I lost a snake...

[Dux]

Nice looking snake.

[Skywalker]

Originally Posted by Dux

Nice looking snake.

Ewwwwww!!!

[sikk50]

My buddy lost a corn snake he had had for 2 years. Three months later while taking wood off the pile of fire wood in his backyard he found his corn snake.

It'll show one day probaly, I don't think they move too much

My thoughts on this, as I've had it happen to me. Crickets as bait will not work, as they are not a natural food for corn snakes. At least I've never heard of one eating them.
Corns are escape artists. My cats helped break mine out once when I was in college. It took a few days, but they turned up. Look in warm places (water heater, furnace area, under the fridge, under the oven, around heating resisters) and keep your eyes open. You never know when you'll see part of them.

Having a food item as bait isn't a bad idea. Do you feed live or prekilled? If it is prekilled, it may be easier. Put the prey item in a container that has a small hole in it, just big enough for the snake to get into. Assuming it is hungry and will eat the prey item, if the hole is the right size, it will not be able to get out after it eats the food left for it.

And corn snakes are actually diurnal, not nocturnal. Just an fyi there.

here's a couple pics of mine:

[earnold25]

Wanger has good advice. When i found my kingsnake after his escape, he was under the hot water heater (two floors below where his cage was.)

[smokeyandthebandit05]

So I had the snake out today and was letting it slither around in my hands. It pooped on me so I put it back in the tank and when I cane back I saw him crawling along the lip inside the tank between the top and tank. They are escape artists! Good thing I have heavy stuff ontop

[icehog3]

Originally Posted by smokeyandthebandit05

So I had the snake out today and was letting it slither around in my hands. It pooped on me so I put it back in the tank and when I cane back I saw him crawling along the lip inside the tank between the top and tank. They are escape artists! Good thing I have heavy stuff ontop

Hope it's heavier than your thermometer, Rich.

[smokeyandthebandit05]

Oh I sure do. I have a very heavy book, good size ceramic bowl, stack of 200 blank cd's and some other things. Probably weighs 15lbs

[earnold25]

you should probably invest in one of those locking lids they sell. what size tank do you have it in?

Look for a better sealing cage, honestly. I have all my snakes currently in Oceanic Lizard Lounges. They are a bit pricy, but worth it (to me).

A couple examples:






I know there are other cages that you can get that seal pretty well, but for small snakes the screen tops on Critter Cages and the top that you can buy separately are too easy for them to escape from.

[smokeyandthebandit05]

Yeah I know I need a better lid. Its all I had lying around. The only bad thing is that my local pet store isnt that great in the way of lids. They just have the regular screen tops. I guess I'll have to look around online? Any sites I should look at?

I'd suggest going to a good local pet store and look on craigslist or somewhere else online for something good. It all depends on how much you want to spend on a good cage, though.

[Rabidsquirrel]

www.thatpetplace.com

I've been to their B&M store, and it's amazing. Everything and anything you can think of.

[tsolomon]

Corn snakes are nocturnal do not need a basking light like other reptiles who need the UV light for the D3 and calcium uptake. My preferred caging method was sweater boxes mounted in a rack system where the top of the shelf was tight enough to make sure they couldn't escape. I would use heat mats on the back 1/3 of the shelf for heat. They need a cooler spot to move to, so flourescents lights are better than heat lamps which can overheat the whole cage.

Originally Posted by tsolomon

Corn snakes are nocturnal do not need a basking light like other reptiles who need the UV light for the D3 and calcium uptake. My preferred caging method was sweater boxes mounted in a rack system where the top of the shelf was tight enough to make sure they couldn't escape. I would use heat mats on the back 1/3 of the shelf for heat. They need a cooler spot to move to, so flourescents lights are better than heat lamps which can overheat the whole cage.

yeh most snakes dont need a uv light

Originally Posted by tsolomon

My preferred caging method was sweater boxes mounted in a rack system where the top of the shelf was tight enough to make sure they couldn't escape. I would use heat mats on the back 1/3 of the shelf for heat. They need a cooler spot to move to, so flourescents lights are better than heat lamps which can overheat the whole cage.

That works for a breeding population, but if you're looking to display an animal, it won't help all that much, honestly, which is what it sounds like he wants to do.

Snakes get their calcium from the prey items they ingest (rodents, etc), unlike most lizards (the insect and veggie eaters), so the lighting isn't critical. Fluorescents can be great for being able to bring out some colors, especially with something like a brazilian rainbow boa (my dream snake). If the cage is large enough, a heat lamp/spot bulb is fine, and gives a more natural feel to the heating spot. Though I will say that I use undertank heaters for my corns and Dumeril's. They need those heated places to aid in digestion.

Originally Posted by Blueface

I am not up on snakes so was interested in seeing what a "corn" snake is.
Good looking creature.

...and they're native to Florida. The premier corn snake breeder is still there, if I'm not mistaken. Bill and Kathy Love wrote the book on corns.

[smokeyandthebandit05]

I have a question about feeding. When I buy pinkies Im assuming they are just mice right? I know a guy whos daughter has gerbils and they are reproducing like crazy and Im curious if I can feed the baby gerbils to the snake?

Originally Posted by smokeyandthebandit05

I have a question about feeding. When I buy pinkies Im assuming they are just mice right? I know a guy whos daughter has gerbils and they are reproducing like crazy and Im curious if I can feed the baby gerbils to the snake?

The problem with feeding it gerbil pinkies is that they can associate the smell of gerbils and not mice with food, and refuse to eat mice, in which case, scenting would be needed to get it to eat mice again. That being said, in general, corns are not considered to be picky eaters, but unless you have a constant supply of gerbils, I'd recommend against it, just in case.

[tsolomon]

Originally Posted by Wanger

That works for a breeding population, but if you're looking to display an animal, it won't help all that much, honestly, which is what it sounds like he wants to do.
...and they're native to Florida. The premier corn snake breeder is still there, if I'm not mistaken. Bill and Kathy Love wrote the book on corns.

Just about all of my corns came from Bill and Kathy and they did write the book on corns, but that was many years ago. At that time, I was breeding and raising Bearded Dragons and Old World chameleons, but my daughter wanted a snake to cuddle with and corns were good starter snakes. As for housing them, I guess with all the cages and aquariums already around the house, there just wasn't any room left to display the corns. I not only had the reptiles, but all the crickets, superworms and flies to feed them, I was a bug farmer as well.

Originally Posted by tsolomon

Just about all of my corns came from Bill and Kathy and they did write the book on corns, but that was many years ago. At that time, I was breeding and raising Bearded Dragons and Old World chameleons, but my daughter wanted a snake to cuddle with and corns were good starter snakes. As for housing them, I guess with all the cages and aquariums already around the house, there just wasn't any room left to display the corns. I not only had the reptiles, but all the crickets, superworms and flies to feed them, I was a bug farmer as well.

Awesome. I used to have Leopard Geckos and a couple Veileds. Had an opportunity several years ago to get a beautiful Panther (didn't know the locality) for $100, but didn't pull the trigger, and I'm still kicking myself about that one.

As of right now, all I have are a pair of corns, a Dumeril's ground (from the Bean Farm, who are friends of mine), and a Green Tree Python (from Signal Herp). Check this out for a few pics of some of the things I have/had and such.