Corn snake!!

[flakgunner]

hey,
Can't go wrong with a Red Rat Snake,currently I have 12 Rat Snakes,including three Red Rats,one is a Okeetee,excellent,calm snakes,and each time it sheds,the color are more brilliant!! at a 1 1/2 years,it should be around 26"-28" ?and fed a couple mice a a week,they grow fast,averaging a good 1" a month,you'll defiantly need a larger set-up then 10 gal. ,average length is 4',and 5'+ is not uncommon,their setup should have some height to it,their excellent climbers,so tree branches,going from bottom to top should be used .Red Rats by far are the easiest to care for,my personal experiences,have found the Baird's Rat snakes to be quite difficult to care for.Yellow's and Gray's are pretty decent,Black's do well also,if acquired young,but cautious,even after years of captivity they still can be a bit nippy,for me owning a Trans Pecos,has been the big dream,it took me quite afew years to find a Baird's,and I've heard that a dealer has been showing up from time to time with Trans Pecos,but he hasn't been their when I go to the shows.I've got a few of my Rats snakes in my photo Gallery,my Albums-0ther reptiles

Joe

[Lori P]

Wow, Joe, thank you sooooo much!!!!! GREAT INFO!!!!!!!!! I have a 40 gallon tank that I'm setting up for her, until I can get my hands on an affordable used 55. I'm hoping that will be adequate for her??? I'll definitely give her plenty of climbs. We've been taking cholla wood pieces and gluing them to the backs of the tanks at all different levels, to give them more places to climb, and it's worked out really well.

I'm very excited to get her. She's lived in a 10 gallon with paper towels and NO hide, no climbs, nothing but a water bowl for her whole life. I am itching to give her a cool house.

[Charlet_2007]

you can go to walmart and buy a 55g with nothing in it but the lid for like 80-90 bucks you may want to look into that...

[Lori P]

Natalie, the 55 gallons at our Walmart are $149 for just the tank and lid!!!! I see used ones a lot with the stands for $50-$75, just gotta be quick enough to catch 'em. I guess the price must vary from area to area...

[adamanteus]

Congratulations on the Corn Snake, Lori....whatever 'floats your boat'!!

[flakgunner]

Wow, Joe, thank you sooooo much!!!!! GREAT INFO!!!!!!!!! I have a 40 gallon tank that I'm setting up for her, until I can get my hands on an affordable used 55. I'm hoping that will be adequate for her??? I'll definitely give her plenty of climbs. We've been taking cholla wood pieces and gluing them to the backs of the tanks at all different levels, to give them more places to climb, and it's worked out really well.

I'm very excited to get her. She's lived in a 10 gallon with paper towels and NO hide, no climbs, nothing but a water bowl for her whole life. I am itching to give her a cool house.

hey Lori,
40 gal. will work just fine for her,one good hiding spot and some nice clean branches,draped with some nice looking plastic or cloth foliage,Wo Hoo,she'll think she's in paradise,she'll climb up to the top and drape herself over the branches,and lay their for hours.
Even thou I'am not a big fan of petco,I'll go their in a emergency,for crickets(for our Dragons),last time I was at are local petco,they where running a sale on standard glass tanks,$1.00 per gallon,so a new 55 would cost $55.00,this didnot included odd shapes or bow fronts and nothing else came with it,a screen top with a pair of clips will run around $25.00,so if you have one of these near you,you might want to give them a call,to see if their running a sale like this.and check the newspaper classified ads,and garage sales,a few months ago,i picked up 2 ,55 gal. tanks,iron stand,and all of the supplies(for both tanks) needed for fish,for $75.00,we used one tank for our fish,and the second tank is used for our baby Dragons.

Joe

[Lori P]

Thanks again Joe!! There is a Petco near where I work. I hate it... nothing in there ever looks healthy, the store is always a mess, and the help is absolutely clueless. So like you, I generally don't give them my money. But for a deal like this... :-) Do you ever go on Craig's List? There are always tanks on there, you just have to be quick. I got the 55's I have now from there, one for $30 with the stand and one for free with no stand. Check it out if you don't already! Lots of reptile people post on there too, at least around here.

I've read aspen is ok for substrate... you agree?

[flakgunner]

Thanks again Joe!! There is a Petco near where I work. I hate it... nothing in there ever looks healthy, the store is always a mess, and the help is absolutely clueless. So like you, I generally don't give them my money. But for a deal like this... :-) Do you ever go on Craig's List? There are always tanks on there, you just have to be quick. I got the 55's I have now from there, one for $30 with the stand and one for free with no stand. Check it out if you don't already! Lots of reptile people post on there too, at least around here.

I've read aspen is ok for substrate... you agree?

hey,
can't say ether way,i'am not familiar with it,back in the olden! days,newspaper was the way to go,or washed sand,i did like the chopped corn cob,but when it got wet,it would get fuzzy white mold,almost over nite,I know theirs concerns about crushed Walnut shells,it does look very nice and is easy to keep clean by scooping but it does have it's issue,I have seen first hand where this would be a big problem with using for Garter's and Water snakes,with their food being slimy worms and fish,with the mammal eaters like the Red Rats,never have I seen this to be a problem,unless they dragged their meal thru the water first,like our dam Bullsnakes do,but Ive switched over to using the green reptile carpet,and I like that,it washes up easy,only down side is that,it has to be washed when the mess it up.but I look at it on a positive note,it makes me pull everything out,spray the carpet down,and hang to dry,and I'll wipe the tank down,,and it ends up getting rearranged ,so its always something different for our snakes,if I'am pressed for time a hair dryer,on medium setting,helps the drying time.

Joe

[Roy Munson]

Congrats, Lori! Corn snakes are my favorite snakes (I guess that's why I have dozens and dozens of them), and they're very easy to keep and breed. Aspen IS the best substrate for them. And like Joe said, a 40 gallon tank is more than adequate for a single adult corn.

[Lori P]

Great, thanks Dean! I get her this Sunday. I've read differnent opinions on keeping more than one together-- what do you think? Could she eventually have a roomate??