New to keeping snakes am i going wrong any where and help or advice is great!

[ReptiPunk]

HI Guys

Any help and advice on this subject would be greatful!

I'm new to keeping snakes and just recently bought a Komodo corn snake starter set up and what seems to be a 3 month old snow corn according to the paper work that came with the snow corn.

I have the heat mat 5w on a stat at 30*c 84f as before i bought the corn snake the set up wasn't getting warm enough before i turned the temp up to what it is now as the viv is a glass one with a wire grate as a lid just like the Exo Terra glass viv's. Anys ways i put two hides in the viv along with lots of other hiding place like moss and fake plants plus a water dish.

I set my viv up and made sure every thing was fine before getting my corn. The shop where i got the snow corn from gave me some paper work with feeding records on and it was feed a pinky the day before i bought the snake and it's due for another feed this coming week.

i put the snow corn in a day ago and haven't seen it since as it just went for cover and went in the moss with the coconut hide. i've just left it alone since putting it in the viv like i say this is my first snake but i have had lizards and spiders in the past.

Am i doing every thing right so far as i'm a little worried i'm doing something wrong! any advice would be great.....

[Ryanb0401]

It may very well just be a nervous snake.
Baby snakes are a delicious treat for lots of animals, so they've learned to hide away by instinct.

[AilsaM]

Nothing to worry about at all!!

Young snakes can be particularly flighty and nervous little things and when you think about it then it makes sense, they are tiny little things and everything else in the world is huge to them and they're scared everything is going to attack and eat them - with most young animals it is either a fight or flight response, they'll either scoot off real quick to hide or stand their ground and defend themselves.

As you've only just got your baby snake he/she will need time to settle into their new home, it will need to get used to all the new sights, sounds, smells etc, I would leave handling for a week to allow it to settle in and then start handling.

I got my snakes all as young babies and 2 of mine were really quite flighty - my corn and my MBK, they were not aggressive when handled they just wanted away from me as quickly as possible, personally with mine I found that with keeping the handling to little and often for say 5 to 10 minutes each evening really helped, avoid handling just after a feed though, also another thing that helped was putting into their enclosure something with my scent on it, I kept a cotton handky underneath my clothing for a few days and then put it under their warm hides which they used, this lets them become accustomed to your scent and they will come to realise that your not a threat/danger to them and you wont eat them.

Sorry for the long response.

Enjoy your new snake

[hellocharlieboy]

I have a couple of these komodo setups and the are really quite good, your kit will have also come with a dome/bulb that sits on top of the mesh? (i have mine on a timer)



plenty of hides and cover and his confidence wil grow. I would consider a couple of additions that have worked well for me with these kits:

1-I cover the mesh (except for a hole for the dome with clear perspex or polycarb

2- monitor the heat with digital thermometers (cheap ones off ebay are fine)

hope this helps

[Ryanb0401]

The cotton hanky worked for me with my corn. I left it in my bed all day when I was out at work one day, then put it under his hide and loosely covered it with aspen. He was never really aggressive or defensive at all - but he always seemed traumatised when I put him back in his viv. He'd just sit in one place until I picked him up and put him back in his hide. He sat in his cold end ALL night the first time I handled him (I assume) and he was freezing the next morning. The hanky made him associate my smell with warmth and comfort - so now he scurries back off into his hide, and he almost climbs up me to get out of his viv now!
Regular handling and a trick like the hanky (you could use a sock, or any piece of fabric really)
Yeah. Also sorry for the wrong reply!
-Ryan

[ReptiPunk]

thanks guys that's a great help i'll give the sock,hanky thing ago i did handle my snow corn in the shop before i bought it and i was good at being handled.

I'm very greatful for the advice please feel free to add any thing else if you like as much or as little as you like.

@hellocharlieboy I didn't get a light dome with my set up all i got in my starter corn set up was heat mat,substrate,coconut hide,moss and a really small water bowl. would you advise me to get a light dome ?? what wat if any ?? as i was told i wouldn't need lighting equipment from the guy in the shop as he said every thing was in the kit that i needed.