I have wanted a red albino corn snake for a while now, and my wife wont let me have a snake (yet hehe), but I wanted to pick up as much info as I could on them to try to convince her. I have a 30 gallon wide tank, and I was wondering what was best to use for a substrate and for lights and or heating, and if tyhey really DO like climbing like Ive read I can build my tank up a couple feet or so. and I was also wondering whats the best thing to feed them at what age. I know they will eat mice once or twice a week, but how big of mice for how big of a snake? I know the snakes at the petstore are pretty small, so could they even eat pinkies?

30 gallon is a large enclosure for a small snake, but as long as you fill up enough of the space with hides the snake should feel comfortable. They like to feel something on all sides of them to feel safe due to their poor eyesight. There are many hides, caves, and such things to buy for this, or you could make your own simple structures which are just as sufficient (small boxes, plastic containers, flower pots, etc. as long as they are clean).

I would recommend some sort of aspen for substrate, they are cheap, clean, pretty available, and a lot of corns like to burrow which aspen allows. Lights are not necessary for snakes as they are more active when the sun goes down. However they will not do harm if you would like to use a light for better visibility (just be sure to turn it off at night). Most keepers prefer Under Tank Heaters as the heat source. You should be able to find a good one at your pet store. To give the snake options as far has their temperature, make sure the UTH only takes up about 1/3 of the bottom surface. I would recommend a thermostat to control the temp and a thermometer to monitor it.

Corns sometimes enjoy climbing; however they would be fine without it. If you would like, you can just buy a clean log or branch to put in there. Keep it somewhat low though, or the snake might try to escape.

A snake can successfully eat a mouse 1.5 times the width of the snake (towards the middle of it's body). No bigger, or you are risking getting the mouse back.

Good luck convincing.

if i'm thinking right isin't a red albino also a reverse okeetee?

you'd be suprised at what they can eat. and you daid the snakes at the petstore...don't ever buy from a petstore always go with a breeder or website. cornutopia is without a doubt the best site for corns. as far as convincing goes carolinacornsnakes.com has a good page. also check out the care sheets on this site


good luck

first off...Welcome to the forms^^ best substrate(or most popular on here^^) is apparentally aspen, but I disagree. I use coconut husks...they're soft, absorb 90% of a snakes waste, keeps the tank cleaner longer, and it wont hurt them. The only disadvantage to it is when you first open the bag and pore it in the tank it has a lot of dust...but after opening the bag the dust goes away...and it doesn't seem to bother my baby corn snake^^.DO NOT USE CEADER BASED SUBSTRATE. Your snake will get very ill from the fumes. Heating and lighting is easy...just stay away from heat rocks...they are NOT SAFE. best method for heating is a UTH (Under Tank Heater) on a dimmer. Of course if you don't pay for your heating( ours is included in our rent^^) you can keep your snake tank at room temp. Just keep the temps between 80-85F. Any lower than 77F and your snake wont be able to properly digest his food. Always keep a dish of clean, non-clorinated water in his tank at all times. Make sure that the dish is big enough for the snake to fit his whole body in (yes they will sit in there water dishes...but doing so too much could mean not enough humidity or too high of temperatures...so make sure it's not speding all of its time in there^^)...snakes need a constant water supply. The best way to take out the clorine is simple: Take a pitcher and fill it with tap water and let it sit uncovered on a counter for three days...this should evaporate the clorine and leave you with safe clean water for your baby^^ the climbing thing depends on the snake, and not the species, I mean the snake you personaly get...they will suprise you^^. The best thing to feed them is de-thawed pinkies. Most pet stores feed them pinkies as babies...that's what mine eats and I posted it here. Don't feed them fish, amphibians of any kind, and try to stay away from insects....most stores gut load there feeder insects and i'm not sure if it's safe for snakes^^; I never tried it. The best way to make sure your snake doesn't reguritate it's meal is to give it food that is at most twice the wideth and length of the snakes head...this prevents choking issues and possible internal injuries. Also, after feeding your snake do NOT handle it for a day at least, or else it will reguritate it's food, and having that happen too often can build up toxins in the snakes stomache that can lead to death. Make sure that the snake has at least two hides...but more is always better. Mine has about four and not including his substrate. More hides in the tank reduce stress, giving you a happier snake. Another thing, when you DO decide to get a snake, DO NOT HANDLE IT IMMEDIATELY. Give the snake at least four days to adapt to it's new enviornment. After those four days however, make sure that only you and your wife handle him for the first few months...this way the snake gets accustomed to you both. Handle the snake for a few minutes everyday, so that it gets used to being handled and will be friendlier too. The temperature can drop to about 77F at night in the tank without problems...and they don't really need light because they are primalrily nocternal, but if you want light for viewing purposes u can use a red light. It wont bother their day/night cycle at all. I think that's all^^ Hope this all helps you convince your wife^^ Snakes can be wonderful long living pets and companions if cared for properly. Keep us posted!!

Yes a reverse okeetee is a red albino, but not ever red albino is a rev okeetee. I have a rev okie, a albino mot..... actually all my cornys have red or ruby eyes.
oh i also suggest that you buy Kathy Love's Corn snake manual. corns are really easy to care for. Mine never skip a meal, even during shed Good luck

Cornsnakes do NOT eat insects, so do not even TRY to feed your corn crickets or anything of the sort. In fact, you'd be better off attempting to feed it a frog over a cricket. That being said, stick to mice.




Not true. I know for certain that many of the adult mice I feed my snakes are more than twice the width of the head. The recommended feeding size would be no more than 1.5x the width of the snake at it's widest point---it has nothing to do with the size of the snake's head. And I've yet to see a snake 'choke' on a mouse. To make that happen, you'd need to attempt to feed a hatchling an adult mouse---or something ridiculous like that.




Actually, when a snake regurgitates it throws up beneficial bacteria that lives in it's stomach and helps the snake digest. This is why it's recommended to wait 10-14 days between a regurge and the next feeding---as well as supplementing with a probiotic such as Nutribac. It allows the snake to build up more beneficial bacteria in it's gut. Multiple regurges have nothing to do with toxins in the snake's stomach.


Like Conny said---every reverse okeetee is an amelanistic, but every amelanistic is NOT a reverse okeetee.

And I'd definitely suggest the Cornsnake Manual as well. You can get it from her website: www.cornutopia.com

A 30 wide is perfect---you won't need to upgrade tank size at all for your snake. If you are going to be getting a hatchling, I'd suggest starting off with newspaper or paper towels for a substrate so you can feed inside the cage and monitor the snake more closely. As the snake gets a bit bigger and has multiple feeds without any problems, you can add a shaved substrate such as aspen. That's my personal favorite, and I've tried just about everything else out there.

As far as heating, go to a local petstore (Petco, Petsmart, Petland, etc) and pick up a heating pad suited to your size tank. Please buy a thermostat or rheostat to accompany that heater. Zoo-Med makes a reasonably priced thermostat that you can get for about $40. Thermostats are a much better option than a rheostat.

And yes, even a tiny hatchling can eat a newborn pinky. In fact, 95% of snake owners vastly underestimate what their snake can handle as far as food item size goes.

My boyfriend bought my Cornsnake from the petstore.. I got him as a christmas present. Why is it bad to get them from the petstore?

i'm not saying that all petstores are bad but the majority don't know how to take care of them and NEVER buy a reptile from petco or petsmart

I bought my water dragon from petsmart and he is doing great. the thing is that there are no serious snake breeders in my area so petstore is my best bet as I do not like the idea of shipping animals in the mail.

My boyfriend bought me mine from our local petstore. The only one I would NEVER buy a pet from is SCAMPS.

so I convinced my wife to let me get one, we went and looked at them and there is one baby okeetee, no longer than 8 inches long. would a 30 gallon be TOO big for him or would he still be okay? is it normal for corns to bite or are they general pretty affectionate? I know I should leave him for 4 days after I bring him home, but after that when and how long should I handle him? I know they are less active during the day so is it a better idea to handle in the evening? sorry for all the questions I just want to make sure Im doing everything right before I get it, as with all my other reptiles

For such a little fella I would either partition the 30 gallon off to at least 1/2 it's size or just bite the bullet and start him off in a 10 gallon. Even with a ton of hides a 30 gallon is huge for such a little snake, he may not feel comfortable enough to go from warm to cool. Make sure, no matter what you do, that there are NO spaces along the top of the tank, at that size he could get out of the tiniest of holes.
Let him settle in for a week, feed him once, leave him for a few more days then handle him gently. Corns, in general, are very docile snakes but any baby that feels threatened will strike...good thing it won't hurt

thanks for the input, I might just have to partition it for a while until he gets bigger. how fast do they usualy grow? my water dragon is growing an inch a week now, is that about the same for corns?

I wonder if I have Asher in too large of one then.. its a 30gallon I believe... I just started him on Fuzzies I'm hoping that'll help give an idea to his size. He's about 1-2ft long.. He moves around too much or I'd have an exact measure. He hasn't seemed to have any problems in his tank. He's bitten me only about twice and he was hungry both times. (I still wasn't sure about when to feed him at that time) That was a few months ago though. I'm just not sure if he's in too big of one now..

no they don't grow nearly that fast. as far as biting, it depends more on the individual snake but in general they are not a nippy species

Herp kid is right.They really dont grow that fast.Biting really depends on the snake. My albino mot. never does and i can handfeed her, while my lavender is a agressive little monster, that always tries to strike at me.

Calas wrote:
And yes, even a tiny hatchling can eat a newborn pinky. In fact, 95% of snake owners vastly underestimate what their snake can handle as far as food item size goes.
So true. I have the 8 gram corn and it will eat a two day pinky.
I got a 06 corn home that was fed a pinky a week-it was way to tiny at 15g. She was able to eat peach fuzzies and now weighs 30g and will eat a slender fuzzy.
Kara you might be right that the tank is to big. He might be nervous and thats why he bit you. I have that size in a a sweaterbox. I guess the gneral rule is a tank 2/3 the length of the snake.

Ok. Thank you I'll try adding a bit of a barrier to it. He does seem a bit skitish too sometimes. I'll just seperate the tank and only use one side for now and as he gets older I can increase the size...

Also with biting, many corns give you a heads up by shaking their tail similar to a rattlesnake. Mine has yet to bite, but I'm sure it helps that I can tell when he's not in the mood to be handled.

what do you guys think of housing 2 together? I looked at an add for another pet place and they are selling 2 for $100 ($60 cheaper than buying one at the local petstore). They are babies so if they are always together would they be okay? building them a bigger enclosure in the future is not a big deal at all if I have to, what do you guys think?

cohabitatio is a BIG nono. Not only does it stress both snakes out tremendously(even if you visibly see them being stressed they are. but you could end with a male female pair and the male would force the female to breed when she was to young then she could become eggbound and die, another worry is cannibalisim...its not that common in corns but i have seen a pic of a sunglow corn hatchling that had eaten its sibling on the way home from where the person who owned it bought it from...the hatchling died after regurging its sibling. Alot of people do cohab without problem but its better to be safe then sorry. So do not cohab not a good idea. Snales are not dogs or any other creature that likes or enjoys the company of another creature...they are solitary..they only come together to breeed then they seperate again...when pet stores or other people cohab..you'll find the snake either coiled up beside or on top of each other...and its not because their buddies and they like each other its because they have to compete for warm spots and cool spots and for the best hiding places...also if one is sick it could and would pass it to the other..and if one regurges how do you know which one it was?..you wouldn't and it'd cause more problem. Say no to cohabing!!

Most pet stores(Petco, Petsmart, Petland, etc.) don't know squat about housing snakes properly...they just do what works till someone comes and buys the animal.




regards,
Dreamer

I split my corn's tank yesterday and he really seems to like being in a smaller sized area. Thanks for the heads up guys he really seems to be a lot calmer!

What did you use to seperate the aquarium? What kind of heating device are you using? I'm curious as mine is also in a 10 gallon with lots of hides and is acting skittish.

umm actually to be honest I used a piece of cardboard.. it's the only thing I have handy at the moment and it's working well enough. I'm using a heating pad at night and a heat lamp during the day. Though I've never had a snake before him so I might be doing it wrong. I would also try handling yours more. I try to handle Asher at least once a day for about 10 minutes at the least. Though I know what you mean by being skitish. I had heard that they like to climb but now I'm not so sure.. I'm thinking they like to hide a little more..

thanks for the head up guys. I only have one tank rght now, so I will just buy one for the moment until I get another tank.

psychokara3-Ah! That's what I was thinking about using, oddly enough. Mine is just getting grumpy when I have to find her to feed her. She's fine when I hold her and all. Just doesn't like the initial shock of being found, I guess. I catch mine climbing on occasion. She's almost always wrapped up in her ivy. She does hide a lot, though. Right now, I can only see her tail hanging out of the ivy. Kinda cute, really. This morning, she peeked around the ivy, saw me, and sloooowly went back behind the ivy. Hehehe...Good luck with your new baby:)

Yeah.. maybe I should get him some Ivy... Fake or real? Where would you recomend getting it from?

Mine is fake. The upkeep is easier. I got mine from Petsmart. Got 6 ft for something like $7. I would recommend checking out your local Wal-mart or craft store for it, though. It's cheaper. Here's what my Ribbon snake's enclosure looks like, to give you some ideas of what you can do...



My snakes especially seem to like large leaved plants. More shade and hiding places, I guess:)