Im fairly new to taking care of snakes. I have a several month old cornsnake and was recently given a 5 year old because they couldnt take care of it anymore. The folks i got it from told me that he only eats live mice (where as my little one eats thawed pinkies just fine). I feed them sunday mornings and so going and buying a feeder mouse early in the morning is a little inconvenient. how might i go about buying one the night before and keeping it till morning? Are there special arrangements that should be made?
this is the older snake in question.
That tank there should work fine for keeping mice overnight, and honestly you don't really need much in there. Maybe just cover the bottom with newspaper and throw in a toilet paper roll or two. I wouldn't even worry about food or water. Be prepared for them to shit and piss all over it though.
That being said, it should be easy enough to transition to frozen/thawed, corn snakes are not particularly picky. I would wait a few weeks and then try offering a thawed adult mouse. Use tongs and wiggle it around if you're not already doing that with the younger guy.
>>2149018
I hope youre not keeping that snake in that tank.
>>2149048
no no no thats the feeder tank
>>2149045
This. Also heat it up in hot water for a couple minutes right before offering to snake.
Why does it have to be in the morning? Just feed them whenever. They're reptiles, they're not smart enough to realize you are feeding them a few hours later than usual nor do they care.
Also >feeder tank
Don't.
>>2149369
Why is it bad to feed them in a feeding tub/tank?
>>2149400
Not bad exactly, just unnecessary.
>tfw used to have a cornsnake a friend caught and gave to me that would only take mice from my hand
>keep it for about a year, even did a presentation on how to keep snakes using pics from it in a class
>got drunk one night, woke up to snake getting under metal water bowl and banging it against side of tank
>drunkenly take snake outside to the woods and let it go because annoyed
I wonder if its still alive? I grew it pretty big and let it go at a prime spot for sneks
I hate that I rarely see wild snakes anymore as well. I've only seen two eastern kings in the wild over the past two years
>>2149409
well id like to avoid them ingesting substrate
>>2149018
snake owners should be executed
>>2149676
Risk to the snake if a little bit of substrate is ingested is minimal. You can also lay down a sheet of paper towel next to your snake on top of the substrate and wiggle of the rodent above it so snake eats it while on the paper towel.
Or you can do separate feeding container if you wish. There's no harm in it, it's just not necessary.
>>2149696
Yea you're right, no animals should ever eat any other animals for any reason ever.
>>2149018
>recently given a 5 year old because they couldnt take care of it anymore
A 5 year old corn snake? Can't care for it? Does this person have ANY other pets at all? Because even a hamster is 20x more work than a snake. Who says they can't take care of a snake anymore? The least they could do is say something somewhat believable, like the landlord is angry is sister is scared. Craigslist has a lot of great dishonest excuse ideas.
If I ever got rid of my snake, I'd be honest. He's boring, and takes up a lot of real estate. That 4'x2' penthouse PVC cage of his hogs a ton of floor space.
>>2149369
>Why does it have to be in the morning? Just feed them whenever.
Depends on the snake. An arboreal tropical snake hunts at night (specifically, right after dusk), and you get a much better feeding response. A diurnal snake like a Gopher Snake sleeps at night, so you feed them during the day. And diurnal have their own personalities - some like to eat in the morning, mine likes to eat right before dusk. Just depends.
They might eat at other times (probably will), but when you're paying $3 a pop for giant rats, you really don't want to waste them on a gamble of whether or not the snake eats. You want the deck stacked in your favor.
>>2149676
>well id like to avoid them ingesting substrate
If you're using correct substrate, the risk is pretty much not present. The assholes using playground sand as substrate? They're the ones having impaction issues with their reptiles. I use aspen for my snake, and even then, I feed it on a paper plate (which is quite handy, I recommend it).
>>2150310
Anon, it's a corn snake. Read the OP. My comment was obviously directed towards OP's situation.
It ain't eating "giant $3 rats" either.
>>2149696
That's a funny way of spelling cats
