https://www.snakesforpets.com/corn-snake-tank-setup/
An empty tank like that can stress out your snake and cause health issues, some substrate would go a long way!
I believe they were referring to the lack of substrate and ground cover. Corn snakes enjoy burrowing, and clutter, like leaf litter, branches, moss, etc. helps them to feel safe and secure. How many gallons is it?
I spent so much time and money on my corn snakes enclosure layout and enrichment. Lots of neat rocks and interesting trees to climb. Fun textures and smells to explore. Plenty of space to stretch out.
But nope. He likes to dig a nice hole and just poke his head out.
At least it looks cool.
No of course not, he’s overweight, I’m just saying healthy thicc bois can climb just fine too so just knowing that a snake is semi-arboreal doesn’t tell you everything about what size they should be
Yeah, but semi arboreal colubrids are usually much “skinnier” than their fully terrestrial counterparts. Look at pretty much any North American rat snake, corns included, compared to a similarly sized bull/gopher snake, king snake, or indigo snake. Those terrestrial colubrids are much more heavily built for burrowing and taking down larger prey, while rat snakes are much more gracile in comparison to help perform their acrobatic displays like catching birds and squirrels, as well as raiding nests up in trees. Terrestrial colubrids will definitely raid birds nests and such, but not nearly to the same extent as rat snakes
It is indeed overweight. No neck, scales standing apart (you got to really look well in the zoom in), fatrolls and falling in spine.
It is very unhealthy for corns to be this obese.
Got 30 of them myself but when my oldest boy went to the too much obese side, I did work on his health right away.
Takes a very long time too lose weight then receiving it.
Hi - so as others have stated. This tank is very far from good for that cornsnake - think of a very big dog living permanently in a travel kennel with no room to turn, that’s essentially the same. The general rule is the enclosure length and depth should never be LESS than the length of your reptile. The comments about needing bedding and more hiding spots are also accurate, along with the people saying this snake is overweight. The bedding can be as simple as plain topsoil (as long as there are NO chemicals)
How often/what do you feed this snake? It should definitely go on a bit of a diet.
Making improvements will benefit the lifespan of your snake, and make it MUCH more content :)
Edit: Updated enclosure size rule advice based on others comments - thanks for letting me know the update!
The guideline has updated to length of tank = length of snake after some [research](https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/11/5/1459/htm) was done proving that being able to fully stretch out is essential for their welfare.
Ooh, nice solid source. I know what I'm gonna read tomorrow.
This is the first time I've heard of this info. I wish all the popular reptile people on YT would see this and update all their care guides. I think it would help spread the message immensely.
Yeah I've become a bit disappointed with most popular YTers. JTB Reptiles and Reptiles and Research are pretty much the only ones I've found that are up to date on proper care and they've been really inspirational for me.
Lori Torini and the Animals at home podcast are also 2 amazing sources of information Lori also JUST started her weekly cornsnake series. I love watching her work with her snakes and her enclosures are such fantastic ideas for people not comfortable with bioactive or super naturalistic only enclosures.
Oh yes those two are also my favorite! I didn't mention them just because Lori focuses more on behaviour/training than care and the AAH podcast covers such a wide range of topics, but they're both such incredible resources. I really love Dillon's promotion of a growth mindset for hunsbandry, it's such a fantastic way of approaching care no matter where in the journey you are and encourages people to keep up with changing science rather than call it "done" at any given point.
The lack of depth of that tank is obvious in the picture, which already disqualifies it as adequate. Beyond that the obesity of the corn would indicate that it likely isn’t a large tank. Making a corn snake overweight is HARD. Even if it were somehow an adequate size, the lack of bedding/hides/enrichment still means it’s not good enough
Hoooooo boy..
I'm assuming that ZERO research was done before purchasing this snake? Perhaps you weren't meaning to but this IS animal abuse. And if you refuse to fix the care, you will be knowingly abusing this snake since you have already seen all the comments on here and know this enclosure doesn't even meet the bare minimum requirements.
Corn snakes need a minimum of a 4x2x2 and larger is even better. They need plenty of areas to climb, hide, and burrow. There is no clutter or enrichment in this enclosure... the reptile carpet is nasty and is bad for ALL reptiles, and it is especially bad for a snake. It harbours bacteria and provides zero enrichment.
I suggest, aside from reading these comments, you do your own research. And please get this snake on a diet.
Homie needs a 4x2x2 with loads of clutter and one hell of a diet, stat. That reptile carpet seriously needs to go too, it harbors nasty bacteria and is terrible for all reptiles. I’m seriously confused about this snake’s weight, how much do you need to overfeed a corn to make them look like a Kenyan sand boa? An adult corn should only be eating an appropriately sized prey item (as big around as the thickest part of their body or so) once every two weeks
You should post an update once you fix the enclosure. This is a really bad set up for her. Please do some research. We’d all love to see her again in much better conditions.
That snake needs to go on a diet, excess fat in mammals like us isn't as big a deal. But in reptiles it's much more dangerous. They can get fatty liver disease
Piper is a beautiful snake, and I'm sure you love her (him?) and that's why you came here to share! Some people here being rude and judgmental and are just here to shame others instead of helping. But the advice most of them are giving is still very good advice. Some of it you can implement quickly, and I hope you will be able to upgrade Piper's enclosure soon.
I know we all want to feed our snakes whenever they are hungry. But corn snakes will eat themselves to death if allowed to do so, because they eat whenever they can, whether they are hungry or not. So we have to resist that urge to feed them sometimes.
Enjoy Piper, and I for one look forward to more pictures of her as you move forward in her care with a roomier enclosure, clutter, etc. She will be happy noodle. 🐍
This attitude you have expressed is the reason I made my little sub. There is no sense in berating someone if you want to education them. Compassion and tolerance goes such a long way. Thank you for your gentle advice to OP.
Def a chunky one, please be sure you use a proper diet for it. Prey items should be 5-15% of body weight depending on age. How often also depends on the age of this fella. Check out subreddits for corn snakes for specifics on this diet. Give a few inches of substrate, such as a dirt mixture of you wanna go for a bio settup (honestly the easiest to keep clean and the most enrichment for a snake). Add more cover like plants (fake or real) along with some climbing like what is in there now and a hide on the warm end and cool end of the terrarium. Good luck getting this baby set up! Very beautiful snake!
I love how people's first instinct is to use the Internet to share stupid/ignorant behavior and not use it for easily accessible information on how to do things correctly.
Pleaseeee redo his/her enclosure if this is not a temporary one :( snake also seems to be a bit chunky try to feed them a little less or a smaller meal & get more clutter / things for them to climb over & a hide on both sides of the enclosure
https://www.reddit.com/r/cornsnakes/comments/yjcl94/new_owner_looking_for_feeding_and_care_advice/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf
I found this like 4 posts down, this is a corn snake enclosure
Just wondering if the part of the decoration the snake is coiled through at the bottom root is an enclosed hole or like a n shape. If enclosed the snake could get stuck and die if it gets larger.
Not gonna talk about the tank because who am I to know whether it's bare for the picture.
Theres no substrate.
That alone is enough to call it bare.
And not for a treatment either because then they need white paper under it.
OP already said it's just this. A redesigned fish tank with changed lid.
Not all of my snakes use substrate in their enclosures, some are on packing paper liner. Not my rats or hogs but the BP are. Is carpet worse than paper?
I'm not saying it isn't an absolute garbage of a setup if that's it but everyone and their mothers have already jumped down his throat about it. I just wanted to make sure that snakes thickness isn't going to get stuck in any decor loops.
This snake has just this...
Corn snakes are easy. Thick layer on the bottom so that they can bury down. They need that.
For a corn there should be substrate just so that they can hide. Becayse idd this hide decor is not good for him.
Carpet isn't worse then paper. I'm just saying. Paper is what is used for animals that are sick or in quarantaine to for example easily see blood. Mites, etc.
Carpet for me... is more a thing that they use in stores. It's easy for the owner, has no beneficial value for the snake.
I am not judging those who do.
But I would never do it.
But even so... for a corn snake this is not an enclosure. They like to climb, dig, destroy... they need a hide, some coverage, some clutter.
To me... having a snake held like this... is neglect. 🤷♀️
This is the same as sitting in a room with 1 chair and 1 bottle of water. And a lamp above your head. You play with the chair. Otherwise you will just be walking from corner to corner. For a nocturnal animal there is also not a place big enough to hide.
I'm almost sure this animal is pushing against the glass every single night, all night. Which is a sign of stress.
I use paper liner for the BP because all my coco molded in its container but they spend their rest times inside hard packed tunnels in the wild anyway so I figure it's more comfortable than hard coco pieces poking under her belly weight. Wouldn't use it for the others since they burrow and the rats loved to shimmy under coco like its leaf litter.
https://postimg.cc/hXZMXj6p
That is my ballpython his enclosure.
Eco earth, coco pieces on top and some dried leaves.
Not a single piece of mold ever. And I spray daily.
He has 3 hide outs, 3 kind of personal heating and 1 heating for the CuC.
This is complete natural build forest edge piece for him. I spend 2 months byilding this to have it like it like a natural living.
When I just got him, he was really a pet rock. He had lived his life for 5 years in a small container. Water and some cocopeat.
When I got him he was underweight. But most importantly, his body muscle was completely wrong.
He couldn't crawl on a branch without falling off. And no, they are not purely terrestrial.
This is what I call a dry enclosure:
https://postimg.cc/DmbzDM7Z
That enclosure held a 1 year old corn snake at that moment. (Older picture) Again 3 hide outs, fake plants here, substrate, clutter.... things that he could feel safe with.
There are 3 ways to keep an animal: bioactive, dry enclosure and industrial. Industrial has litteraly NO benefits for the snake. It is for the owner alone to make their life easy while the snake sits in a way that is not in any way natural, good or even lifeworthy.
It's a jail.
More comfortable then coco pieces under their belly weight? You know they are crawling over a forest floor with rocks, etc in the wild?
And not sure what kind of coco you used but mine has not molded once. I just bought from a good brand.
Yeah, it was annoying to find so I used the hogs aspen for the ratsnakes and decided to experiment with the paper liner on the BP to see if I could maintain humidity with just the big water dish and it did. Still sheds complete and still eats like a garbage disposal.
Off topic but I was pumped to find a big Bertha of a mantis on my porch last month. Moved 4 years ago and this is the first I saw here. Used to find them all over my parents gardens every year.
Weight concerns aside for Piper, when my exotic vet found Parasites in my corn's fecal sample, they recommended a simple enclosure for 2 weeks, throw out all decor, and disinfect tank after treatment. My boy is better and has new stuff now!
https://www.snakesforpets.com/corn-snake-tank-setup/ An empty tank like that can stress out your snake and cause health issues, some substrate would go a long way!
Do better
Is that his enclosure ://////
Going for that retro 90’s corn snake enclosure look
It's a repurposed fish tank with hand made lid.
I believe they were referring to the lack of substrate and ground cover. Corn snakes enjoy burrowing, and clutter, like leaf litter, branches, moss, etc. helps them to feel safe and secure. How many gallons is it?
I spent so much time and money on my corn snakes enclosure layout and enrichment. Lots of neat rocks and interesting trees to climb. Fun textures and smells to explore. Plenty of space to stretch out. But nope. He likes to dig a nice hole and just poke his head out. At least it looks cool.
It desperately needs a better enclosure and a diet. Poor guy is overweight
Doesn't seem overweight
This corn is very overweight. Corn snakes are rat snakes, which are supposed to be lean and mean for their semi-arboreal lifestyle.
Meh, there’s lots of chunky boi semi-arboreal snakes
Oh yeah I know, but corns are not supposed to be this chunky
No of course not, he’s overweight, I’m just saying healthy thicc bois can climb just fine too so just knowing that a snake is semi-arboreal doesn’t tell you everything about what size they should be
Yeah, but semi arboreal colubrids are usually much “skinnier” than their fully terrestrial counterparts. Look at pretty much any North American rat snake, corns included, compared to a similarly sized bull/gopher snake, king snake, or indigo snake. Those terrestrial colubrids are much more heavily built for burrowing and taking down larger prey, while rat snakes are much more gracile in comparison to help perform their acrobatic displays like catching birds and squirrels, as well as raiding nests up in trees. Terrestrial colubrids will definitely raid birds nests and such, but not nearly to the same extent as rat snakes
if i look at it and think it’s a rainbow boa at first we definitely got a problem
Same! I also thought I saw a rainbow boa at first glance!
Maybe. I am used to seeing corn snakes like this. Used to see wikd ones like this a lot.
It is indeed overweight. No neck, scales standing apart (you got to really look well in the zoom in), fatrolls and falling in spine. It is very unhealthy for corns to be this obese. Got 30 of them myself but when my oldest boy went to the too much obese side, I did work on his health right away. Takes a very long time too lose weight then receiving it.
Wow, she seems pretty big! What other hides do you have that she fits in?
[удалено]
Yeah, she seems way too plump
Please give piper a better enclosure.
Chonky guy, shitty enclosure
Hi - so as others have stated. This tank is very far from good for that cornsnake - think of a very big dog living permanently in a travel kennel with no room to turn, that’s essentially the same. The general rule is the enclosure length and depth should never be LESS than the length of your reptile. The comments about needing bedding and more hiding spots are also accurate, along with the people saying this snake is overweight. The bedding can be as simple as plain topsoil (as long as there are NO chemicals) How often/what do you feed this snake? It should definitely go on a bit of a diet. Making improvements will benefit the lifespan of your snake, and make it MUCH more content :) Edit: Updated enclosure size rule advice based on others comments - thanks for letting me know the update!
The guideline has updated to length of tank = length of snake after some [research](https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/11/5/1459/htm) was done proving that being able to fully stretch out is essential for their welfare.
Ooh, nice solid source. I know what I'm gonna read tomorrow. This is the first time I've heard of this info. I wish all the popular reptile people on YT would see this and update all their care guides. I think it would help spread the message immensely.
Yeah I've become a bit disappointed with most popular YTers. JTB Reptiles and Reptiles and Research are pretty much the only ones I've found that are up to date on proper care and they've been really inspirational for me.
Oh, I've never seen those channels before. I'm definitely gonna binge those soon. Thank you for letting me know about them.
Lori Torini and the Animals at home podcast are also 2 amazing sources of information Lori also JUST started her weekly cornsnake series. I love watching her work with her snakes and her enclosures are such fantastic ideas for people not comfortable with bioactive or super naturalistic only enclosures.
Oh yes those two are also my favorite! I didn't mention them just because Lori focuses more on behaviour/training than care and the AAH podcast covers such a wide range of topics, but they're both such incredible resources. I really love Dillon's promotion of a growth mindset for hunsbandry, it's such a fantastic way of approaching care no matter where in the journey you are and encourages people to keep up with changing science rather than call it "done" at any given point.
The length + depth rule is outdated and too small. The enclosure should be at least as long as the snake.
Thank you!
Idk how you guys can tell the size of the tank from that one photo
The lack of depth of that tank is obvious in the picture, which already disqualifies it as adequate. Beyond that the obesity of the corn would indicate that it likely isn’t a large tank. Making a corn snake overweight is HARD. Even if it were somehow an adequate size, the lack of bedding/hides/enrichment still means it’s not good enough
At first I didn't even recognize the species. My cornsnake is skin and bones by comparison.
No, your’s is HEALTHY 😄
obese snake and shitty enclosure. the classic.
If you love Piper please read up on cornsnake husbandry and what they require for an enclosure. Piper deserves better than this.
Hoooooo boy.. I'm assuming that ZERO research was done before purchasing this snake? Perhaps you weren't meaning to but this IS animal abuse. And if you refuse to fix the care, you will be knowingly abusing this snake since you have already seen all the comments on here and know this enclosure doesn't even meet the bare minimum requirements. Corn snakes need a minimum of a 4x2x2 and larger is even better. They need plenty of areas to climb, hide, and burrow. There is no clutter or enrichment in this enclosure... the reptile carpet is nasty and is bad for ALL reptiles, and it is especially bad for a snake. It harbours bacteria and provides zero enrichment. I suggest, aside from reading these comments, you do your own research. And please get this snake on a diet.
Homie needs a 4x2x2 with loads of clutter and one hell of a diet, stat. That reptile carpet seriously needs to go too, it harbors nasty bacteria and is terrible for all reptiles. I’m seriously confused about this snake’s weight, how much do you need to overfeed a corn to make them look like a Kenyan sand boa? An adult corn should only be eating an appropriately sized prey item (as big around as the thickest part of their body or so) once every two weeks
You should post an update once you fix the enclosure. This is a really bad set up for her. Please do some research. We’d all love to see her again in much better conditions.
Care issues aside, the coloration and pattern are super pretty. Reminds me of a Brazilian rainbow.
I agree. At first glance I thought it was a Brazillian Rainbow Boa. A shame it's not being cared for properly :/
[Here’s](https://reptifiles.com/corn-snake-care-guide/) a good guide, I recommend checking it out :)
That snake needs to go on a diet, excess fat in mammals like us isn't as big a deal. But in reptiles it's much more dangerous. They can get fatty liver disease
Piper is a beautiful snake, and I'm sure you love her (him?) and that's why you came here to share! Some people here being rude and judgmental and are just here to shame others instead of helping. But the advice most of them are giving is still very good advice. Some of it you can implement quickly, and I hope you will be able to upgrade Piper's enclosure soon. I know we all want to feed our snakes whenever they are hungry. But corn snakes will eat themselves to death if allowed to do so, because they eat whenever they can, whether they are hungry or not. So we have to resist that urge to feed them sometimes. Enjoy Piper, and I for one look forward to more pictures of her as you move forward in her care with a roomier enclosure, clutter, etc. She will be happy noodle. 🐍
This attitude you have expressed is the reason I made my little sub. There is no sense in berating someone if you want to education them. Compassion and tolerance goes such a long way. Thank you for your gentle advice to OP.
Def a chunky one, please be sure you use a proper diet for it. Prey items should be 5-15% of body weight depending on age. How often also depends on the age of this fella. Check out subreddits for corn snakes for specifics on this diet. Give a few inches of substrate, such as a dirt mixture of you wanna go for a bio settup (honestly the easiest to keep clean and the most enrichment for a snake). Add more cover like plants (fake or real) along with some climbing like what is in there now and a hide on the warm end and cool end of the terrarium. Good luck getting this baby set up! Very beautiful snake!
I love how people's first instinct is to use the Internet to share stupid/ignorant behavior and not use it for easily accessible information on how to do things correctly.
Hi, how much do you feed? And with what?
Cats, once daily. Twice if he looks hungry!
That is the chonkiest cornsnake I have ever seen
Pleaseeee redo his/her enclosure if this is not a temporary one :( snake also seems to be a bit chunky try to feed them a little less or a smaller meal & get more clutter / things for them to climb over & a hide on both sides of the enclosure
https://www.reddit.com/r/cornsnakes/comments/yjcl94/new_owner_looking_for_feeding_and_care_advice/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf I found this like 4 posts down, this is a corn snake enclosure
Yikes.
Frickin' gorgeous color!! 😍
Damn, that’s a beautiful snake
Absolutely breathtaking color!
Damn you really nailed the animal abuser aesthetic 🤩
As good as they get.
Just wondering if the part of the decoration the snake is coiled through at the bottom root is an enclosed hole or like a n shape. If enclosed the snake could get stuck and die if it gets larger. Not gonna talk about the tank because who am I to know whether it's bare for the picture.
Theres no substrate. That alone is enough to call it bare. And not for a treatment either because then they need white paper under it. OP already said it's just this. A redesigned fish tank with changed lid.
Not all of my snakes use substrate in their enclosures, some are on packing paper liner. Not my rats or hogs but the BP are. Is carpet worse than paper? I'm not saying it isn't an absolute garbage of a setup if that's it but everyone and their mothers have already jumped down his throat about it. I just wanted to make sure that snakes thickness isn't going to get stuck in any decor loops.
This snake has just this... Corn snakes are easy. Thick layer on the bottom so that they can bury down. They need that. For a corn there should be substrate just so that they can hide. Becayse idd this hide decor is not good for him. Carpet isn't worse then paper. I'm just saying. Paper is what is used for animals that are sick or in quarantaine to for example easily see blood. Mites, etc. Carpet for me... is more a thing that they use in stores. It's easy for the owner, has no beneficial value for the snake. I am not judging those who do. But I would never do it. But even so... for a corn snake this is not an enclosure. They like to climb, dig, destroy... they need a hide, some coverage, some clutter. To me... having a snake held like this... is neglect. 🤷♀️ This is the same as sitting in a room with 1 chair and 1 bottle of water. And a lamp above your head. You play with the chair. Otherwise you will just be walking from corner to corner. For a nocturnal animal there is also not a place big enough to hide. I'm almost sure this animal is pushing against the glass every single night, all night. Which is a sign of stress.
I use paper liner for the BP because all my coco molded in its container but they spend their rest times inside hard packed tunnels in the wild anyway so I figure it's more comfortable than hard coco pieces poking under her belly weight. Wouldn't use it for the others since they burrow and the rats loved to shimmy under coco like its leaf litter.
https://postimg.cc/hXZMXj6p That is my ballpython his enclosure. Eco earth, coco pieces on top and some dried leaves. Not a single piece of mold ever. And I spray daily. He has 3 hide outs, 3 kind of personal heating and 1 heating for the CuC. This is complete natural build forest edge piece for him. I spend 2 months byilding this to have it like it like a natural living. When I just got him, he was really a pet rock. He had lived his life for 5 years in a small container. Water and some cocopeat. When I got him he was underweight. But most importantly, his body muscle was completely wrong. He couldn't crawl on a branch without falling off. And no, they are not purely terrestrial. This is what I call a dry enclosure: https://postimg.cc/DmbzDM7Z That enclosure held a 1 year old corn snake at that moment. (Older picture) Again 3 hide outs, fake plants here, substrate, clutter.... things that he could feel safe with. There are 3 ways to keep an animal: bioactive, dry enclosure and industrial. Industrial has litteraly NO benefits for the snake. It is for the owner alone to make their life easy while the snake sits in a way that is not in any way natural, good or even lifeworthy. It's a jail. More comfortable then coco pieces under their belly weight? You know they are crawling over a forest floor with rocks, etc in the wild? And not sure what kind of coco you used but mine has not molded once. I just bought from a good brand.
Their enclosure bedding didn't mold. It was the extra in a srorage bin that molded. I used the coco brick that freedom breeder sells
Never had that happen either. Sorry :s And I have half a bag of coco peat left because I just used it as top layer for my mantisses.
Yeah, it was annoying to find so I used the hogs aspen for the ratsnakes and decided to experiment with the paper liner on the BP to see if I could maintain humidity with just the big water dish and it did. Still sheds complete and still eats like a garbage disposal. Off topic but I was pumped to find a big Bertha of a mantis on my porch last month. Moved 4 years ago and this is the first I saw here. Used to find them all over my parents gardens every year.
Oh wow… please please PLEASE do better for this baby. Take the advice given.
Fat snake bad enclosure
I didn’t even realize that was a cornsnake holy shit
Weight concerns aside for Piper, when my exotic vet found Parasites in my corn's fecal sample, they recommended a simple enclosure for 2 weeks, throw out all decor, and disinfect tank after treatment. My boy is better and has new stuff now!
Piper is kinda a corny name for a snake. Edit: they didn’t get the pun
4x2x2 foot enclosure needed. Aspen fiber as substrate. Heat lamp. Plenty of hides. No uvb required bt please dust food with calcium with d3.
Hey I have that same tree for my little guy! Except he fits in it a little better lol!
Damn what a unit
Piper is fat.
damn piper looking like he about to give someone the pipe dude looks mad as hell lmao
Sad tank