Forums » Smalltalk » My new little friend

Some friends and I went to a reptile show today, and there were some nice prices on a lot of things. I ended up getting a little cornsnake (I'd have gotten a ball python, but was concerned I'd be unable to keep it warm enough) for about half the price of the ones I'd been looking at before. She's a hyper little thing, and if I understand right, she's about 9 months old.

Here she is, my little Desi (Desert Rose):





I'm so happy. @.@

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Edit: One of my housemates also bought a tortoise. Her name's Dozer, and she hangs out in the living room.

D'aww! She's a cutie owo

I'd have one if my parents wouldn't freak out over it. Or if the iguana had worked out better than it did...

WOW she is stunning! Congrats on the new family member.

Oh man I love snakes! She's super pretty!! I love her coloring and pattern I hope you will keep us updated with pictures as she gets older

This is the first time I've actually owned a snake, and so far... while trying to get her to calm down when I planned to feed her, I apparently got her agitated enough that she bit me. >.< I thought it might have been because I hadn't washed my hands after handling the (freshly thawed) mouse, but she's ignored the mouse entirely...

So I'll be trying to let her adjust to her new home for a few days, and maybe try feeding her again then.

Side note: even her teeth are tiny and adorable. That's actually what I was thinking when she bit me and her tiny teeth were sinking into my finger surprisingly slowly. That, and Oh crap she's biting me but if I do anything to stop it I might her her!

x.x

D'awr, she's cute Congrats on the new addition.

That is both adorbs and terrifying at the same time to me.

Aww, congrats on the corn snake! She's super cute and adorable!

Did you use feeding tongs to dangle the mouse in front of her? That'll help keep your fingers out of striking range.

I love corn snakes, although they're really fast! I would recommend trying to feed her again in a couple of days, and if she still doesn't eat, try leaving her alone in the cage with the food. (One of the snakes at the pet store I work at will only eat when no one is watching.)

But congrats on the new pet! And as Loki said--definitely keep us updated with pictures!

aww thats one of the cutest little snakes i have ever seen



Watch snake bites on youtube there videos are very good and may help you learn things.

like a safe way to get them off you if they bite.

Awe so adorable..
I never knew a snake could be cute till I saw this one

Grats on her ~~

Thanks on the congrats everyone. ^^

Forgot to mention, we also picked up a little months-old tortoise. It belongs mostly to one of my housemates, but it'll be a sort-of shared pet until we all start moving out and he takes it with him. Mist is especially fond of it. Dunno yet of it's male or female, but it's been named Dozer. (One guy tried to insist on Bowser, Tank was briefly considered, and so was Godmorgon - a name taken from one of the Ikea sets because of its epic sound). I might post some pictures of it too. They plan to take a photo each year to track its growth.


I tried both of those, but she just kept ignoring the mouse. I actually tried leaving it in, first, since no one had mentioned the dangling, just to skip right by crickets to baby mice. Hours later, she hadn't touched it. Checked the internet, and tried wiggling it with tweezers, then with chopsticks. Ultimately, since refreezing it seemed like a bad idea, I threw the mouse out.

There's a list of feed dates on the container she came in, and I think she hasn't been fed in awhile (the dates are written kinda messy), so I'm figuring it's the shock from the show and being in a new place.


Thanks. She let go fairly quickly, but it'd prolly be good to check those out anyway. ^^


Yus, snakes are adorables. Ah lurves teh reptiles.

I'd love to see pictures of the tortoise! I love reptiles too

Aww she's adorable. Although on the heat thing.. You do have an undertank heat pad and an overheat light don't you? You'd need heating options available regardless of the snake. I've had experience with Ball Pythons, Corn Snakes, King Snakes, Sand Boas and Ball Pythons.

My typical 'standard' terrerium set ups are along the lines of this. I use cypress mulch. You can buy it in bulk in the walmart garden center. Make sure it's untreated and undyed. Its super cheap and lasts forever. Even with having 5-6 snakes at a time one package of it at like.. 4 bucks lasted me for months and months. As a precaution however, I'd always bake what I was about to use, just to make sure it didn't have any mold spores, or mites that were living in it. It's not likely, but it's a possibility and it only takes a little extra prep time. I'd just spread it out on a cookie sheet and bake it about a half hour at around 250-ish.. Just enough where it got really hot and dried out but not enough for it to start smoking and smoldering. Then I'd let it cool, mix it up and spritz with a little water and it was ready to go. I'd also sometimes use a little untreated spanish moss, especially in hides. Same thing, you can buy it in garden centers and it's super cheap.

Hides. - Super easy to get cheap hides. Best to have two, one on each side of the enclosure. You want the hide just a little larger than the size of the snake when its curled up. Most snakes prefer a smaller cozy hide to a large one. She'll grow out of them, but using cheap ones til she's bigger, its no big deal. Most of my snakes had plastic plant pots from the dollar store. Small to med size ones, depending on the size of the snake, Id just cut a little half moon door in the lip of the pot, and sand it so there was no sharp or rough edges. Turn it upside down, and boom, little cheapo hidey place that is super easy to clean too. My snakes even preferred little plant pots to fancy Pet Smart molded hides.

Undertank heater if you dont have one is something you will have to actually spring a bit of money for. You shouldn't need more than just a small one. Pet smart and most pet stores will have them. They stick to the underside of the tank, and just put off a little heat. I always put them under one hide, whichever side is going to be your 'warm' side.

You will need a thermometer. You can find those for pretty cheap, even the little stick on ones are usually enough. If you've been keeping snakes a long time its generally not as big of a deal, I can usually stick my hand in a terrarium and generally know if the inside is the right temp and humidity.

Overheat light. You can even use one of those cheapo shop lights from wal-mart. I think I paid about 7 dollars each for mine. They don't have to be run all the time, and often you might even find yourself leaving them off during warm weather. Very good though if the under heater alone isnt giving enough heat.. I always offset mine a bit, not quite center but not all the way over to one end of the warm side. You can even provide a basking spot, a smooth flat rock, under where the light is focused.


Feeding - yes most snakes might be off their feed a few days after being placed in a new environment. You also want to make sure she's warm enough. Most snakes that are too cold won't eat. I'm more used to Ball Pythons than anything else, and they can be picky, really picky and the slightest little thing will make them refuse a meal.. So I developed a trick.

Thaw the mouse under warm, not quite hot water. You want to make sure its really warmed up all the way through. Place the snake in it's warm side hide. Place thawed mouse on top of snake. Cover with hide. Put warm damp towel over hide. Then just leave the room. If you need to run errands, or something you can just leave the house.. But make sure the snake is undisturbed for at least 30 min, maybe about 40. 95 percent of the time that's made my reluctant feeders finally eat.

Snakes ARE adorable. Check out these little hognose snakes.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E6GKOz1Rx4s

Zhi - I'll have to keep that feeding trick in mind in case she does continue to be finicky. Thanks.

When I got her, they told me I should only need the heating pad underneath, but the temperature kept showing too low, so I got her a small lamp, too. It was still sitting a bit low though, so now the heater for our room is aimed at her tank, and it's staying around 80 now. I'm wondering if it might be off, though, since she spends all her time in the cool side of the tank.

I already forgot what I'm using for substrate and the bag's downstairs, but it was recommended and was being used by the folks I bought her from. I might go looking for some Spanish moss; I've been wanting to add something to her hide anyway, especially since she kept spending all her time in there until I covered the back and one side of the tank. Now she sits in that covered corner, mostly. There's not a Walmart nearby, but there's a few other places in easy walking distance. I might see about a new hide, too, the one I got is kinda big.

And that video was adorable. @.@ The wound videos that it tried to direct me to after... not so much.

So here's Dozer, our tortoise. It's currently about 2/3s the size of my little hands 3 inches. It got a new, larger home yesterday. Instead of its tank (32 gallon, I think?) Dozer now has a wide, low bin, the sort for storing stuff under the bed. It's got its own little pool (bought for Desi, but it's too big to fit in her tank with the little house I got her, so she's got a little bowl instead), and a couple ramps onto a little shelf that also serves as the roof of a cave. That tortoise is so spoiled.

She aaaaaaaaaaate! Took the whole day, but I finally got Desi to eat. Now I'm just hoping there's no problem with it from letting the mouse sit under the heat lamp for a few hours... Had a little scare too, she got overheated, but she seems to be doing fine now.

She's also already got an appointment with a doctor dude who's apparently bursting with useful information, so I'll see how that goes. Guy also identified Dozer as female (and illegal-ish; she's too young to legally sell :o ). YAY I'M NOT GENDER-OUTNUMBERED ANYMORE. (Edit: But considering that the guys do seem to think of me as a pet sometimes...)

I'm just so happy she ate. It's stupid, I know, but still. Happy.

Dawwwwr! Both look so adorable!! I'm glad Desi finally ate, though I expected no less. x3 I hope the vet (assuming it's a vet?) will be able to load you with info!

She is absolutely gorgeous
Congrats!

Back from the vet. Guy favors reptiles, though he deals with other animals, and he's apparently recommended for reptiles by the Oregon Zoo, so... yeah. Anyway, all is well. ^^ Desi was getting called cute and pretty but everyone, too. Like five different people, two of which came in just to admire her.