First of I want to thank you all for the support and help with my questions. I’ve had my new snake for about 6 weeks now. He’s roughly 18” long and in a 10g. He still has about 3”-4” until he’s as long as the 10g. I also bought a 4x2x2 reptile Kages enclosure that will eventually be his permanent home. My question is should I gradually move into a bigger enclosure (20g next) or just put him in the Kages enclosure next. I figured I’d wait to make the transition until he’s the length of the 10g.
You can keep him in the 10 gallon until he is the length and width of that tank. After that, as long as he is eating consistently you can switch him to his adult enclosure as long as he has plenty of substrate, hides, foliage, fun stuff to climb on, etc.
Corn snakes are not as delicate as other snakes and most easily adjust to new surroundings. I would not buy any more tanks unless you want to be tempted to buy more reptiles to put in them!
I have a 700g+ corn in a 4x2x2, and it’s hard finding her sometimes. She went into it at 70g, and even that was a little early, I think. If you go for your big enclosure, make sure it’s absolutely escape-proof.
I bought all bio dude bioactive stuff for 4x2x2. Tons of things to hid in. 3 cork branches, 2 cork flat, 3 cork tubs, terra firma substate. Honestly so much I’m scared I won’t find him lol.
Just wait until he has Really Outgrown his 10 tank. Trust me he will be totally fine if you let him grow out the length And width Before introducing him to his new home!
As long as the new enclosure is extremely secure (a lot of the big enclosures have gaps either in the doors or in the vents that small snakes can squeeze into), and as long as there are lots of small, tight hides and ground cover, he could technically be moved at any point. However, it will definitely be quite a pain to find him. His personality might also take a turn once he thinks he’s in the wild again! I have a couple snakes that become very defensive with specific hiding spaces because they think they can escape from me in them and having to chase around a terrified snake is not great for building trust. So I would recommend waiting until he’s bigger before moving him.
As others have said, no rush to move him unless you just want to do it. Solid advice given on being sure that the bigger enclosure is secure. It’s astonishing how tiny a gap young corns can exploit to escape. It’s possible to move them into bigger enclosures young, but it’s not necessary.
I would wait until you and your snake have established a reasonable level of trust. That timeline looks a bit different for every individual. Some are easy going and curious right from the start, some take more time. If your snake is a challenge to get hold of in the smaller enclosure, or flighty or defensive, it’s best to wait and work on that trust.
Is he in a large tank? If so you might try putting him in a smaller enclosure for awhile with less “stuff” in it so you can dig him out easier to work with him in order to tame him
Agreed. Less room to run away means less drama when you get him out, leading to becoming calm about it sooner.
Don’t take it personally when your snake dives for cover when you lift the lid. Remember that in nature, many things want to eat young snakes and they know this instinctively. Approach from above in nature nearly always equals danger. He’s simply responding as his instincts prompt him. Keep being calm, patient, and direct when you get him out. He will learn that he’s safe in the situation. Some learn this faster than others, but he’ll get there. Don’t give up.
It is best not to handle a snake a couple of days before they eat and then a couple of days afterwards. Otherwise corns can be handled on a regular basis imo. In your case the more you handle him the quicker he will tame down.
I usually like to handle my snakes every day when I’m trying to habituate them to being handled. But I keep the handling sessions short and always try to put them away on a positive note. So for a very nervous or flighty snake, I’d get them out, wait for them to calm down for a couple minutes, and then put them back.
The only days you shouldn’t handle them are the day you feed them, and then give them 24-48 hours to digest their meal before handling them again.
Once they’re pretty chill with being handled, I still like to get them out at least 3-4 times a week, just because I enjoy interacting with them. I also try to gradually increase the amount of time I have them out as they get more comfortable with human interaction.
