Corn snake *tank upgrade plans 4/23/15*

[CallaLily]

There was a couple small bits of shed on the log hide. How can you tell? My husband held her for a bit while I cleaned out the tank (the guy changed the bedding but the glass was gross). She seemed a little stressed but never tried to bite or anything. She's been spending a lot of time edging around the tank over and over.

[happycrabbymama]

She's a beauty! Congrats. I want an Ivory or Lavender Bull Snake.... they are GORGEOUS!!!

My husband and daughter want a Palmetto SOOOOOOO bad, and my daughter has been wanting a Mandarin Rat Snakehttps://www.flickr.com/photos/13786382@N00/6812466341/ ...but I have to keep reminding them that we are at our limit for snakes right now.

[wodesorel]

There was a couple small bits of shed on the log hide. How can you tell?

She's shiney. Stanley is molting every month for some reason, so he's taught me quick how they'll look throughout their shedding cycle. Right after molting they are vibrant and shiny and sort of silky to the touch. This is when they look the best. Then their scales start to get worn a bit and they get a bit more average looking. About a two weeks before he sheds, Stanley starts looking grey and dull and I know that his molt is coming. Then he goes into "blue" - their new skin starts to form and harden under their old and they turn really grey and their eyes will turn grey/blue. The weird part is that they are only in "blue" for a few days, and then they go back to looking how they did right before their eyes changed. The shedding takes place a few days later. Some snakes are grumpy while in blue and until they shed and some will refuse to eat, so it's not a bad idea to watch for the signs until you learn her personality. Stanley was only weird on his first molt with me, and for the most part he doesn't change his behaviour other than he's a bit more jumpy when in blue. (They can't see very well with two layers of skin over their eyes.)


Colubrids are very active and they love to explore. I'm not surprised she's circling the tank, learning about her new surroundings. Stan did that for weeks after coming home, but he's much more calm now. She's going to want to take in everything she can before she settles in to her normal activities.

[CallaLily]

Today we're voting on names. I was leaving it up to my 3 sons to decide but they wouldn't come up with any. So I put down 18 names from some movies and a game I know they all like. My youngest added a name, my middle son added two, and my oldest added one, so 22 names in all. They voted and it's now narrowed down to 6 names. :roll: I think it would have been easier to just name her myself. And I'm also afraid "Taco" is going to end up winning.

[wodesorel]

Taco the Snake? I like it.

You don't have to rush it! Stanley was nameless for weeks because nothing fit. He was just The Snake. My husband and I were watching that TV show about the little girl with psychokinetic powers and she has a stuffed turtle named Stanley and we just sort looked at each other and went "STANLEY!". And now months later I suddenly realized when we were at the hardware store last weekend that the reason that name fit so well is that he's yellow and black - just like the Stanley tools that my grandfather always used when I was growing up.

[CallaLily]

To be fair Taco is much better than the names my youngest and oldest made up. Kenath (kuh-NATH) and Hisoscosh (High-su-sosh). Those thankfully only got one vote each so were ruled out. My middle son is the one who put down Taco and Kendra (also one of the six that tied with 2 votes each). I really, really liked Karliah or Keerava but they lost.



Maybe we'll sit on the winners for a while before deciding. Just in case they have that aha moment you guys had.

Edit: I forgot to say her name was Zero before.

[FloridaSun]

She's gorgeous, congrats!!!

P.S. I like Taco... It's different

[CallaLily]

Thank you. Taco had the most votes but now two boys are saying they don't actually want to call her that. One said he was joking when he voted for it and the other says he just voted for it because he really likes tacos. :roll: They then said they like Aela but my oldest isn't home so I don't know if he agrees. I really think I'm just going to take Wodes advice and not rush things. They seem ok with that. Actually, X admitted he could care less what she's called. He likes her, says she's cool but he's more of a hamster or cat person I think. It's A that's more into reptiles. I think even B is more of a horse or dog person though he does like snakes.

Tired of typing oldest, middle, youngest every time so it's B, X, and A.

[CallaLily]

Quick update:
She seems to be adjusting well and isn't circling the tank as much. We did try to feed her the other day because when we got her on Thursday it had already been 7 days since her last meal but she just wasn't interested. I'm thinking it was just too soon from the move so we'll try again this Thursday. The guy who had her before says he tried feeding her freshly killed mice but she always refused anything but live. I'm still hoping to make the switch to f/t.

Bedding...she's on shredded aspen. I like the look of it and she seems to enjoy tunneling in it but the smell is bugging my husband (and that's saying something because his sniffer is not so good). I've seen it mentioned on other forums that a few use carefresh. Opinions? Cornsnake.com seems to discourage the use of cocofiber/bark something about too much humidity? Any other safe bedding aside from newspaper?

Oh. And her name is Sylvie. Wasn't on the list but jumped out at me and the kids all said they liked it. My husband wanted to call her Isadora but only B seemed to like it too. So Sylvie it is (pronounced Sill-vee).

[CallaLily]

Not sure if anyone's still reading but I thought I'd give a quick update. She's still not eating but it hasn't been so long that I'm terribly worried. I will feel so much better when she does finally eat though! We tried a few tricks we've read about for convincing them to go for f/t but so far she's uninterested. She comes over to check it out but turns her nose up to it after a few flicks of her tongue. Now, we did pick up a couple live mice for just in case. Though I haven't given up completely, I'm thinking there's a good chance it's going to come to just that. At this point I think she just needs a bit more time from the stress of the move so we're just trying to disturb her as little as possible at this point.

The kids have named the mice. Cheeseburger and Bacon. I apologize if anyone finds that cruel. Kids, ya know? But I'm glad they understand a snakes gotta eat too. I have them (the mice, not the kids ) set up in a 10 gallon tank with toys and hides. They're super cute!! I used to have a couple pet mice when I was around 8 or 9 ...but it's been quite a few years so any tips on mouse care is appreciated. I'd like to treat them as best I can, whether they end up a meal or pets.

Again, sorry if your squeamish about any of this.

[wodesorel]

All I can recommend with the f/t is to make them really warm (Stan likes them like hot tea hot), and to start wiggling them at the snake's tail and to not stop slowly dragging them either along the snake or away from the snake until the snake strikes. I think that's where a lot of keepers give up - they want something they can just toss in the tank and leave, but with some snakes you have to be active in the process. (It's like a cat and a string toy.)

We had that wild injured mouse that I was trying to get through the winter. Her favorite thing in the world was heaps of bedding, so she could make awesome nests. That and her wheel. They could get richer foods then you would normally give a pet since lifespan isn't an issue, and those nutrients will get passed along as well.

[randoswife]

Cheeseburger and Bacon! I actually laughed out loud and had to explain myself to my husband!

As for the feeding, have you tried feeding her in a closed tote? My snake was a shy eater, would only eat in complete privacy...weirdo...lol

Sent from my LG-MS770 using Tapatalk

[CallaLily]

I'll try a more private tote, ours is almost clear. Thanks!





We have warmed the mouse with a hair dryer and did the zombie mouse dance thing. She does notice the movement but once she comes over she loses interest. We tried putting small cuts into the mouse too and scenting with the live mouse bedding. I'll keep trying though. How hot should they be? She has to be hungry enough at some point, right?

[wodesorel]

I've temp gunned mine at 110. That's when he really really likes. Way too warm, but I think it makes them smell stronger. She's at the size where you could try both mice and rats, and she may have a preference of one over the other. (I had to feed f/t adult mice last week because they were out of the right sized rats and apparently I can't feed baby rats as I turned into a sobbing mess at checkout just looking at them. Personally, I think mice end up smelling way worse when they come out the other end then rats do. I gagged on cleanup this week.)

If you're doing tote feedings, you could always put Cheeseburger and Bacon in the tote for an hour to smell it up good first, pull them out, and then offer the frozen mouse.

And yes, she will eat eventually, but it's up to you how long you want to push it. Two to three months without eating for a healthy adult snake is not considered harmful, and they can go much longer without it being a a problem when they're the ones refusing to eat anything. (Granted, that's when the snake is refusing food, not because people are going that long without offering a meal.)

[CallaLily]

Ok. Mine was 90-something with my temp gun so I'll try warming it more. We got adult mice because he said he fed her two every ten days. I figured once we get her to eat, we'd look into rat sizes for her. Thank you for all your help!! I hope she gives in soon.