Snake Questions

[demonmagus]

Hi, out of the two above (western hognose btw), which snake would you say is least shy?

thanks

 

[Betta5]

i had a corn. He was friendly and always at the front glass of his tank. Very nice snake. Dont know about other.

 

[grahamsokel]

Definatly Corns.I have both

 

[Kiarra]

Definitely a corn.

 

[Leopard-danio]

Corns for sure, mines always slithering around his/her tank

 

[chardonnay1000]

r corns easy to keep, my son wants one i keep saying no tho?

 

[grahamsokel]

r corns easy to keep, my son wants one i keep saying no tho?

If you mean are they easier to keep than hognoses,Yes they are also if your Son is new to snakes i would definatly say go with a cornsnake they are a great first snake where as hognoses hiss and bluff strike at you all the time so it could put someone new to snakes off them.Hognoses also have a mild venom and although it wouldnt cause a problem for most people.It is like a bee sting and i know from experiance that if you are allergic to bee stings it can cause a serious reaction In my case it was a trip to the hospital

 

[chardonnay1000]

wot do they eat, do the corn snakes bite 2?

 

[Leopard-danio]

Corn snakes eat mice, (you can buy frozen mice from certain pet shops), there are many ways to defrost the mice, i use a plastic bag in a bowl of hot water, NOT boiling it will cook the feed. I am quite against feeding a corn snake live feed when it will quite happily take pre-killed feed, if you happen to get an awkward feeder then you have no choice but to feed it live prey, which can be dangerous when the corn is an adult as it will be fed adult mice and adult mice will attack the predator as an instinct, so make sure you check with the breeder/shop assistant that it feeds on pre-killed prey. Also ask for feeding records, then you can see if it is a good feeder, i was daft enough not to ask but luckily i have a good feeder.

There are pinkies for young snakes, and fuzzies for slightly older snakes

Older (12 mnths+) corn snakes eat small mice to adult size mice depending on the size of the corn snakes girth. (widest part of body)

(you can occasionally feed you corn snake pre-killed lizards as they would naturally eat lizards in the wild aswell)

As for biting, my corn has never bitten me but sometimes if they are timid they nip, and it tickles apparantly if it's a youngster... and also if they mistake you for food they nip (that's why i use forceps which i got from my local fishing shop), in shed, bad day... there can be numerous reasons for a corn nipping you, but it all depends on the corn snakes personality, you can get placid one and you can get narky ones, that's why i would reccommend you hold the corn snake before buying it.

I would reccommend you shop around for your corn snake as they range from £30-100+


hope you found this information useful

 

[chardonnay1000]

thanks for the info but il think il have to give it a miss, frozen mice... he can stick with his gerbils for now.

 

[Leopard-danio]

LOL took me some time to persuade my mum to let me keep frozen mice in her freezer, she hates mice so she never watchs the snake feed.

I keep the mice in a secure plastic tub in the back of the freezer. the mice don't stink when you defrost them , they jus have a weird odour thats all, and the odour is what attracts the snake to the feed.

There are alternatives to mice, like special reptile sausages, don't know if they are as nutritious, but they are selling them in america apparantly so shippingcosts could be a little pricey.

I myself have to feed my snake, and my sister does too so my mum is fine with it.

 

[grahamsokel]

anyone staying at our house is pre warned not to open ice cream tubs in the freezer

 

[Leopard-danio]

LOL that's a wise idea...i just KEEP AWAY FROM THE FREEZER so that nobody gets a shock if they were to open the small tubs of fuzzies.

But it is also a great repellant for irritating relatives saying you have a pet snake...unless they like snakes then it backfires...but my aunty hates them so i have an evil plan for when she decides to drop in...muahahaha


Lots of people who have come to my house don't actually mind seeing a snake feed, tis just my mum who is really squeamish about it which is kinda silly really where there's a snake there's gunna be a mouse...unless it's an egg eating snake...