Need some help with feeding my baby corn snake!

the wood and plant should be fine. any hide just bigger than the corn when wrapped up should be fine. try to stay away from pine and cedar furnishings. i'm thinking that corn isn't exactly a baby. pinky mice would be my first choice. you could try the fish... maybe it will maybe it won't like it... but do it rarely. another option for bedding would be a small layer of cocofiber/sand mixture and a topping of coconut croutons. with the mixture on bottom you can provide ?him? belly heat without having to worry about burning him and with the croutons on top he can still burrow and slither like he'll like to do.

good luck.

Frozen/thawed pink mice or "hoppers" if the snake is large enough for those. Fisha ren't a normal part of their diet, but small frogs (live or not) are also good if they're available. As for furnishings, a hide of some sort is necessary, as well as a rock or other rough surface to help when shedding. Plants are optional; corn snakes aren't climbers by nature, but may like some exercise.

I agree with toddnbecka, don't do fish they really aren't the best thing for your snake. Be careful with the frogs/toads if your getting them wild, can be toxic. Pinkies work well or fuzzies. Nothing more than double the thickest part of his body, if it's really a baby, baby, i wouldn't go anything larger than the thickest part of his body period. If it's not eating your temp could be wrong in the tank, or you may want to try live pinkies. Sometimes they don't get it when they are dead, but the same can happen in reverse too where live food scares them. Don't do a heat rock, you're just asking for problems. Snakes get burned all the time that way, a good heat lamp works great, over to one side of the tank so he can get out of the heat if he needs to. I used to use a piece of that fake green grass stuff on the bottom of the tank, the name of the stuff escapes me for the moment. It washes well and looks nice, you can also disinfect it. Mine always liked to hide under it.

Good luck with your snake!

Hey Sea,

I've never kept corn snake and don't know their temperament but with most live feeding reptiles you should feed in a separate area so they don't associate the lid being opened with food.

I agree with feeding nothing larger the the width of his body.


If the snake is new to the cage they may not eat for a while until they grow used to it. If he rubs his nose against the glass and ornaments he is unhappy with his new home. keep anything to rough out of the tank till he settles down or he may hurt himeself.


As for a place to hide I prefer driftwood and bark. gives them a good hidey hole and it's rough enough to help with shedding.


astro turf works great and is easy to keep clean but whenever possible I go with the grasses for the natural look. never feed in the tank with grasses or coconut pellets because the snake can accidentally swallow them with their food.


Ceder chips are a big NO NO. they give off toxic gasses and can suffocate the snake.

good Luck.

very rare, if ever on the fish... agreed. frogs... check the species and the supply. it may not pay to get them from a good supply unless you happen to enjoy them enough to keep them and they happen to breed. then there's parasites and other things to tend with if you get them cheap or wild.

that wood should be fine for shedding for now... but not for a hide. snakes like to tuck themselves in... and be hidden. they also tend to like something on their back side when they're tucked in.

a deep substrate to burrow and hide is essential for a corn snake. something thick enough to guard from burns below that is important too unless you're heating a room or using a rack system correctly. i like coco fiber and sand mixed for 1.5" to 2".

definitely no heat rocks.

snakes do need belly heat though... especially constrictors. in the wild they'd be on something large that takes heat in well so the sun is more than efficient to keep it warm while they bask. or they'd be underground or brush enjoying the ambient warmth of the earth. either way, belly warmth. it's important for digestion.

i keep my room pretty cool so i have a ceramic heat emmitter, uth pads and heat rope on my redtail's tank. i control the heat rope with a lamp dimmer and everything else with a thermostat (the reptitherm 500). the ability to do a little more than you need and cut it back when necessary is very beneficial. set it and forget it is nice too. he gets light with a full spectrum cfl. you could set your belly temp and use a regular incandescent for a hot spot during the day and cut it off at night for a night drop too if you'd like. just try to keep within temp range. a reptile night light often will interrupt a plants growth so be careful of that. the full spectrum bulb will provide good daylight for your plant too so that kinda sways me more toward uth and ceramic emitters for heat imo. don't buy a single bulb at the pet store... avoid that place as much as possible... http://www.vivariumforum.com/community/terra-general/4322-good-places-buy-please-add.html a red light is just a red light for example... get them at walmart.

feeding in a box is an option but there are others too. a welding glove or decent leather one, long sleeve sweatshirt and a snake hook are nice to have anyway if you ever feel it gets to that.

corn snakes aren't known for refusing a meal. i'd assume it'll be eating within a couple weeks regardless although it should be once or twice a week until it's an adult but it is that time of year for them to gestate. if it does i wouldn't attempt to feed it unless you find it actively searching for food or you're sure of your temps and are willing to jump through hoops with tricks or force it. feeding never more than 3 times head size at the widest part is essential. best to go about the the size of the widest part of the body for good measure. remember feeding a cold snake can be a death sentence because it won't digest and pass through. it'll rot and in turn rot the snake from inside out.

i wouldn't do grasses or turf... i'd do brush... it's where they live, what they like, stick with it. the aspen isn't the worst choice but i do like coconut croutons from the hydroponics store. they are very light, fluffy, absorbent and natural looking. perfect for burrowing in and pleasing to the eye. 3" to 6" should be plenty to burrow in.

here's some good info on them... http://nationalzoo.si.edu/Animals/ReptilesAmphibians/Facts/FactSheets/Cornsnake.cfm

the enclosure requirements are small. as usual the substrates considered are narrowed down to what can be found at a lps. there are more options for heat than mentioned ex: flexwatt. corns won't typically have to eat at night unless there's not enough cover. they're diurnal. other than that this is a good care sheet... http://www.reptilehabitat.com/corn_snake_care_sheet.htm
it's hard to find good care sheets on corns imo amazingly enough.

getting some fake plants from the hobby/crafts shop and hanging some on the back wall and placing or mounting some across the bottom back will provide some more comfort for the little guy and cover the back wall giving it a nice natural look. he might come out more often too that way.

using foil tape on any under tank heaters also have a bunch of benefits.

they'll climb for food whenever they're hungry so whatever they can climb on that fits and still leaves plenty of room for burrowing, hides, waterbowl and some fake plants for cover would be perfect.

lock that lid on tight... they're escape artists!

that plant should be fine... you could plant the whole tank if you were careful to leave plenty of hiding space. he'll probably get big enough to destroy it though. if you could find something strong and small enough to fit you could use organic soil, peat and cocofiber and cover with lots of leaf litter or loose light bark type like aspen or croutons for burrowing. i'd still keep the bottom warm a bit though and you wouldn't want anything that needs a wet soil as well as some aeration (maybe in the lid) might be necessary to bring in nice dry air to compensate for the moist soil.

for heating plexiglass i'd go way overboard on the heater and cover almost the entire bottom. then i'd put a lamp dimmer on the heat pad and adjust it so the pad itself is only about 80 degrees, maybe 82 or so. that should keep you well within his range and out of worry with overheating your tank.

the aspen is fine for now... but i don't like it. idk, it's kind of unnatural and you have to watch what brand you get. i saw some reports before... if i remember correctly it might have had something to do with chemical treating... i'm not 100% sure though. kinda like dog food...

my recommendations... http://hydroponics101.com/sw76938.php... the croutons.
one of the bricks... http://www.genhydro.com/genhydro_US/cokotek.html
and sand... i'm thinking anything mentioned for fish tanks would work. i'm using play sand myself currently.

no... i'll rarely suggest things from pet stores. the products are usually inferior, overpriced, unsafe, mislabeled, untested, unregulated or some other un word that you'd probably be disgusted by if you knew better. that's not our faults though with the exception of the masses that don't take the time or effort to educate themselves. if more were willing to learn pet stores would be forced out of business and manufacturers would have to adapt and man up to their responsibilities or close down. there are some exceptions to the rule as always. for example where would you go to get a uvb bulb if you needed one? you don't but you get my point. i wouldn't by the clamp lamp there though. so no... get your sand elsewhere.

sexing isn't something for a beginner.
that being said there's 3 ways.
the spurs on either side of the vent. large = male. small or almost non-existent = female. unfortunately unless you know what you're looking for you wouldn't know the difference and i'm not sure you could even tell on a corn.
probe... basically you shove a rod in the anal vent and mark with your thumb how far it goes in without force. it's easy to push too far and permanently damage the snake regardless of sex so this should be done by a vet or someone with lots of experience.
pop... this is where you fold the tail back at the vent ever so slightly and push up from below the vent with your thumb to force the genitalia out of the vent hole. if there's 2 tiny pink nubs... female. if it's more than nubs... male. unfortunately this takes almost as much experience or knowledge as probing.
you should see if you can find a good local herp vet that can sex it for you. they should be able to show you how to do at least one type... probably popping.

you say your heat lamp is controlling the temp? it's a good idea to give any animal a day and night. i hope you're not keeping lights on all day and night. it's not a healthy practice with any animal... it's stressful.

check your local hydro shop for a suitable heat mat if you want to pick up something locally. if not i'd look into flexwatt heat tape... maybe the 11" strips so you can crank down the temps. remember heat rises so heating from above is a waste. also he'll be under something most of the time... and the uth's (including flexwatt) and ceramics are definitely the most cost effective by far in the long run.

also... you could use a heat rope taped to the bottom on the inside under your sand layer or ceramic tiles. still keep it on a dimmer and very cool (low 80's). but being inside and having the sand or ceramic will disperse the heat evenly keeping hot spots down as well as contain the heat and make it more efficient.