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Roms New Mom EvilTrailMix Kels88 Roms New Mom Kels88 EvilTrailMix Kels88 EvilTrailMix Roms New Mom EvilTrailMix Kels88 Cphill58 |
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Roms New Mom View Profile |
1. My friend has instructed me to feed him one hopper every 6-7 days. Does this seems like not enough food? Should he be eating adult mice by now? Or even a couple hoppers instead? He looks healthy and has good muscle tone, I just worry that he’s feeling hungry. 2. We’re heating the warm side of his tank with a basking light which gets turned on at 8am and off at 9pm. Should I be providing him with some other source of heat during the night? Obviously she has been doing this for 7 years and hasn’t killed him, but I just want to make sure it’s the right thing to do. 3. Finally, I need some help figuring out if he is just a regular corn, or some kind of morph. Here he is:
Please feel free to leave me tips and tricks you have discovered along your corn snake raising journeys! |
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| 11/03/09 12:22pm |
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EvilTrailMix View Profile |
Message To: Roms New Mom In reference to Message Id: 2091468 My new snake Romulus
1. A 7 year old adult snake should definitely be eating adult mice, and should be eating them every 7-10-14 days. You can feed him a meal up to 1.5x the widest part of his body (not counting his head) but a meal of the same size is best for an adult that is no longer growing. If you feed too much or too often you’ll end up with an overweight, unhealthy snake. Your friend may have been feeding him small meals for this reason, but it’s better to feed a correctly sized meal less often. 2. This is perfectly fine as long as the temperatures don’t drop near the low 60s at night. Personally I like UTHs better and I leave them on 24/7. One of my tanks has a wooden base though so I use a heat light on that one, and I still leave it on 24/7. I just think that it’s nice for the snake to be able to choose whether he’d like to be warm at night, too, especially if he’s just eaten. If the heat light bothers your sleeping, you can buy red or blue bulbs that are less distracting. I’ve got a blue one. 3. He is an amel corn, or amelanistic. Very pretty snake. :) And as a tip, I would suggest to leave your new friend alone for about a week so he can get adjusted to his new home; even if he’s still living in the same tank. Being moved can stress a snake out and make them less likely to eat, so it’s best to give them some chill time before feeding or handling. Here are my 3 year old snakes polishing off their dinner. Jack (a creamsicle)
Marvin (a bloodred)
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| 11/03/09 02:14pm |
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Kels88 View Profile |
Message To: Roms New Mom In reference to Message Id: 2091468 My new snake Romulus
1. The general rule is to feed mice no bigger than one & a half times as big around as the fattest part of your snake’s middle. There is nothing in the pic for scale, but I’m guessing he would be just fine moving up to 2 hoppers (I prefer to wait 2 days before feeding the 2nd to ease digestion) or small mice. 2. Our first snake was a rehoming pet too and she came with a light. It had kept her alive, but she seems to be a lot happier and is growing better since we switched to an under tank heater (called UTH on here- available at pet stores for $15-20 or so) Also, when she did "sun" under the lamp, she would try to hide her face. I think the light bothered her red eyes (as is the case in human albinism, which I am pretty familiar with.) I was told by a long-time breeder that snakes absorb heat through their bellies (kinda different from lizards) so when you use a lamp the heat goes to the substrate and then the snake belly. A UTH is more direct and IMO less of a fire hazard since it can’t be tipped over or accidentally have a t-shirt thrown on it :) 3. He’s not a regular corn. I’d say amelanistic (amel.) Amels are a form of albinism because they lack melanin (black pigment.) They are probably the most common morph. It is possible that it is some special form of amel, like sunglow or ultramel, but I’ve not seen those morphs in person & I wouldn’t know for sure. |
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| 11/03/09 02:21pm |
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Roms New Mom View Profile |
Message To: Roms New Mom In reference to Message Id: 2091468 My new snake Romulus
Great pics of your snakes ETM! That makes me wonder... do you feed Jack (or Marvin) live mice? Do snakes still bother constricting their food if it’s already dead? I thought of another question to ask: If I thaw a mouse for Romulus, and he won’t take it, how long until I should try again? And do I have to throw the mouse out right away or can I put it in the fridge until the next try if it’s only 1 or 2 days? |
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| 11/04/09 11:19am |
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Kels88 View Profile |
Message To: Roms New Mom In reference to Message Id: 2091861 My new snake Romulus
I’ve ordered 600 mice from them to date (2 separate orders & some of the mice were for friends) and have been very pleased with their product. Sizing is very accurate & they came very well insulated. Only bad things: shipping is $37 dollars per order and if you get teeny tiny pinkies they get so cold from the dry ice that sometimes their fragile little feet break...eww But even with the cost of shipping the mice cost about 1/3 what they would from the petstore and they’re even cheaper if you have a friend that wants to order too so you can go in together on shipping. They can stay in your freezer up to a year (longer than that & they start to lose nutrients.) Oh, and my snakes don’t constrict f/t mice. |
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| 11/04/09 05:55pm |
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EvilTrailMix View Profile |
Message To: Roms New Mom In reference to Message Id: 2091861 My new snake Romulus
Kels88- The shipping actually varies in price depending on what and how much you buy. (Because it takes up different amounts of space in a shipping box) The shipping is $38 if I buy 100 large adult mice, but if I double my order the shipping is $40, so just an extra 2 bucks. The prices look scary but if you do the math you actually save a LOT. I’d recommend rodentpro as well. If he won’t take it, I’d give him at least 3 days to just watch and see if he goes into blue. Some snakes won’t eat during the shedding process. If he’s not shedding, try again and if he still doesn’t want it I’d wait for 5-7 days. No, you can’t keep the mouse in the fridge; it will go bad. All its innards and such are all still there, not like sliced ham or chicken breast. I’ve been told that you can re-freeze pinkies once, but you should throw out an adult mouse just to be on the safe side. If it takes about 15 minutes to thaw it, though, and he refuses it, I might stick it back in the freezer, but if it sits out for any longer than that I’d toss it. |
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| 11/04/09 07:17pm |
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Kels88 View Profile |
Message To: EvilTrailMix In reference to Message Id: 2092061 My new snake Romulus
Good deal though! Something to remember: all the adult mice are plain white, so if you have a color-picky snake, that’s something to consider. |
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| 11/05/09 08:35am |
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EvilTrailMix View Profile |
Message To: Kels88 In reference to Message Id: 2092234 My new snake Romulus
Roms New Mom- So even though the price for shipping increases with the number of mice you buy, you’ll still be better off buying a lot at once than to buy, say, 50 at a time, (The minimum # for large adult mice.) because the increase for shipping more mice is much less than the price for shipping a new order. (And it still beats the heck out of the $2.50 per mouse I was paying at pet stores!! I save about $170 every order.) |
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| 11/05/09 04:29pm |
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Roms New Mom View Profile |
Message To: EvilTrailMix In reference to Message Id: 2092350 My new snake Romulus
On a separate note: Romulus ate a mouse for me yesterday!! Woooo! Guess that means he isn’t too terribly stressed from the move. He’s so fast! It scared me! lol And it looks like Rom is a feisty eater too... he constricted his mouse for a bit too before chowing down. I went to the pet store today to get a UTH, but they only had Exo Terra Desert ones. They said that they work best with dry substrate like sand or gravel. Do you guys know if there are other types available? And also do you know if they come with adjustable heat settings so it doesn’t get too hot in there? |
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| 11/05/09 10:57pm |
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EvilTrailMix View Profile |
Message To: Roms New Mom In reference to Message Id: 2092483 My new snake Romulus
That’s great! Glad he’s a good eater. I’ve actually never heard of different kinds of UTHs. Different brands, sure, but I think they all do pretty much the same thing. Just get one that is big enough for your snake to fit his whole body over. And no, they don’t, so you’ll need to buy a dimmer switch or a rheostat or thermostat. (In order from least to most expensive) He should have one for his heat light too, unless you’re able to control the temp by moving the light farther away from the tank. Most heat lights get hotter than a UTH. |
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| 11/06/09 03:28am |
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Kels88 View Profile |
Message To: Roms New Mom In reference to Message Id: 2092483 My new snake Romulus
I have them stuck on the bottom of glass tanks but I wish I hadn’t pulled the sticky paper off so I could move them more easily. |
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| 11/06/09 08:52am |
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Cphill58 View Profile |
Message To: Kels88 In reference to Message Id: 2092566 My new snake Romulus
I have all my UTH’s on a dimmer to control temps...it cost about 12.00 US to make. Corn snakes need about 30-35%humidity .... especially during shedding time...if they are too dry the shed skin will not come off cleanly... many pieces and flaking, give the snake extra water ...baths ... or a moist hide that week ...A tupperware with wet paper towels works great ....cut a hole in the side and turn upside down...or use your imagination and do what you like. Just so long as the snake can keep moist for a week during the Blue( cloudy) phase. After it goes blue...it clears up for about 3-5 days ... and you wonder if the snake shed. LOL... Surprise , it hasn’t yet ... but will very soon. I think all heat drys the air and substrate ... no matter what the label says ...look for the wattage...8 watts is fine for a 10-20-30 gallon tank ... it creates plenty of heat ...over 117 F at the hot spot... and it fades out as the area gets bigger...you could easily turn it down by half with a dimmer. For a larger tank...say 40-100 gallons I would use the 11 watt large pad ... but they are expensive. here is the video ...let me know if you have questions. Very good luck with your beautiful snake ... he will be fine. Don’t forget to view Part 2 to finish the project. Cp |
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| 11/08/09 09:32pm |
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My new snake Romulus
