# Newbie cornsnake handling advice.



## Big Rob (Aug 24, 2015)

Just wanted a few words of wisdom please.
I collected my first ever snake,a 4 feet long 18 month old cornsnake 9 days ago.Her original set up was quite sparse,with only 1 hide/cave type thing more suitable for a guinea pig (strips of wood in an arch ) and a single branch to climb,so before I brought her home I bought a new cave and a "tube" of cork to give her more enrichment etc.She went straight into the new cave ,after a reassuring drink and didn't move for 4 days (that I saw). I then swapped the cave from the cool end into the warm end as I was little worried. She almost immediately moved across and took up residence in the cave once more. She then moved into the cork tube. I let her acclimatise with no disturbance ,apart from changing her water, then fed her 1 mouse on Friday. I have only seen her move from the tube,into the cave over the heat mat,once more. What is the best way to encourage her out of the tube as I haven't yet handled her since the move. This is my first ever snake,and the only other times I handled her was when the original owner got her out of the viv when I went to see her,and when I went to collect her. Will I have to lift the cork tube out and wait for her to emerge?:blush:
And also should I get another cave ,the same as the one she prefers, and bin the horrid wooden thing? I am going to the IHS show at Doncaster on sunday as its only 30 mins from me,so can hopefully pick up one there that similar.


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## markieboyle (Sep 1, 2015)

I would definitely try and get another cave so the two hides are the same, as for lifting the hide to handle, that's what I do with my royal other wise I wouldn't see it not, not got that problem with my boa she doesn't use them


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## Ninjamonkyy (Jul 19, 2015)

I would leave him for a few more days to settle. Check on him in the early morning and evening/early night, as that's when they tend to move around. If he doesn't come out, lift the hide, make use he knows you're there and pick him up. If he tries to get away, put him back and wait a few more days. He should be ok to handle then. You'll find out the more he's handled the more he will be confident around you and come out. Also make sure that the viv is in a peaceful spot, so he's not afraid of people constantly walking past. It could stress him out. 
Also definitely get another cave, put one in the warm half and the other in the cold area so he can thermoregulate and digest better. Once you get around to holding him, check how warm he is. If he's cold to the touch you may need to adjust the position of the hides.
Sorry rambled on too much xD
Hope it helped a little bit


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## Big Rob (Aug 24, 2015)

Thanks for the 2 replies guys. I plucked up the courage and handled her last night. She was in her usual place of the cork tube,so I lifted that out and left her,watching her every few seconds in case she made a bid for freedom. After 20 minutes or more of her just looking at me I gave up. I placed her back in the cool end of the viv. I checked back 30 minutes later and she had gone into her cave in the warm end. So I carefully picked up the cave and removed from viv. I then carefully picked her up and she was fine once out. She happily sat on my lap whilst watching tv,apart from a few attempts to escape behind me ,under cushions or up my shorts leg mg:.
I put her back after 20 minutes or so and she immediately returned to warm up in her warm cave. Later on she had gone back to the cork tube in the cool end so I think she is adapting to new lay out ok.: victory:
I am having a bit of an issue with the heat mat thermostat. It fluctuates massively even though I have the probe directly on the mat it goes from 31 degrees right down to 25 before it comes back on,then up to 31 again. Is this the usual fluctuations of a Microclimate thermostat? I am going to the Doncaster reptile show on sunday,and will be on the look out for a Lucky reptile digital thermostat there cos it does separate day and night settings and can be used to control lighting too. Anyone used one of them?


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## markieboyle (Sep 1, 2015)

I had the same problem with the microclimate as well when I was using the heat mat for my royal, it was only after I bought it I was told they were rubbish, so I switched to ceramic heater with pulse stat so much better a maintaining proper heat gradient


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## Iulia (Mar 2, 2011)

I've always used the habistat stats 

I personally tend to avoid hides that don't allow you access to the snake if you want/need, but it doesn't really matter

just give her a good amount of hides both hot and cool, and things to climb

and really - relax. Corns are very robust.

recommend you go to Donny - its any awesome show and loads too see and do.


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## jacklyn (May 19, 2013)

I use both habistat and microclimate thermostats and I don't have this problem. Where exactly is ur probe positioned? Are you using a digital thermometer, and if so place the probe of this beside where the probe touches the heat mat for the best reading. Also you don't want a lot of substrate on top of the heat mat as this can cause thermal blocking and could be why your getting a huge temperature drop. Just a thin layer over the heat mat then u can pile the substrate up higher on the cool side for burrowing. Also, I would recommend either getting a heavy resin hide for the warm side and resting the edge of the hide on the wire of the temperature probe to ensure it doesn't move. Alternatively use a rock or something heavy just to be sure the snake can't move the probe off the heat mat. Also make sure whatever is weighing the wire down isn't in direct contact with the actual probe.

Sent from my SM-G900F using Tapatalk


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## Big Rob (Aug 24, 2015)

The thermostat probe and digital thermometer probe are sat just out side the Exo Terra large cave and sit directly onto the heat mat. There is a very thin layer of beechwood chippings all over the viv at the moment,but will be getting changed for aspen when I go to Donny on sunday.
She finally pooped for the 1st time last night,which freakily got me excited cos it means she has digested her first mouse ok,and also means when I handle her she wont poop on me!:2thumb:


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## Zincubus (Sep 6, 2010)

Big Rob said:


> The thermostat probe and digital thermometer probe are sat just out side the Exo Terra large cave and sit directly onto the heat mat. There is a very thin layer of beechwood chippings all over the viv at the moment,but will be getting changed for aspen when I go to Donny on sunday.
> She finally pooped for the 1st time last night,which freakily got me excited cos it means she has digested her first mouse ok,and also means when I handle her she wont poop on me!:2thumb:


Why the change to aspen from beechwood chippings incidentally ?

I've always preferred the. 'look' of beechwood to aspen , personally speaking PLUS aspen seems to get absolutely everywhere especially if you're handling regularly ...


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## Big Rob (Aug 24, 2015)

Zincubus said:


> Why the change to aspen from beechwood chippings incidentally ?
> 
> I've always preferred the. 'look' of beechwood to aspen , personally speaking PLUS aspen seems to get absolutely everywhere especially if you're handling regularly ...


Just because the majority of people have told me to do that. :blush:

But then again my local reptile shop told me they don't keep cornsnakes on heat mats,and heatlamps are a better choice. That goes against about 90% of opinions I have read on the subject.

I suppose opinions are like a###holes,every body has got one.:whistling2:

That's just a joke everyone,i'm a complete newbie and listen to what everyone says and then try and glean information as best as I can.


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## Iulia (Mar 2, 2011)

Big Rob said:


> I suppose opinions are like a###holes,every body has got one.:whistling2:



Its definitely true though at least on this forum :lol2:

I've used beechwood for corns with no issues.

Baby snakes can enjoy borrowing in aspen but yours is probably a bit big for that. 

As with all substrate though its not great if the snake ingests with food - that's probably the biggest concern as far as I know. 

Corns are pretty easy substrate wise - pretty much anything works. I've used aspen, lignocel, hemp, repticard, beech, orchid bark ... 

again if you get to Donny you will see loads of different kinds of substrate.


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## Zincubus (Sep 6, 2010)

Big Rob said:


> Just because the majority of people have told me to do that. :blush:
> 
> But then again my local reptile shop told me they don't keep cornsnakes on heat mats,and heatlamps are a better choice. That goes against about 90% of opinions I have read on the subject.
> 
> ...


Yeah it's all about opinions as you said 

Everyone told me to use Aspen but I soon changed to beech chippings UNTIL I discovered ORCHID BARK 

It's the future !


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## Jamie XVX (Nov 24, 2014)

A lot of big snake owners won't use heat mats because of thermal blocking, and they apply that logic to all snakes.

Plus, heat bulbs / ceramics raise ambient temperatures and are easier to create a consistent gradient with, and easier to stat properly. Mats heat what they are touching but don't heat the air that well, and personally I find them harder to stat as a result - your stat probe has to be on the mat. Taping it down isn't a great idea (if you've ever had a snake covered in gaffer tape, you'll know why!) and keeping it in place otherwise can be tricky.

Nothing wrong with heat mats if you set them up properly though. It is, like you've said, really mostly about opinion.

Also, poop instead of regurge is always great when you get a new snake - let's you know you haven't got it all completely wrong!


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## jacklyn (May 19, 2013)

I defo agree that beech chips look better than aspen, but it just isn't that great with heat mats unfortunately. Otherwise that's defo what I would still be using!
If you were to switch to ceramics then you could keep the beech chips no prob.
Or, if you like the look of orchid bark and you like naturalist setups, then lookup bioactive substrates, I'm planning on moving all mines over to bio next month, can't wait! (Queue can of worms... lol)

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## Jamie XVX (Nov 24, 2014)

I'm slowly turning my monitor tank bioactive. My frogs were bioactive befoe I moved and I've never got round to setting the tank back up again, but it's just wonderful. Takes a bit of effort, butu the animals seem to love it AND it's great if you're lazy because it really lowers the amount of maintenance required! Although you do need regualr check ups to make sure everything is ticking over okay.

I've seen a lot of bioactive corn setups recently, which is great. I'd only really seen people trying them with monitors and amphibians until recently, but their popularity seems to be growing a lot.


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## Big Rob (Aug 24, 2015)

Thanks for the comments every one. I have still got half a big bag of beechwood chippings so I may get some aspen and keep alternating between the 2,give sammie a change of scenery as such.
I am hopefully going to get a pulse thermostat at Donny or soon after if I cant get one there.
And regarding the snake accidently ingesting substrate, i'm hopefully going to get her to eat when in a R.U.B. as I have heard that is the way to go??
The previous owners always fed her in the viv,but I'm not convinced they really knew what was best for her. They had a heat mat and a heat lamp,and it was like a mini oven in the viv. They didn't use a thermometer as far as I know,and the thermostat probe for the matt was set about 2 inches above the mat so was getting way too hot. I have turned it down to about 26 degrees,and it still gets up to 31 or 32 with the probe now touching the mat.(it was set at 31 so was probably hitting 35 or 36 on the mat).The heat lamp was set to 30 degrees too so it didn't have a cool end.( I cant guarantee both were used simultaneously though as they stripped the set up for collection as I arrived.) They never had the mat taped down and said that she spent most of her time UNDER the mat. :gasp: Probably the coolest part of the viv! There is a small amount of skin left just below her head from her last shed so I need to dampen that somehow and ease it off. They saved the shed for me as a momento and the rest is complete (and 51 inches long!) She only had a tiny bowl,but now has a really large one she can submerge most of herself if she needed to.:2thumb:
Sorry for waffling,Rob.:blush:


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## Iulia (Mar 2, 2011)

feeding in/out of the viv is another endless debate - there is no right or wrong answer. 

If he feeds for you in a RUB its one less thing to worry about.


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## Jamie XVX (Nov 24, 2014)

I always fed my snakes in tubs of some description. Gives them a clear sign that feeding is about to happen, keeps things neat and tidy too. The only problem with it is the fac you have to handle them shortly after eating to put them back in their viv. Not a problem for most snakes, but you might have to rethink if your snake is prone to regurge.


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## Big Rob (Aug 24, 2015)

Can't you just place the R.U.B. into the viv and let her move out of it whenever she feels the need?


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## Iulia (Mar 2, 2011)

sure if it fits that's fine


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