| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| John Nicholson |
Posted - 21/10/2012 : 09:03:44
Hey, I realise you probably hear this sort of question all the time and I apologise if it's annoying by now but what is the best substrate for Corn snakes?
I used to use Beach chips but my local reptile shop high recommended I don't, and that I use aspen but I was told you can't feed them on that in case they ingest some of the substrate and can't get it out of their mouth?
Thanks in advanced for any replies |
| 18 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| John Nicholson |
Posted - 03/11/2012 : 16:26:12
Yes!! Hello Ryan's mum, I remember your dog being called Eevee lol |
| John Nicholson |
Posted - 03/11/2012 : 16:23:01
"You have got to be kidding! Change your pet shop immediately.
Try that as a defrost method and both you and the snake will end up ill and possibly kill the snake. Apart from being stupid and irresponsible, it is also grossly unhygenic."
Can't be that bad can it? I mean it wasn't particularly nice and also kind of weird at the time but like Ness said they are pretty decent people down there, they genuinely do care for animals and in my opinion also are a pretty good shop. What's so bad about putting the rat in his mouth? For the snake I mean.
And Ness!! Are you Ryan's mum by any chance?
ScalySituation cool I've never seen that stuff it looks pretty decent the snake on that stuff what's it's age and length? |
| ScalySituation |
Posted - 28/10/2012 : 18:42:51
I have my three hatchlings on kitchen roll, and my big boy on megazorb, it's made for horses, but becoming increasingly popular for snakes. love the stuff, absorbent and good for tunnelling, some will say it has a bit of a whiff to it though |
| Ness |
Posted - 28/10/2012 : 17:58:58
Don't want to hijack this thread but I feel I have to speak up for the reptile shop here. Looking at John's location, I would think we have the same local shop, unless there's another one that I don't know about.
The one I use is run by professional, knowledgeable people who obviously care greatly for the animals they sell and the ones they own. When my daughter went to do some research before we got Ruby, she was there talking about it for over an hour and when we went together we spent that much time again talking to another member of staff. Both gave consistent and detailed advice, most of which I have read on here as well.
I cannot imagine any of the people that work there saying that. It's a very sociable place and a lot of people drop in for a chat, maybe it was a customer with a sick sense of humour.
I have no personal connection with anyone there but a negative experience gets talked about more than a good one, so I just wanted to balance it out with my own very positive experience. |
| the iron orchid |
Posted - 28/10/2012 : 17:23:22
i use aspen bedding. one of the snakes likes to eat in one of those cheap fish bowls which i wash out after use, but one likes to eat on paper in her faun. and wow... that's a new one... no, i put the mice in water in their little packet overnight then in hot water for an hour or so to warm it up slightly. |
| Auld Baldy |
Posted - 27/10/2012 : 23:46:34
"The dirty man in the reptile shop told me the fastest way to thaw it out was to... then put it in his mouth. That couldn't have been why could it?"
You have got to be kidding! Change your pet shop immediately.
Try that as a defrost method and both you and the snake will end up ill and possibly kill the snake. Apart from being stupid and irresponsible, it is also grossly unhygenic. 
There is no way that the mouse/rat is properly thawed using that method. Glad I'm not on his kiss list.
You might find this a sobering thought on his stupidity:
http://www.nhs.uk/conditions/Leptospirosis/Pages/Introduction.aspx
Leave it out in a tub at room temperature for at least a couple of hours. |
| John Nicholson |
Posted - 27/10/2012 : 22:45:34
Ah right, cheers you lot, sorry about the late reply I lost the post..
Today I bought Zeezee a rat fluff, I asked for a bigger one, he gave me giant one, I don't know why my local's sizes vary as much as they do but I got quite a big one, I went to give it to her today and she nearly took my bloody hand off!! Constricted it and everything!! She went nuts! How come?
The dirty man in the reptile shop told me the fastest way to thaw it out was to... then put it in his mouth. That couldn't have been why could it? If she's he's gonna' be doing it more regularly lol
I just thought it looked pretty cool, the most bad ass photo I've got of her eating yet |
| Dudeskin |
Posted - 22/10/2012 : 09:10:54
My Ruby generally prefers to start middle first which usually results in her looking very silly when she has to release and pick a side lol  |
| Starmist |
Posted - 21/10/2012 : 22:54:37
I wiggle Jake's mouse at the other end of the viv from where he is usually he's hiding so he comes out onto the kitchen roll. Once he gets close enough he'll strike and constrict that mousey! Jake has always eaten the head first, but I don't suppose there is a wrong or right way for them to eat as long as they're eating it :) |
| eeji |
Posted - 21/10/2012 : 20:47:40
substrate for me depends on the age of the corn. For hatchies its kitchen towel, older corns its hemp. Both are very absorbent and both are safe to feed on.
Snakes *usually* eat head first, but so long as they are eating it doesn't really matter.
If you want yours to strike and constrict again try teasing a little more. Make her work a little more for her food, once she's striking move it away when she does so she has to do it again. This will eventually greatly improve her feeding response and if she thinks the food has a chance of escaping she will constrict to stop it.
Just a quick addition to anyone who has a fussy or non feeder, DON'T tease feed - it can make things worse. |
| John Nicholson |
Posted - 21/10/2012 : 20:26:47
Back, cheers for everyones help, fed her on some paper she was cool with it.
I have another couple of questions.. But of a noob question but is there any specific way you should feed rodents for snakes because I believe mine like to eat it bum-first, when I wave the head at her she tries to work her way round to the back, almost like she's going to my hand, and when I hold it by the head she takes it really quick?
Also my little corn used to strike and then contrict but she's given up restricting, is there any reason why? I'm not too conernet about that one though because she's eating pooing drinking and she's happy but just a small question. |
| Starmist |
Posted - 21/10/2012 : 12:22:08
I use Aspen and I feed Jake in his viv. I defrost his mouse on an old small plate I put the plate in the viv on a couple of squares of kitchen paper then dangle mouse over said area. He usually ends up sitting on the plate! |
| Razee |
Posted - 21/10/2012 : 12:01:05
You can either let her crawl out of the tub into viv by herself, or you can gently scoop her up and support her well, she won't regurge just because of that. What I also did with Bazil was to put a small paper box- like cereal box or toothpaste box into her feeding tub, and she obligingly crawled in after feeding, so then I just picked up the little box and put it back into her viv. Now she's bigger, so I just pick her up - but watch out, if they're still in feeding mode, they might try and have a go at your hand. In that case I put one hand in front of her, and as her attention is riveted to that hand, I gently scoop her up with the other hand, and she doesn't even notice! :-) |
| John Nicholson |
Posted - 21/10/2012 : 11:36:44
Right okay thanks for all the replies, and yeah I've always used beech so I've always fed mine inside the viv, so if I fed her out of the viv, like after feeding is it okay to pick them up just to put them back in or is it better to like just let them crawl out and back into their viv? Like will they regurgitate if they're instantly picked up and put back in? And also you mentioned about feeding on kitchen towels, is it possible to do that with strikefeeding? Or is it just best to leave it there? |
| Moppet |
Posted - 21/10/2012 : 11:18:20
I use aspen. It's great for spot cleaning and my snakes make little tunnels in it  I just feed them in a tub instead of in their vivs so that they can't ingest any of it by mistake. |
| herriotfan |
Posted - 21/10/2012 : 11:03:28
No question is silly or annoying...
I started off with beech bedding with my first snake. It was ok but when I read about the benefits of aspen and saw how many other people use it I decided to try some. I've never looked back and wouldn't change it for anything else. My snakes all love it and it's so easy to use and keep clean and fresh.
With regards to feeding, I feed mine out of their vivs in a rub but if I ever wanted to feed them in their viv I'd just put some kitchen roll down.
If you look on the caresheet, via the homepage, there's a section all about bedding. It's well worth a read! |
| Donnie |
Posted - 21/10/2012 : 10:22:28
There are a few you can use like aspen, beech, aboise, hemp, megazorb, finacard etc it is all down to personal preference. Just make sure you do not use pine or cedar as they are toxic to snakes. |
| Razee |
Posted - 21/10/2012 : 10:02:24
It's ok, I'm sure you won't annoy anybody. For myself, I use Aspen and feed in a separate box. You can feed on aspen if you put a piece of kitchen towel down and the mouse on it - but that didn't work for my snakes, they always dragged it off the kitchen towel an onto the substrate. With new hatchlings, you can use kitchen towel as a substrate, and that way you can feed in their tub and when they poop, you can see it straight away. It's also cheep and easy to change.
Aspen's nice for them as they like to make tunnels in it or sleep under it. :-) |
