Corn Troubles

[dakski]

Sorry, late to the party here.

Get a good length and weight on her if you can, and some top down pictures. Corns are not hefty snakes. She may be thin, but a few better pictures and a weight would help.

For reference, my adult male corn snake, Figment, is a good 5ft and "only" 650G. I say only because most corns do not get over 5ft and 650G is a good sized boy, if not a little on the bigger side. Unlike BP's, and most boids I know of, in corns, males are bigger than females (usually).

Anything from room temp (down to about 72F or even 70F) is fine for a cool spot. They do want a hot spot, but no higher than 86F. 82-84F is totally fine. Corns need about 82F to properly digest. Too hot and they won't use the hot spot.

Generally very docile, but also can move a lot and be darty when being handled. Figment is all over the place, but is calm and docile, he just has ADHD. On the other hand, our 3 month old female scaleless corn, is calm as can be. They all have different personalities, but in general, are not as slow moving or even sedentary like many boids can be.

They have faster metabolisms then boids, and usually are fed more often. As adults, males and non-breeding females can be fed every other week an appropriate sized meal. Corns can eat prey up to 1.5 times their diameter, but as adults, I feed enough to leave a small lump and that's it. Baby corns can eat prey close to 20% of their body weight. As adults I keep it under 10% and usually around 6-8%.

If she needs to gain weight, feed weekly, but not bigger meals.

A 4ft corn at over 400G can easily eat a large mouse (20-35G) weekly. They readily accept F/T and have a strong food response.

Additionally, being that their metabolism is faster, they poop more than boids. Figure on a good poop 3-4 days after a meal and probably another one, at least, before the next feeding. Figment eats every other week and poops 2-4 times between meals. Also, they are mouse eaters, and colubrids with quick metabolisms; Figment can clear a room. FYI.

As mentioned, escape proof is must. If they can get their head in, they will either escape or get stuck. They will easily and happily push off a screen top that is not well clipped down.

There a few experienced corn keepers on here, and you have already gotten some good advice.

Keep us in the loop and ask anything you need/want to know. We want the best for your new addition.