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rufus
Snake Mite
United Kingdom
4 Posts |
 Posted - 31/10/2013 : 11:14:00
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| i've had my corn snake for nearly three weeks, i bought him from a lady whose son didn't want it any more, i was told firstly that it was a female about 8 years old, however a friend of mine keeps snakes and came to look her over and told me that it was too small to be the age i was told and he thinks it is a male about four years old. At first the snake was very inquisitive, friendly and enjoyed being handled now he stays in his hide all the time rarely coming out if you attempt to pick him up he strikes,he has fed twice both times taking the mouse into his hide to eat, his viv is clean and the right temperature he has fresh water every day. is he ill or possibly depressed? i've changed substrate to beech chippings as the aspen that was in the tank when delivered was filthy and smelly, put in a larger, shallower water bowl as the bowl he had was a dogs water dish, put a new heat mat under the substrate (his viv is wooden) introduce a heat lamp as the viv was a little cold. Any advice would be welcome. |
ruth
corn snake: Tiger |
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smart bunny
Fully Grown Corn
United Kingdom
5091 Posts |
Posted - 31/10/2013 : 13:18:18
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Corns vary in size dramatically and one 4 yr old may well be larger than another 8 yr old - it's completely impossible to tell just from the size. There are loads of cases where corns fed the same have developed at totally different rates. Plus if the corn you bought was underfed it may well be older than it looks (not saying it was, just pointing out a possibility). Corns are adult from 3 yrs and only grow slowly after that point, so its just not possible to tell stuff like age.
If he's suddenly become reclusive then it's likely he's getting ready to shed, in which case just leave him alone for a week or so as he will be grumpy ;)
Edit to add - I hope you have both the heat mat and lamp on thermostats, and also have a guard around the bulb? You shouldn't really need both, they do need to have a coll end as well as a warm end. Also are you using a digital thermometer with the probe right on top of the heat mat (and under the lamp) to check the temperatures accurately? If not it will no doubt be getting too hot for him.
Also forgot to say - congrats on your new pet - and get some pics up for us to have a look at him ;) |
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Edited by - smart bunny on 31/10/2013 13:27:37 |
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Razee
Fully Grown Corn
United Kingdom
2525 Posts |
Posted - 31/10/2013 : 18:55:46
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Congrats on your new snake :-)
I'd give him a bit of time, it's early days yet, and he might be still settling down...or he might be getting ready to shed. As far as the size goes, smart bunny is right - there are some corns, that only reach around 3 feet or even less as adults, and some that can get to 6 feet... it's more or less impossible to tell an age of an adult corn snake by its size.
All you can do, is to check the temperatures are ok, as if they're too high, that could make him grumpy as well. Other than that, just leave him to it, he'll most likely soon settle down again :-) |
0.1.0 late CB10 Carolina corn snake - Bazilishka
1.0.0 CB11 Abbots Okeetee- Little Twiddler
1.0.0 CB11 Hypo corn- Sebastianek
1.0.0. CB14 Butter Motley - Squidwood
0.0.2 CB18 normal/ Okeetee yearlings Bunny and Lalalishka
0.0.1 hognose
0.1.0 stable cat
0.1.0 house cat |
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Kellog
the nice one
United Kingdom
7308 Posts |
Posted - 31/10/2013 : 22:56:30
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Youve been given great advice, unsurprisingly, Ruth. It is early days and your snake is still getting used to his new home. It does sound as though the explanation for his behaviour may be because he's blue and coming up to a shed, so doesn't want to be handled. Has his colour changed at all, his eyes clouded over? This thread on shedding should tell you what to look out for and expect - http://www.thecornsnake.co.uk/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=12296
Corns vary a lot in size. Even hatchlings from the same clutch, fed the same, can grow to be different sizes. I'm not sure how your friend can tell age and sex just from looking at him, even if he does keep snakes.
Just a few questions, echoing what Smartbunny has said. Are both the heatmat and heat lamp on thermostats? As she said you don't need both. Personally I prefer heatmats and know a lot of corn snake owners do as well. Heat lamps can heat the ambient temp of a larger portion of the viv, meaning the snake doesn't have as much a temperature gradient as you can get with a heatmat. There is no reason why you shouldn't get the correct temp using a heatmat that is controlled by a thermostat. How are you measuring the temps and what are they?
Xxx
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rufus
Snake Mite
United Kingdom
4 Posts |
Posted - 01/11/2013 : 17:54:23
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| Thank you for the welcome :) I'm picking up digital thermostats tomorrow, u have a stuck on strip thermometer and the round dial type in the viv already which read around 28 in the warm end. Thank you for the advise I will keep you updated. I will ad a pic once I've worked out how to do so |
ruth
corn snake: Tiger |
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Kellog
the nice one
United Kingdom
7308 Posts |
Posted - 01/11/2013 : 22:38:57
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You say you are picking up digital thermostats tomorrow Ruth. Do you mean a thermostat to control the heatmat or digital thermometers to monitor the temps? If you haven't got a thermostat then you need to get one, it's a vital piece of equipment. The strip and dial thermometers are about as useful as chocolate fire guards unfortunately  , which makes me wonder if temperature is the issue. You need to know what the temp is in the warm end of the viv on the floor, where he is lying.
There are a couple of ways to put up pics. You can use ones from Facebook by right clicking on the pic to get the image URL and then posting it on here betweeen the [img][img/], which you get by clicking the box at the top with the yellow mountain. Or you can use Photobucket, although that does sometimes play up  . This should help - http://www.thecornsnake.co.uk/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=14057
Looking forward to seeing him  .
Xxx
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rufus
Snake Mite
United Kingdom
4 Posts |
Posted - 02/11/2013 : 09:06:30
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| Morning guys, in answer to your question smart bunny I'm picking up both, also woken up this morning to find Tiger has shed I'm amazed as none of the normal signs were there to indicate it was time for this! But as the person I got her from wasn't very forth coming with information I'm glad I joined this forum and recieved such great information and advice. I will put up some photos this afternoon. Off to the pet center now for supplies :) |
ruth
corn snake: Tiger |
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Kellog
the nice one
United Kingdom
7308 Posts |
Posted - 02/11/2013 : 10:09:06
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That's great to hear Ruth . At least now you have an explantion as to why he was hiding away and grumpy.
Xxx
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smart bunny
Fully Grown Corn
United Kingdom
5091 Posts |
Posted - 02/11/2013 : 11:48:27
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| That's great, so hopefully he'll be back to his happy self again now! |
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rufus
Snake Mite
United Kingdom
4 Posts |
Posted - 02/11/2013 : 18:04:03
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ruth
corn snake: Tiger |
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newbie
