Advice On First Feed?

[Twoboyz]

Thanks guys for your advice. I will leave him alone. I have a baby corn snake in a separate tank next to him. Could that be stressing him out? maybe I could put a background on that side of the glass so he doesn't see him? Or am I just being overly paranoid? There are lots of hides for him on both sides.

As far as his environment goes, I have an UTH with a thermostat attached to it and a digital therm/hyg with two sensors. The reading is constantly at approx 85 degrees and humidity fluxuates from 45 - 50%. He's always on the side by the UTH, so maybe I am keeping it a bit too cold? Maybe I should increase the temp to 90? I'll do that when I get home.

I'm just really afraid to feed live. I know I'm a wimp, but really the only way I agreed to let me son have a snake was becuase of the f/t option. Now I'm in love with snakes myself, but still not ready for live prey. Just no cut out for it. I've been a cute cuddly furry pet kinda person all my life until now

[BuckeyeBalls]

Thanks guys for your advice. I will leave him alone. I have a baby corn snake in a separate tank next to him. Could that be stressing him out? maybe I could put a background on that side of the glass so he doesn't see him? Or am I just being overly paranoid? There are lots of hides for him on both sides.

As far as his environment goes, I have an UTH with a thermostat attached to it and a digital therm/hyg with two sensors. The reading is constantly at approx 85 degrees and humidity fluxuates from 45 - 50%. He's always on the side by the UTH, so maybe I am keeping it a bit too cold? Maybe I should increase the temp to 90? I'll do that when I get home.

I'm just really afraid to feed live. I know I'm a wimp, but really the only way I agreed to let me son have a snake was becuase of the f/t option. Now I'm in love with snakes myself, but still not ready for live prey. Just no cut out for it. I've been a cute cuddly furry pet kinda person all my life until now

Yea 90* for the uth is good. Make sure thats UNDER the substrate. So you put ur thermometer probe under the substrate(keep in mind its the thermometer probe not tstat probe) if you have the temp at 85 there is some degrees lost between the uth and the top of the substrate where he is so i would raise it a bit. Also try to bump ur humidity up a bit if u can keep it at constant 50-60%

[Twoboyz]

Thanks Mike. I have the thermostat probe and the thermometer probe under the stubstrate sitting on the glass directly over the UTH. I didn't think about degrees being lost through the substrate though. I'll have to spritz more I guess to try to boost the humidity up. I cut open a large ziploc bag and placed it over the screen top, leaving just a little opening. I think that's helping, but I'm still not up to 60 %. Is it okay to spritz with just plain water? I got this stuff with the zilla starter kit that's supposed to be some kind of conditioner as well. When i run out, I'd just like to fill up a spray bottle with water. Probably a dumb question, but I'm overly paranoid about doing everything right.
Thanks

[Kaorte]

Your thermostat probe should be OUTSIDE the enclosure taped directly to the UTH. If the snake were to move it accidentally, your UTH would spike and burn your animal.

Also, if this is a small snake I would move to a 10g enclosure for a while. A large enclosure is enough to put a ball python off feed. Also, if you are using those half log hides featured in your avatar picture, pitch them and get some "cave like" hides. I use plastic cereal bowls from the dollar store. It doesn't need to be expensive. His hides should touch him on all sides. and there should be one small entrance.

Spraying with regular water is fine, but if you have hard water you will have deposit buildup on the glass (just looks bad, not harmful to the animal). I like to use distilled water for misting to avoid this.

Don't be scared of feeding live. The only time it is harmful is if your snake is completely not interested in eating and you leave a hungry feeder in there alone with the snake. As long as you supervise the feeding, your snake will be perfectly fine. Feeding live for the first couple feedings will kick start his appetite and make it much easier to move to f/t. It would be wise to get a small tub or critter keeper to keep uneaten feeders in. You can just feed them basically anything, cereal or dog food works. Just make sure your feeders are well fed before you offer them to the snake.

I know petland carries feeders. A small adult mouse should be fine for your snake. A hopper is going to be a little harder to find. You would need to find a local breeder.

PS: Hello from Chicago! What suburb are you in? Are you going to the all animal expo this weekend in Wheaton?

[Twoboyz]

Hi Steffe,

I would really like to go to the show this weekend, to talk to the breeder some more. I'm not sure if I can make it because both of my sons are in baseball tournaments and the sunday games all depend on the saturday games. I also would like to meet Terri because I've been talking to her on the corn snake forums. I'll look for you if I make it there.

Okay, I'll tape the probe to the outside. That's great, one less wire to try to wedge between the tank and the lid! do you just use duct tape? Does it hold when it heats up? Seems like it should, it's used on heating ducts right?

I'll move him to my 10 gallon tank. I have one that I planned to put my new cornsnake in. I'll just put him in the 20. My other cornsnake baby seemed to do just fine in my other 20 gallon tank. Is there any other solution to sticking an UTH to the tank witout it being permanent? I hate that I always have to buy another UTH everytime I buy a new tank. They cost almost as much as the tanks do.

About the feeder mouse, you think a little 2 month old BP can eat a small mouse? The frozen hoppers I bought look tiny. I've heard petco carries small mice. I'll have to find petland. Not sure if I've ever heard of them. I also know there is the Reptile House in Orland Park, but that's kind of far. I live in Des Plaines.

Sorry, every answer I get seems to be followed by more questions. You guys are all such a huge help to me and I'm so thankful you're here.

Take care and thanks for all your wisdom.

[Kaorte]

No sweat! They have two shows every month I plan on being at most of them this summer.

Aluminum tape is your new best friend. It is great for adhering probes on the outside of the enclosure and is great for attaching UTHs. Foil tape, aluminum tape, it should be where all the other ducting stuff is in your hardware store or home depot. It is a little expensive (like $8 a roll) but it will last you a long while and it is actually quite useful!

Nothing wrong with asking questions! I would rather people ask questions then just sit in front of their snake baffled

[Twoboyz]

Thanks. Looks like I have some running around to do today. I'm almost relieved to retire the 20 gallon tanks. More room for US in the house!

Funny, we thought he liked his new home because he was cruising all over checkign things out when we first brought him home. Then he just settled down and we never see him anymore. We're so anxious to be able to interact with him. The waiting is hard...

[Kaorte]

Thanks. Looks like I have some running around to do today. I'm almost relieved to retire the 20 gallon tanks. More room for US in the house!

Funny, we thought he liked his new home because he was cruising all over checkign things out when we first brought him home. Then he just settled down and we never see him anymore. We're so anxious to be able to interact with him. The waiting is hard...

Yeah I have some running around to do today for my geckos XD

Wait until you discover tubs Then you will have all the room you could ever want, haha!

Yeah, for the first week or so, a ball python will cruise a lot. Once they are settled in, they rarely leave their hides. The first week is the hardest, trust me I have been there 10 times so far!

[Twoboyz]

Yeah, seems like most people have tubs. I don't know anything about tubs, ie. heating locking, etc. It was alot of work just to learn about setting up a tank! We kinda thought tanks are pretty with all the plants and stuff and we wanted to see our snake, but if he just hides all the time, whats the difference? My corn is out alot in the evening climbing and cruising and it's fun to watch him. I suppose if I keep buying more snakes I'll have no choice but to switch to tubs, becuase I can't fit anymore tanks in my house after these three!

[Kaorte]

Yeah, seems like most people have tubs. I don't know anything about tubs, ie. heating locking, etc. It was alot of work just to learn about setting up a tank! We kinda thought tanks are pretty with all the plants and stuff and we wanted to see our snake, but if he just hides all the time, whats the difference? My corn is out alot in the evening climbing and cruising and it's fun to watch him. I suppose if I keep buying more snakes I'll have no choice but to switch to tubs, becuase I can't fit anymore tanks in my house after these three!

Tubs are actually simpler then tanks. For ball pythons, two hides, a water bowl, substrate, heat mat, thermometer and thermostat is all you need.

Corns are better suited for displays because they actually move, lol. Ball pythons...not so much XD