Are corns hi maintenance?

I saw this ad on Fauna Classified in the corn section and am confused. Darin Chappell of Hillbilly Herps is saying he is too busy for his snakes and will freeze them before he lets them go hungry.
I have a few corns, just a very small snake collection in general but the actual care does not take much time, I am worrying if I'm doing something wrong. I feed them once a week or 10 days and make sure their water dishes and bedding are clean, is this OK?

You aren't doing anything wrong, corns are some of the most low maintenance snakes around...and the most reliable temperament-wise as well...your schedule is reasonable and the care is just fine for your snakes.

Perhaps the other person has a lot of snakes that are on the same feeding schedule, this can make taking care of them a larger chore because they are all up for cleaning and feeding at the same time...can seem overwhelming when you are pressed for time and their cages need servicing, etc. I go through this periodically when busy, and we only have 7 corns and three emeralds!

Maybe he is pressed for money as well, can stress you out worrying about providing meals for yourself AND your reptiles...here's hoping his situation improves quickly for him and his snakes...you keep up the faith and continue on your road of being a good snake mom!

Corn snakes are generally low maintenance, altho you will run across an individual snake that is more diffcult in some ways (stubborn feeder, nervous and flighty, aggressive, etc)...It sounds like Darin is going some major personal work changes, and his statement just reflects how seriously he takes the welfare of his animals, nothing more...It sounds like your's are doing just fine and enjoy the low maintenance...snakes are like Dorito's (lol) you just cant have one...you'll be looking for a little more challenging species to work with before long


ps the pic is our black rat snake Onyx; if you REALLY want to try something challenging, start checking out info on some of the bigger Asian rat snakes :*)

That is a beautiful snake!
I know whatcha mean about the chips tho, I have pythons and boas as well as my corns.....

This thread is very helpful to me. I've been researching what snake to get for our first snake -- My 12 yr old is the one that wants one , actually.

We've been between the cornsnake and rosy boa. The rosy has more feeding issues that i care to have to deal with , so the cornsnakes ease of care seems more practicle - Mom is ALWAYs the one that ends up the caregiver. Plus the habitat can be more decorative for the Corns and I like the eye candy !

Thanks again for all the info -
Rommie

Congratulations on making a good decision! Nothing against Rosy Boas, they're great snakes, but I'm addicted to cornsnakes, and, for a younger child, they really can't be beat. I would make one suggestion...if possible, try to buy an older cornsnake. i.e. a yearling ('03 hatchling). One this age is already an established eater and will better tolerate going to a new home. Hatchlings are great, but you always run a higher risk of having something go wrong and I would hate to see your 12 year old get a broken heart. You may pay a little more for one, plus not possibly getting the exact cultivar (color) you want, but you'll more than likely be happier all the way around.

Also, avoid buying from a pet shop if at all possible. There are many breeders that still have '03 hatchlings and will ship to you. Just look around. If you haven't checked out this sites' wanted/for sale posts, do so. Another great site is www.cornsnakes.com. It is run by Rich Z. as well (he runs this site) and is my personal favorite site. The "for sale" section is packed with corns for sale from alot of great breeders. Also check out SerpenCo.com (Rich's personal site), CornUtopia.com (Kathy Love's site) and South Mountain Reptiles.

Thank you for those links. I have been to Kathy Loves site before and feel we may be mail ordering our snake.

Our local Herp specialty shop feeds live prey. We looked at a normal corn that was about 2 years old. I asked if there would be problems changing him over to F/T because I won't feed live. They told me no, but I thought i would ask here at the forum for further opinions.

Thanks, Rom

Most corns don't have a problem switching from live to F/T, but there is always the exception to every rule. First, try just making the switch "cold turkey". You may get one that really doesn't care and will eat anything. Waiting a couple of days past the regular feeding schedule, to increase the snake's appetite, is always helpful. If you get a refusal, don't give in a feed a live, wait until the next scheduled feeding and try again. A missed meal in an otherwise healthy 2 yr old is not a problem. Using a pair of tongs to grab the F/T mouse's tail and making the mouse move a bit can be helpful. Always give a snake over-night to eat a mouse that is F/T or freshly killed (see below).

If you get another refuseal, get a live mouse and "thunk" it so it is fairly stunned to almost dead, but still has some leg movements. Yes, it sounds cruel, but is a step to switching a stubborn snake to F/T. Most snakes used to eating live will not refuse such an offer since they sense to movement. At the next scheduled feeding, do the same, but try to actually kill the mouse this time and offer it to the snake ASAP. The freshly killed mouse will probably have a reflex movement or two which will probably be enough for the snake. Give the snake over-night to eat. If refused, again wait until the next feeding time and repeat this step. If eaten, do this step a couple of more times and then try a F/T. If you get a refusal, give the F/T mouse an occasional wiggle with the tongs for a few minutes and leave it over-night. At this point, the snake is basically switched over if it eats. If not, again wait for the next feeding and try again.

Should you get absolute refusals, especially early on, for more than 3-4 offerings, you may have one of those totally stubborn feeders that may never get switched to F/T. And I say MAY, since the next step would be to try F/T rat pups of the appropriate size. Using a live rat pup first so your snake gets a taste can be helpful, but once a corn tastes rat, most seem to think it a special treat they can't seem to refuse. A word of warning, some corns do get hooked on rats and will refuse mice, live or F/T. This is rare, but can occur (I have one that seems to be hooked and this happened simply because I ran out of mice of the right size and only had rat to feed one week. She refused 3 consecutive meals of mice, including a live, before I offered another rat, which she ate. She did shed just before the last rat feeding, so I'm going to try the mice again at her next feeding.)