water bowl that's large enough for the snake to soak in. You'll also need at least ONE hide. I personally use the plastic terra cotta saucers that go under the pots---but you can spend quite a lot of money on fancy hides. Anything works, as long as the snake has a place it can crawl under to feel secure. Two hides is ideal, but not a necessity.

I would caution you against using reptile carpet. The stuff is horrible as a substrate for snakes and it's a bacterial harboring cesspool. It is very difficult to clean, and you cannot 'spot' clean reptile carpet. Stick with aspen.

Hatchlings need to eat about every 5 days, with meal frequency decreasing as the snake gets bigger. Adult females that are breeding need to eat every 7 days, adult males can go 10-14.

Hope that helps.

Depends on the pet store you go to I suppose for rodents. I buy pinkies at my local pet store for about 60 cents a piece then freeze them myself so I don't have to keep running back to the pet store, but also don't have to pay ridiculous prices for a small quantity that you do online.

I agree with CalasCorns, I buy all my frozen feeders from www.themousefactory.com great service and feeders. Good luck to all that are looking to get a corn.