Reptile Forum, Reptile Classifieds - CaptiveBred

[linda]

hi all,
my boyfriend has just bought me my 1st corn snake, i want to know if any of you have been bitten and does it hurt bad!
i found a mite on it today under the chin and got it out then bathed him in the bath, is their anything i need to know about mites??

how many pinkies are you feeding your snake? mine is about 3months old and im feeding him pinkies about every 2/3 days but yesterday (sunday) he took 2, is this right?


any help would be great.

[phoenixfire1988]

Mine's no corn hes a grey rat snake, but part of the same group, corns are a rat snake.

It doesn't hurt to get bitten depending on where he bites you. If he bites you were your skin is thickest, you probably won't feel it. I don't. But if he bites you where it is thinner, it feels like a pin prick. When he get's bigger his teeth will get biger too, and it will porbably hurt at first but not for long. depends on the bite.

When he ain't hungry he won't eat, he ignores what you offer him. so if your snake is eating it it doesn't matter. Just so long as he isn't regurgitating it.

[linda]

thanks.
i have done what most people are saying on here to feed him 2 pinkies every 5 days and he is starving! so i think im just going to feed him, when i think he is hungry.

[cornfan]

baby corn bites don't hurt in the slightest. the most that will happen is that it will make you jump but if you don't happen to be looking at the time you probably wouldn't know it had happened.

Linda, it's very easy to overfeed corn snakes. It's best to stick to a feeding regime dependent on the size of the snake. In my opinion, it's better to feed larger meals at longer intervals than lots of smaller meals every couple of days. This is because it gives them longer to digest the meals properly which is far better for their digestion and also enables them to make the most out of each meal.

How old/large is the snake? Do you have any pictures?
_________________
Regards, Tanya

Reptile Lover

[linda]

Hi corn fan,
thanks for that i keep getting different answers all the time....lol
well im feeding him 2 at a time now every 5days.
he was born in sept and is about 15in long, red in clour.
i dont have any pics but im going to try and get some.

[cornfan]

instead of decreasing the amount of days between feeds you'd be better off increasing the number of pinks. If he's still hungry after having two and you think he might manage three then try him with three. If he keeps all three down with no problem then stick with that until you feel he's ready to move up a food size to a fuzzy.

Are the two pinks leaving much of a bulge after he's eaten?
_________________
Regards, Tanya

Reptile Lover

[linda]

yes sort of bulge but not as big as i thought there would, also the bulge dissapears quite quickly.
so if i up up the pinkies to 3 how often should i feed him?

[cornfan]

Every five to seven days is fine
_________________
Regards, Tanya

Reptile Lover

[JohnC]

I agree with Cornfan.
If your corn snake has mites, you need to eradicate them otherwise they will multiply and eventually kill your snake.
There are several different ways to do this, some people use one way, some another.
You can buy a preparation of a different type of mite which will eat the snake mites, you can use a chemical, Frontline being the best, or you can try bathing in oil.
For a baby snake, the first method is worth trying as it is not invasive to the snake.
These are the predator mites
http://www.defenders.co.uk/sciarid_fly_control.htm

What do you think, Linda?
_________________
John
Oldest member, been keeping reptiles for 36 years.
Carpets, royals, rainbow boas, corns, milks, ackies and leos.

[JohnC]

Further to my comments about mites, before you treat your corn, you need to establish whether the mites on him are snake mites. There are very many sorts of mites but only one feeds on snakes. The snake mite is a spherical shape and black in colour, with a small off-white spot.
He should have a water bowl that he can immerse himself, mites often itch and make the corn go into water to ease the itch. A few mites may drown and you find them at the bottom of the bowl.
_________________
John
Oldest member, been keeping reptiles for 36 years.
Carpets, royals, rainbow boas, corns, milks, ackies and leos.