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About a month ago I got a wee little baby cornsnake - I've admired the breed for years and always wanted one, and finally am at a place financially that I can justify being able to support having a pet reptile, so I took the plunge and got a little guy. Kyoshi by eachus, on Flickr That's him just after I got him. I really love his markings, especially that he has a little red spot over just one eye. This evening he had his very first shed (well, his first with me at any rate!) The whole thing was in two big pieces, and it would have been one but it looks like it got stuck on what he was rubbing on and tore apart - nice and clean, and everything looks to be in order so I defrosted him a pinky to celebrate.  First shed! by eachus, on Flickr But, that leads me to an issue I've had with him: no amount of wiggling the drat pinky mouse around makes him care about it. In fact, if I do anything other than just leave it on the little plate, he hides and is quite afraid of it. Is it ok that he doesn't seem to have any 'hunting' instincts? He's eating them when I leave them, and has only refused once, but ate when I re-offered two days later. He's gotten a lot bigger in just this short amount of time I've had him. Maybe his shyness will fade as he gets older and pulls out of that "I'm small and everything will eat me if I don't hide" stage.  Kyoshi by eachus, on Flickr
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Apr 19, 2013 07:53
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| # ¿ May 21, 2024 14:29 |
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I've had my little amel corn, Kyoshi, for about two months now and things are going pretty well. He's neurotic as hell, though. Sometimes during the late afternoon he does bask a little, and other times I've found him holed up by his water dish... But his favorite hang out isn't under any of his numerous hides, but instead right here: Weirdest Hide Ever by eachus, on Flickr I gladly await the time when he's too big to fit up there, since I can't count the times I've been sitting here and gotten startled from the random thunk of him falling and then proceeded to have a freak out that he's hurt himself.
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May 10, 2013 05:30
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cryingscarf posted:If your snake is anything like mine, I recommend buying a reptile hammock (or making one). I got one a month or two ago and since then he has fallen a lot less (it catches him when he falls/he has a better "footing" to get to the ledge/he has an alternative to the ledge). Every night he hangs out in his hammock for a few hours with an occasional lap around the top. I've seen those hammocks in a lot of photos and have been considering one! Right now I've got the viv set up so that he can get up to the top from a branch, but he also uses his little in-tank thermostat as a perch as well. Guess it's time to get the hammock, though! Good to know it's not just that he's unhappy with something in there and it's a semi-common behaviour... I keep looking at him and going, 'dude you're going to break your neck.. which is like all of you, so don't do that!' Here he is on his thermometer!  IMG_8501 by eachus, on Flickr
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May 10, 2013 05:56
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Big Centipede posted:Turtles can be tough as hell. I've seen boxes and chicken turtles with healed up bullet holes in them. The most upsetting part of this is: who the hell shoots a turtle? 
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Jun 17, 2013 05:14
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When I first got my corn he would refuse about every other pinky we gave him, was terrified of the thing any time I offered it to him with tongs and would basically hide for hours and hours before he even seemed to come out and sniff it. The solution I found was to cover the tank up with a dark sheet/towel about 8 hours before I was going to feed, then quickly put the mouse in the tank on a small dish (I use a little glass sauce dish) and then cover it back up - once I started that, he ate every single time. Now he's trained to know that his food goes in that dish. If I forget to take it out after he's eaten, he'll sit by it and wait for more, or when he's hungry he'll go coil up right next to where I sit it as if to say, "IM WAITING WHERE IS DINNER?!"
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Aug 28, 2013 02:51
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Saint Seafoam posted:Woah buddy! I appreciate the advice but I think you understood a few things wrong (probably because I was unclear). We technically got the snake the first week of August; In almost a month's time he's eaten twice, both with some degree of difficulty, and on the care guide we received/all the readings I've done up on the matter it's said that baby corns need to be fed 2 times a week with some being fed 3 times a week. My girlfriend and I have been cautious to leave him alone for days at a time, so we haven't deliberately been bothering the snake any more than we (thought) was appropriate. Three times a week seems way, way too frequent. A young snake should take two or three days just to digest a meal, depending on the size of it. Do you have any idea how much the snake weights? Don't harass it to weight it, but if you have a kitchen scale or something, the next time you have it out see if you can get a measurement and then go off of this guide: The Munson Plan, which in my experience has been pretty spot on with my own cornsnake. Just slow down, he's not starving and it sounds like you're just wasting food.
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Aug 30, 2013 16:19
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Saint Seafoam posted:Wow, this is all good advice, thank you! I'm glad to hear that there isn't anything wrong with my snake' appetite (aside from what I've done)and that a mouse a week is typical even for baby corns. I only have two more questions: That drat Satyr, the Munson Plan is really helpful and I'll definitely be referring back to it! However, when he uses the term "double pinkies," is he referring to feeding the snake 2 newborn pinkies in one feeding session, or is he referring to the size of the pinkie itself? I'm familiar with the different sizes of pinkies, but not quite sure what this means. As well, Captain Foxy, given that I've stressed my snake out, how often and for how long do you suggest I handle the snake? I have been doing light handling (10-15 mins) every other day but I don't want to agitate him further. They mean two at one time (or three, or however many it calls for). For example, the fuzzies that petsmart sells are WAY bigger than the pinkies they stock, so my corn was eating 3x pinkies before he could take a fuzzy just because of the body size difference - even though the 3x pinkies were technically "more" food. A lot of snakes will continue to hunt for more food even after they've eaten and will gorge (see the recent post of someone's snake getting out and eating tons of chicks - they can be absolute hogs), so just moderate what you allow them to have and keep in mind that just because they're searching for more food doesn't necessarily mean that they're still hungry. It might not be the exact "right" way to do it, but I gauged the need to move up to more / more frequent feedings by how quickly my guy digests. Ie: if he's out and about again faster than 12 hours or so, he can probably stand to have a little more. Just remember that every "plan" you find online is just a guideline, and every snake is going to be a little different. You'll learn his habits and needs soon enough, in the meantime don't stress about it too much!
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Sep 1, 2013 04:31
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What's the consensus on the Columbia, SC Repticon? I seem to recall reading that wthere was a goon down this way that diddart frogs and such. Anyway, we're down Charleston way and saw the sign and I'm trying to decide if it's worth it to stop on Sunday and have a poke around on our way back home.
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Oct 31, 2013 17:32
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OneTwentySix posted:I'm the guy with the dart frogs (and salamanders). I wanted to vend at this show but tables were all sold out when I went to register. If you're looking for D. leucomelas, R. amazonica, or a variety of salamanders I'd be willing to meet you there and could even take you dipnetting for sirens and waterdogs and such if you'd like. Offer's open to anyone in the thread, too; I've been wanting to collect a small group of dwarf waterdogs to try breeding and wasn't able to find any last time I went, so I could use an excuse to head down there (I'm in Spartanburg, SC). Man that is a seriously cool offer, but unfonately I think my husband would murder me if I started in with another (no pun intended) pet project. We've been looking for some hognose breeders, but lately it seems that everyone thats selling has super rare $500 morphs. I just want a goofy plain one.  At any rate, we're just outside Asheville so if you planned to do some live catching and just wanted an assist I'd totaly be down for an adventure. Bonus: I'm a photographer so awesome critter pictures will happen. 
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Oct 31, 2013 20:28
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OneTwentySix posted:I was hoping to be able to get down to Repticon tomorrow and would have been glad to take you out regardless, but something just came up at the last minute (which makes me really glad I'm not vending!) If you wanted to go out for herps sometime, though, I'd be glad to take you (and husband or any members of the thread that might find themselves out in the area) out to a preserve near Caesar's Head in the spring time. I didn't get out there in time to see the four-toed salamanders this year so I'd really like to do that next year. It's ok! We stopped in and browsed, and I ended up finding a sweet little 2 month old Western Hognose hatchling for a decent price, so I consider it a good day. I was really surprised at the amount of venomous critters there, I was always under the impression you had to have special licenses in the Carolinas to keep them but I guess not. Wish I had taken my camera in to get some snaps of some of the amazing color morphs of corns that were there, too. I'll post a few pictures of my new little guy tonight. 
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Nov 5, 2013 19:27
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cryingscarf posted:EDIT 2: Tell me about HOGNOSES please Hognoses are derpy and cute and aaaaa.   This is Ouro. He's a Western Hognose.   Hoggies are the best.
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Nov 13, 2013 03:52
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Today I took my little corn snake Kyoshi in to studio to get some shots of him that weren't lit horribly. I thought this one came out particularly nice and thought I'd share it. I wish I could find local people that had big pythons that I could shoot in studio. Scales look so ace under those big heavy flashes.
That Damn Satyr fucked around with this message at 02:35 on Dec 24, 2013 |
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Dec 4, 2013 06:15
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Malalol posted:So I'm really confused at my snakes mental process. Got a small rat and would give it to the ball, but I completely underestimated the size ratio of snake to rat so its in with the bull snake right now. He... is very reluctant about taking it live I think. He eats everything, Ive given him f/t rat, mice, chicks..is a general pig but he never really has a striking response. Just sidle up and nom. The rats hiding in a corner and he keeps going over, nudging it and looking for the head but it moves a little bit and hes just.. Nope, going to sidle back into my corner. Repeat. He was sold to me as wc and is an adult, so I imagine he'd had some sort of instinct kick it and ... kill it? If it's any consolation, my corn (who, albeit, was raise always on f/t) has no hunting/striking instinct at all. He's super afraid of his food if I try and give it to him with hemostats. He always got fed on a little soy-sauce dish in his tank, and now that he's bigger in a box, and he'll only eat that way. We always joked that he's some kind of weird scavenger because he's just like, "Hum, dum de dum, oh look a mouse omnom!" On the other hand, at least he eats. My drat hognose refuses to touch anything and has since I got the little guy on Nov 1. We're now to the point where we're considering assist or even force-feeding him because he's so little, but from everything I understand babies can go on pretty long hunger strikes and be fine, so not quite to that point yet.
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Dec 17, 2013 06:32
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I feel very bad for the rat right now because I was hoping he'd make it a super quick death but if not I'm gunna have to do it myself or keep it out of pity.
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Big Centipede posted:Don't force feed or assist feed yet. I'm assuming it's a baby western hog right? Try braining a pinkie and placing it and the snake in a paper bag first. Force feeding should be the absolutely last resort. If braining doesn't work there's other stuff to try before assist feeding. Yeah, he's a tiny baby. Assist/force is our last resort, of course. We've tried about every trick out there at this point - braining them, scenting with tuna as well as chicken broth, even offering him very small bits of egg and liver, as I've seen some people feed them that as a small treat. I've cut the pinkies up into smaller bits with the hope that the smell of all the blood and guts would get him going, and all I ended up with was a derpy snake covered in pinky mouse guts because he wallowed around in them but made no effort to eat them at all. I've been in contact with the breeder this entire time and have been following his advice, which is all of the above, and now our current step is that since it's winter, it could just be a hunger strike because of the weather change, so I'm dropping him down to ~60F and bruminating him for about a month with hope that when he comes out of it, he'll be hungry and nom up all his food with no issue.
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Dec 17, 2013 17:59
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MERRY HISSSSTMAS! 
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Dec 25, 2013 05:12
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cryingscarf posted:WHERE did you get that tiny hat? I have been looking for a tiny hat for my snake for a while now with no luck. Red scrapbook paper and a little bit of a cotton ball, and super glue! =) It took like 10 minutes to put together, and then a little double sided tape to hold it on.
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Dec 26, 2013 01:13
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A question for those of you that have kept western hognoses for any period of time: my little guy's about as normal as I've seen, he's a picky eater but we're dealing with it and he's finally taking pinkies on his own, he's almost always active during the day when he's in his 'normal' enclosure... But he has one quirk that I've never really seen mentioned as a trait for hoggies: He really, really loves to lay in his water dish. No, that's not strong enough. He LIVES in that dish. Here he's in the small sterilite we feed him in, but you can see even the little ghetto dish is now his bed. The first several times I found him like this I thought he had seriously drowned and went into a panic and grabbed him which triggered an amazing wiggleworm fit, but nope. Is this a normal hognose thing, or is Ouro just that kid on the short bus that always has his water wings on? That Damn Satyr fucked around with this message at 23:29 on Jan 17, 2014 |
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Jan 17, 2014 23:08
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Dreqqus posted:So Repticon had a show in Knoxville today, and I went to check it out and accidentally bought a thing: Is s/he from Cahaba River Reptiles? Welcome to the picky eater little poo poo snake club, though. :v Hoggies are adorable, even if they are a pain in the rear end. On that note, my little Ouro hasn't eaten since the first (only) time he ate for me since I got him on Nov 2nd (he ate on Christmas eve). I tried to feed him last night and got really excited when I glanced over to see him with the pinky in his mouth. He carried it around for about 10 minutes, and then spit it out and went back into his water dish. Damnit you little poo poo, stop playing and eat you food.
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Feb 15, 2014 20:38
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I think my little baby hoggy Ouro is going to shed soon, hooray! He's not exactly blue, not like our corn gets, at any rate - the only reason I'm suspicious he might be close to shedding is that his normally dark chocolate tummy is a pale creamy color, like coffee with milk. For being such little squat snakes with plainish markings even in their most normal morphs, these guys are beautiful. 
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Mar 2, 2014 00:53
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This afternoon while driving home from class this guy was trying to cross the very very very busy road. My husband thought I had lost my mind when I jumped out of the car and nearly ran into traffic to grab him/her so he didn't get smashed.  I don't think I've ever encountered a snapping turtle quite this big. I put him down by the creek that runs behind our house (pictured). Hopefully he'll be happier away from semi trucks. 
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Apr 15, 2014 23:10
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Silver Nitrate posted:
It's sad that the first thing I thought was WOW NICE NAILS. :p Awesome polish! Weird snake question: is it normal for some snakes to just not like the normal heat range suggested for the particular breed? My corn snake refuses to go on his heated side and pretty much only hangs out around (and under, to the point of dumping out his water) his water dish, where the temp is ~72F during the day. Even after feeding he just goes back to his favorite spot over there, and then just curls up and pokes his head out and sleeps for a while. Is my snake broken?
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May 12, 2014 19:04
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Clumsy Card House posted:I took a video of my beardie being cute. Please excuse my voice. This is the most adorable thing I've seen all week. Thank you for sharing. 
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Jun 4, 2014 00:57
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My little hoggy is finally eating regularly now that it's warmed up, and he's grown a little but he's still a shrimp. He loves to sit on my desk and watch me paint. He's such a polar opposite from my corn snake, who's into everything the moment I take him out. Ouro here can sit in the same spot for literal hours and just hang like it's nothing. He was a little scared of is.. erm... 'girlfriend' there at first, flaring out his hood and even hissing at 'her' until he realized she was a bracelet.
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Jun 6, 2014 01:54
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My wee little hoglet finally moved up to hoppers last night. I wasn't sure if he was going to be able to or not, and almost took it from him but he managed after a little bit of wiggling with it. After I think he went into a food coma because he sat there for a few minutes, when he normally imideately goes under his water dish to sleep it off. Meanwhile, my corn snake, Kyoshi, continues to be a cartoon googly eyed monster. 
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Jul 5, 2014 02:33
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Are Colombian Rainbow Boas difficult for semi-beginners? There's a breeder that lives near me and he keeps posting photos of this year's clutch on Facebook and they're so, so tempting.
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Jul 16, 2014 21:05
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Cowslips Warren posted:I had Brazilian rainbows. They need super high humidity and are not that easy compared to cornsd, kings, etc. What kind of snakes have you kept? Cornsnake, Hognose, and many years ago a ball python. The ball was stupidly aggressive and put me off snakes for a long time, but when we got out corn as a baby he was amazingly gentle and puts up with all manner of handling. Going from him to the hoggy was pretty easy for me, even with the fussyness of not wanting to eat for quite a while. We live in Western NC and have a pretty awful ambient humidity most of the year anyway so I don't think that will be too difficult with some extra misting - I struggle right now to keep my hognose's humidity under control in the middle of summer. Either way, I imagine it's something I'll probably sit on for a while and continue to drool at his babies until I can decide if I can even handle another. They're just so shiny. ._.
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Jul 17, 2014 00:32
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Cowslips Warren posted:Pics soon, as long as mommy Luna doesn't crush them...but eggs were loving good! All five eggs have babies, all albino ball pythons. First one pipped on the fourth and was out today, the other four remain in eggs in the eggbox. Luna has been in and out of the box, hope the eggs aren't too smushed. MANY PICTURES NOW PLEASE.
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Sep 7, 2014 15:43
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Omgggg adorable. Simply adorable. Do you intend on selling any of them once they're a bit older? They are complete beauties.
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Sep 10, 2014 22:45
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A friend's kids caught this little guy and they seem to be intent on keeping him. Any help with an ID? They're in Minnesota.
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Sep 12, 2014 00:38
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| # ¿ May 21, 2024 14:29 |
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beyonder posted:Decided to get my first snake. Still in the "lets make his/her first home pretty" phase but hey you gotta start somewhere. Go with a cornsnake. Hognoses can be sometimes difficult eaters as younglings, and while otherwise easy to care for, them not eating for three months randomly kind of makes you feel like you're doing something wrong and stuff. There's also the venomous thing that was mentioned, but hoggies pretty much only bite as a last resort, or if your hands smell like food. They do have a defense this g where they'll flare, hiss and smack their head at you like they're striking, but UT's a closes mouth strike. I've had my hognose for over a year and I admit it, I still flinch sometimes when I go to get him and he starts doing his fussy bullshit.
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Nov 28, 2014 05:17
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