Corn Snake feeding on a Pinkie
Like 1 Dislike 0 Published on 23 Oct 2010
How we care for our Corn Snake:
Here is our Corn Snake feeding on a pinkie. He is about 7 months old and currently eats two pinkies every 4-7 days depending on how lively he is. We only feed him when he is actively searching for food as overfeeding can be detrimenal to the health of snakes. It won't be long before we progress to larger food (fuzzies) and he will eventually be eating one full grown mouse every week.
When he is being fed we remove him from his vivarium and place him in a separate container so he doesn't associate our scent and handling with his food - hence the tweezers. We buy his food frozen from a local pet supplier and defrost it for a few minutes in a cup of warm (not hot) water before feeding it to him. He has fresh bottled water daily (not 'tap' due to the chemicals) and his bedding (hemp) is spot changed when necessary. He only has to have a complete clean out every few weeks - and he doesn't smell at all.
At the moment he is 40cm in length and will hopefully grow to about 4-5ft but he will remain a slender snake. He is currently housed in a glass vivarium measuring 60cm length x 45cm width x 45cm height which is ample space for him now but we will have to upgrade to something a little larger when he is fully grown. He has many caves and climbing branches to add interest and from time to time we rearrange these, as well as adding/removing decor, to aid stimulation. Corn Snakes prefer dry environments but they do benefit from a 'Moss Cave' in which we put damp moss to aid the shedding of his skin. This creates a choice of environment for him. He has two heated areas created by an underglass Heat Mat (set around 30c) and a small Heat Lamp. Most of the vivarium is room termperature and then he has his Moss Cave which is a dark, cool and damp retreat for him.
As you can see once you've set up a vivarium Corn Snakes are not a very time consuming pet and I would recommend to anyone considering getting one to check out the many websites available about snake care.
My family have had a lot of enjoyment from owning our snake and have found him to be the easiest pet to keep. I hope you find this video both interesting and educational.