corn snake care questions?

Question

i am the proud owner of a juvinille corn snake. He is about 2-3 months old and a great pet. My only concern is he is hanging out all folded up next to his water dish almost all the time. when i first got him (a week ago) he was hiding under a little cave i bought for him because i know they like to hide. The temp on the warm side is about 80 degrees thanks to a reptile bulb located on the outside of his tank and a small heating pad on the underside. why would he opt for a more exposed area next to the water dish? He will hang out there even if i turn the bulb off to cool the warm side as well, so i can't imagine he's too hot. he lives in a 2.5 gallon tank with a fine, crushed walnut shell reptile bedding substrate. i have not yet fed him, but am planning to this week. the store guy said he was eating baby pinkies well. i'm just worried about him. any advice from some snake owners would be great!

Answer 1

Dont sweat it.. I have two corns and both of them burrow under the water dish constantly. They never go into their heated hides but they are healthy and eat well. For more info, check out anapsid.org .. Melissa Kaplain is awesome.

Answer 2

The size of your tank is way too small. It is probably over-heating and the snake is trying to get to the coolest spot he can find. Get a 10 gallon tank (or a 20 as that is the size you will need eventually for an adult) and place an under tank heater (UTH) under one side. Use 2 inches of aspen for bedding instead of the walnut shell--walnut shell has too much risk of causing intestinal impaction if accidentally swallowed. Have a hiding cave on the warm side and a hiding cave on the cool side. A water bowl large enough to soak in. Other fake trees or cage furniture is fine. I plug my UTH into a dimmer switch, but you can also get a thermostat. Get a digital probe thermomete and place the probe on the bottom of the cage against the glass floor over the UTH side. The temp should be 85F. The snake will burrow down to warm up if needed. Many babies tend to hang out in the cool end or up in the branches of a "tree". Normal. Please visit the corn snake forum page to read tons of care info and ask questions of the many experts there!

http://cornsnakes.com/forums/

Answer 3

first you need to get a bigger home for the fella. at min a 10 gal. for a baby. is your hide on the heated side or the cold? try a hide on both sides.usually they soak in the water bowl if dehydrated. so i wouldn't too worried about that. do a little research on the care sheets. you should be able to remedy your situation. find out when the last time he/she has ate. if he/she goes over two weeks without, then take to a vet. get a fecal test done and go from there. as babies they should eat a pinkie a week. good luck with him/her. corns are some awesome snakes.

Answer 4

look at this website's care sheet. it great. i have a baby corn snake they are the easiest and most docile pet snakes. They grow 4 to 6 feet long, and when babies only need feeding 3 mice a week, (all on the same day). They do not bite, unless they feel threatened and loved to be handled. they live from 15 to 30 years.

Answer 5

Cornsnakes dont require l;ots of heat, they are a cooler climate snake even though they live through out the south eastern U .S even down in Florida, but they do better around 77 degrees and even a little cooler at night 75. But it will hide wherever it feels comfortable. But make sure you take it off the loose bedding while feeding, if it swallows any bedding with its meal it could be deadly. I keep all my snakes on newspaper, its cheaper and you dont have to worry about them swallowing it.

Answer 6

um yea first its ok he's acting like a corn snake the chill all the time and 80 might b a tad bit to hot maby around 70 or 75 is about right and a 20 gallon is more then enough if your thinking about the future cause they get about 5 feet so if you want to make your money last i suggest a 20 gallon LONG cause cor snake aren't really climbing snakes