First baby cornsnake!?

[Tanya]

Brought my new baby corn snake back yesterday morning, it looked around and went to sleep in its warm hide. When should I attempt to handle it? The shop told me to wait 10-12days after bringing it home but it seems to long for some reason.
As well, I've woken up to it asleep in its cold hide, does this mean the heat mat was too warm or is this normal?


Looking into buying an infrared light for night times, would this conduct more heat inside the vivarium?

[Matt R]

Hi Tanya,

For your questions -

- I would wait at least a couple weeks before trying to handle to allow your snake to become acclimated to its environment. There's no exact rule on this, but taking your time is always better in these circumstances.
- According to the article I reference here - you'll want a temp. between 77 and 82 degrees and that it's OK to allow the temp. to drop into the lower 70s at night. You should also try to create a hotspot around 90 degrees, during the day, should your snake wish to bask. I suspect your snake is fine, and simply looking for a place to hide (they LOVE to hide and it makes them feel more secure) at night. You could try moving the hide area closer to the warmer side of your tank? I would recommend doing what you can to offer your snake a few separate temperature options within the tank, so that he may regulate more naturally. Using a red heat bulb would be fine to achieve this at night - but I would start with a thermometer first to get a sense of what your temperatures actually are. You may not need one at night? Good luck!

[Christopher]

Yes you will have to wait this long basically you wait a full week. Once that has happened you attempt to feed your snake for the first time allow 48 hours for it to digest it properly then you can start handling it. You want to handle them at least 2-3 times a week. To keep them calm. The less you handle them the more aggressive they can become. As far as your snake going to the warm side then cool side. Is long as your temps on the warm side are between 80-88 degrees F. you are good. Your warm side may be a little warm for your snakes liking right now which is why it went to the cool side. There is a great product if you have an under the tank heater that you can get, its called the hydro farm thermostat. You can set the temp you want it to turn off at and it will go up a degree from that. Will drop two degrees below then will kick the heat mat back on to heat it up. This allows you to worry less. Maintain a good temp for your snake as well. It even has a light on to let you know when its on and that it is working. If you do not have an under the tank heater try to get a smaller bulb. Infrared lights will produce good heat. Check out my facebook page at Corn Snake Facts and Questions. You can post pics of your snake and any questions you may have. I have years of experience with corn, milk, and king snakes. This page is very informative and everyone on this page has nothing but great things to say about this page. Hope to see you on there!

[Ryan]

With my snakes i give them around a week to get used to things. Moving is stressful for snakes. I then would give it about another week before i tried feeding.