I really need some advice.

Thanks for all the recommendations. =) My daughter voted for the corn snake because she thinks they're the prettiest, lol.


Ok for the basics- a 20 gallon terrarium with a tight fitting lid, reptile substrate, a heater (not a heat rock), lighting, a hide, some decor, a water bowl... is there anything else I'm missing? Oh, and a thermometer.
 
make sure you have some hides for the snake and get either an undertank heater or heat tape. also you need something to control the heater, a rheostat at the least.

check out BHB for cool corns and garters (if yur stilll thinking about them :p)

http://www.bhbreptiles.com/
 
NorthcoastGirl said:
Thanks for all the recommendations. =) My daughter voted for the corn snake because she thinks they're the prettiest, lol.


Ok for the basics- a 20 gallon terrarium with a tight fitting lid, reptile substrate, a heater (not a heat rock), lighting, a hide, some decor, a water bowl... is there anything else I'm missing? Oh, and a thermometer.
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Good choice on the snake. You can get corns relatively cheap, you just need to find the right place or the right breeders. And there are tons of colors. I keep and breed corns but not shipping right now. As for mice, stay away from Artic mice unless you have no alternative. You can shoot me a pm or atleast let me know what state you live in and maybe I can find you a local breeder. This way you can one cheaper than going to petco or petsmart. Seriously, I give away normal corns to friends.

But for food, you can look around locally, there should be a mouse breeder that sells frozen mice. And if you get a baby, then you will need pinkies.

Here is a friend's feeding plan that I swear by.
The Munson Plan (Sample Feeding Chart): Revised 06/08/08
-When they're on single pinks (2-3g), I feed every 5-6 days. (Snake = 4-15g)
-Double pinks (3g x 2) every 5-6 days. (Snake = 16-23g)
-Small fuzzies (5-7g) every 6-7 days. (Snake = 24-30g)
-Regular fuzzies (7-9g) every 6-7 days (Snake = 30-50g)
-Hoppers (9-12g) every 6-7 days (Snake = 51-90g)
-Weaned (14-20g) every 7 days (Snake = 91-170g)
-Adult (20-30g) every 7-x days (Snake = 170+) See below.

Note: Adult females are fed more frequently than adult males (especially following brumation). Adult females are fed every 7-12 days; adult males are fed every 11-14 days.

This is by no means scientific, and not all corns will cooperate 100% with the schedule. The weight ranges I gave for the prey and snakes are approximate.
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I also recommend this book by Kathy Love.
Corn%20Snakes%20-%20The%20Comprehensive%20Owner%27s%20Manual,%20COVER.jpg


You can get it from her website where she also sells Corn Snakes.
http://www.corn-utopia.com/

Also I recommend another site as well for Forums and questions.
A great group of people. http://www.cornsnakes.com
 
Wow, those're pretty! I'm in Ohio, and the only stores that have snakes are Petsmart and PetSuppliesPlus.

It would be cool to find a local corn snake breeder, though, plus frozen mice. Is there anything wrong with Arctic Mice?

I think I'm as excited as my daughter is!
 
In my exprience smaller snakes, garter, corn are more skittish, they dont really grasp and hold onto you they kinda wiggle thru your fingers. Any snake ya get is gunna need rodents. But you dont have to buy live.

I have ball pythons, and they are great. If handled alot and properly they will get very used to touch. I had one ball with me at my dorm and got handled all the time. He's great. he just chills and likes to feel your warmth. Wraps around your wrist. My top choice
 
Felidae said:
In my exprience smaller snakes, garter, corn are more skittish, they dont really grasp and hold onto you they kinda wiggle thru your fingers. Any snake ya get is gunna need rodents. But you dont have to buy live.

I have ball pythons, and they are great. If handled alot and properly they will get very used to touch. I had one ball with me at my dorm and got handled all the time. He's great. he just chills and likes to feel your warmth. Wraps around your wrist. My top choice
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What are you talking about Corns being skittish?? They are one of the top snakes as pets and easier to care for than Ball pythons and a bit more forgiving in care.

Ball pythons are great pets, dont get me wrong but not as a first snake due to their ability to go off feed. The best snake for a newb is the corn. They will readily take frozen thawed and will eat almost every time offered. Some balls will go off feed for months and I have known 1 to be off feed for almost a year and still thrive. But it drove its owner crazy and a rarity in the hobby. IT was a wild caught and the owner had it for about 20 years.

Just not that, the Corn is a cheaper snake that comes in all different colors that are affordable.

As the owner does gain experience with snakes, then I recommend a Ball as a second snake but not until they gain some experience with a corn.

As a side note, if Senate bill 2811 goes through getting a nice Ball python is going to be hard to find due the law is going to make them illegal to transport over state lines.
 
tricksterpup said:
What are you talking about Corns being skittish?? They are one of the top snakes as pets and easier to care for than Ball pythons and a bit more forgiving in care.
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k im gonna disagree with you there- corns can be VERY skittish- i have 7 and of the 7 i think 2 are fairly tame, one a juvie and one baby. they are more likely to bite you rather than a ball just balling up. granted their bites don't actually hurt but for a first time snake owner they can still be pretty agressive lilke. A lot of baby corns also don't eat (many are sold as "non feeders" so theres a problem there.

I agree that perhaps ball pythons arent the best first time snakes- my first snake was a ball python and hes going on almost 6 months of not eating, and yes it worries me a lot, but hes still a total sweetie pie and it is normal for ball pythons.

A small boa could be a great starter snake- they are very calm animals and with handling remain calm. They are wiked easy to care for and pretty much NEVER refuse a meal. Although they look somewhat mean, they are usually total sweet hearts and great snakes to grow with. Personally, I was scared of boas, even when y bf and i got our first one, but shes pretty much one of my fav snakes here, and her being almost as long as i am tall is not scary at all, I've handled her with my BF since she was pretty much a hatchling, and we know when shes not in a good mood and when she is- and we learned that from her.

just my 2cents :D
 
I am going to kindly disagree with you and go out on a limb and say a male boa BCI would be a fantastic starter snake, yes they can get 6-9 feet in length but males generally are smaller than females and even then there are exceptions. My GF started with a BP i started with a female hypo-red tail the hypo red tail has been so much more forgiving even more so than a corn, she is a blast to take out our corns try to go everywhere

I'm not trying to dissuade the OP from corns because..my GF and i have 7(we don't have space for anymore) they are great don't get me wrong they are a blast cheap, they always eat for us. But i feel that boas get a bad rep because they are different and generally (at least with my hypo red tail look like they are gonna kill you)..I'm not trying to offend you tricksterpup and if i have I'm sorry just advocating for the boa
 
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