It all started when I was in 8th grade. My teacher had close to a 6ft corn snake named Mika. He was my first real experience with snakes besides the common garter snakes that lived around here. I fell in love with that snake and learned to be comfortable with them. I was quickly put in charge of Mika and I handled his cage cleaning as well as took care of the colonies of rats and mice that were being bred to support him and I would come in every Wednesday afternoon to feed him. It was a good life lesson but it was never easy for me to pick which critter got to die that day to feed the beloved Mika. Feeding him mice weren't as hard for me, mice were never on my list of favorite animals.
At the end of the year my teacher decided to give him to one of her students, it really sucked, he was my snake but whom I was living with at the time prevented me from taking him. So a year later my uncle friend called him up and said someone dropped off a baby corn in front of his pet shop. My uncle picked him up and gave him to his son. They had the corn for about a year and got tired of him and asked me if I wanted him and of course I jumped at the opportunity. I named him Ernie and he was a great little snake. My uncle had said that had problems taking food and it became a normal thing for him to regurgitate what he was fed. Ernie only regurgitated once in the 6-8 months that I had him. Then one day when I came in to feed him I discovered that he had passed away. It was really hard, I didn't know what had happened to him.
Anyways it's been a few years and I've had a lot of lizards but they just don't compare to having a snake. I rehomed my last fire-bellied toad and the only reptile I have left is my Sudan Plated lizard so I've been thinking a lot about adding a snake to the family again. My mom loves snakes, she had like 11 when she was kid so I doubt she'll protest to another one coming into the family. However I was wondering it I could get some tips on corns before I jump right back into the snake pool again. I was young when I had Ernie and I'm sure I did some things wrong.
One of my main questions is do snakes need UVB. I've done my research and I can't find any info on the subject. Also tank size? I've had some people tell me snakes feel safer in smaller enclosures and they feel insecure in larger ones. And then also substrate. I wanna keep my future corn on Aspen. I'm well aware most people will say paper(which is what I keep my Sudan on) but can they we kept on Aspen.
Any advice or tips would be appreciated. I really miss having Ernie and Mika in my life. I remember one time when the Power when out for almost a week and it was the dead of winter and me and my brother and my mom took shifts holding Ernie because temp in the house was so cold and Ernie slept in out pockets that whole week, except for my mom she carried him around in her bra:laugh:Ernie didn't seem to mind...
At the end of the year my teacher decided to give him to one of her students, it really sucked, he was my snake but whom I was living with at the time prevented me from taking him. So a year later my uncle friend called him up and said someone dropped off a baby corn in front of his pet shop. My uncle picked him up and gave him to his son. They had the corn for about a year and got tired of him and asked me if I wanted him and of course I jumped at the opportunity. I named him Ernie and he was a great little snake. My uncle had said that had problems taking food and it became a normal thing for him to regurgitate what he was fed. Ernie only regurgitated once in the 6-8 months that I had him. Then one day when I came in to feed him I discovered that he had passed away. It was really hard, I didn't know what had happened to him.
Anyways it's been a few years and I've had a lot of lizards but they just don't compare to having a snake. I rehomed my last fire-bellied toad and the only reptile I have left is my Sudan Plated lizard so I've been thinking a lot about adding a snake to the family again. My mom loves snakes, she had like 11 when she was kid so I doubt she'll protest to another one coming into the family. However I was wondering it I could get some tips on corns before I jump right back into the snake pool again. I was young when I had Ernie and I'm sure I did some things wrong.
One of my main questions is do snakes need UVB. I've done my research and I can't find any info on the subject. Also tank size? I've had some people tell me snakes feel safer in smaller enclosures and they feel insecure in larger ones. And then also substrate. I wanna keep my future corn on Aspen. I'm well aware most people will say paper(which is what I keep my Sudan on) but can they we kept on Aspen.
Any advice or tips would be appreciated. I really miss having Ernie and Mika in my life. I remember one time when the Power when out for almost a week and it was the dead of winter and me and my brother and my mom took shifts holding Ernie because temp in the house was so cold and Ernie slept in out pockets that whole week, except for my mom she carried him around in her bra:laugh:Ernie didn't seem to mind...
