Engels verslag, over gutten.
Geplaatst: 10-03-2011 14:05
mijn engels verslag over gutten. Goed voor een 9.5 :D
The corn snake, or ‘red rat snake’
The corn snake is a non-venomous North-American snake, found anywhere from New York (state) to Florida. It is a member of the ‘rat snake’ subspecies, which is part of the colubrid genus. The corn snake is a 5 foot long snake, which is approximately 1 inch thick. It lays about 25 eggs per year, in the breeding season. Little corn snakes are approximately 8 inches long, and a quarter of an inch thick.
Corn snakes are the world’s most kept pet snake, due to their docility and size. It is an overall small snake, and relatively calm. It does not need a lot of space, a 3”x2”x2” terrarium suits perfectly fine.
Of course they need proper lighting and a proper temperature. They need a cold side of approximately 22 degrees Celsius, and a warmer side of approximately 30 degrees Celsius, with a maximum of 35 degrees Celsius right under the spot. Their temperature at night should lay somewhere around 20 degrees Celcius. Of course you do not want to have a bright yellow light on at night. So what you might want to consider is placing a night lamp in their cage. They have blue light protruding out of them, which the snake won't be able to see.
Their cage does not need a lot of ornaments. Two hiding places, one on the cold side and one on the warmer side. A water dish, in which they fit completely, and can swim around in. A rock, against which they can rub their skin, while they are in shed, and some (fake) plants. You want to use fake plants, because they will destroy real plants.
You also want to have a proper bedding in your cage. You can buy snake bedding at about any pet store. There are multiple kinds of proper snake bedding, with newspapers being the cheapest, and ugliest. You can also use repti-bark, a type of tree bark, specially selected for reptiles. I like to use humus blocks. These are firmly packed blocks of dirt and bark, which you de-pack by soaking them in water. They are a lot cheaper than bags of repti-bark and a lot easier to transport. You can save up to 12,75 euro’s by buying a block of humus.
What you also want to think of, before buying your own corn snake, is that they do eat rodents. They eat 1 mouse every 7-10 days. So what want to consider are 2 things:
- Where do I get rodents, suitable for feeding my snake with?
- Am I comfortable with feeding rodents to my snake? Some snakes will not accept frozen/thawed rodents. You should feed these snakes live rodents. For some people this can be a painful experience.
Another great thing about corn snakes is the fact that they are available in a lot of color mutations. You have completely white snake, without any pattern, they are called ‘blizzards’, yellow snakes (butter, ultramel or caramel), red snakes (amelanistic, lava, fire, diffused or bloodred), grey snakes (ghost, anerythristic or charcoal) and just regular terracotta-colored snakes (normal).
I have 2 corn snakes, an amelanistic one, and a normal one. The normal one is very docile and likes to roll up on your lap while you are watching tv, but the amelanistic one is a real pain. She will bite your hands, at the moment you put them in the cage. The only way of picking her up, is by teasing her with a pencil, until she starts moving, and then grab her behind the head. The weird thing is, at the moment you hold her, she becomes perfectly calm and starts moving around your hands, exploring them.
All in all, corn snakes make great pets, and are fantastic animals. I highly recommend buying one! But before you buy one: do your research. They are exotic pets, and they should be treated that way. So give them a right environment to live in, with proper temperatures, and plenty of hiding places.
Written by: Gideon van der Stelt
The corn snake, or ‘red rat snake’
The corn snake is a non-venomous North-American snake, found anywhere from New York (state) to Florida. It is a member of the ‘rat snake’ subspecies, which is part of the colubrid genus. The corn snake is a 5 foot long snake, which is approximately 1 inch thick. It lays about 25 eggs per year, in the breeding season. Little corn snakes are approximately 8 inches long, and a quarter of an inch thick.
Corn snakes are the world’s most kept pet snake, due to their docility and size. It is an overall small snake, and relatively calm. It does not need a lot of space, a 3”x2”x2” terrarium suits perfectly fine.
Of course they need proper lighting and a proper temperature. They need a cold side of approximately 22 degrees Celsius, and a warmer side of approximately 30 degrees Celsius, with a maximum of 35 degrees Celsius right under the spot. Their temperature at night should lay somewhere around 20 degrees Celcius. Of course you do not want to have a bright yellow light on at night. So what you might want to consider is placing a night lamp in their cage. They have blue light protruding out of them, which the snake won't be able to see.
Their cage does not need a lot of ornaments. Two hiding places, one on the cold side and one on the warmer side. A water dish, in which they fit completely, and can swim around in. A rock, against which they can rub their skin, while they are in shed, and some (fake) plants. You want to use fake plants, because they will destroy real plants.
You also want to have a proper bedding in your cage. You can buy snake bedding at about any pet store. There are multiple kinds of proper snake bedding, with newspapers being the cheapest, and ugliest. You can also use repti-bark, a type of tree bark, specially selected for reptiles. I like to use humus blocks. These are firmly packed blocks of dirt and bark, which you de-pack by soaking them in water. They are a lot cheaper than bags of repti-bark and a lot easier to transport. You can save up to 12,75 euro’s by buying a block of humus.
What you also want to think of, before buying your own corn snake, is that they do eat rodents. They eat 1 mouse every 7-10 days. So what want to consider are 2 things:
- Where do I get rodents, suitable for feeding my snake with?
- Am I comfortable with feeding rodents to my snake? Some snakes will not accept frozen/thawed rodents. You should feed these snakes live rodents. For some people this can be a painful experience.
Another great thing about corn snakes is the fact that they are available in a lot of color mutations. You have completely white snake, without any pattern, they are called ‘blizzards’, yellow snakes (butter, ultramel or caramel), red snakes (amelanistic, lava, fire, diffused or bloodred), grey snakes (ghost, anerythristic or charcoal) and just regular terracotta-colored snakes (normal).
I have 2 corn snakes, an amelanistic one, and a normal one. The normal one is very docile and likes to roll up on your lap while you are watching tv, but the amelanistic one is a real pain. She will bite your hands, at the moment you put them in the cage. The only way of picking her up, is by teasing her with a pencil, until she starts moving, and then grab her behind the head. The weird thing is, at the moment you hold her, she becomes perfectly calm and starts moving around your hands, exploring them.
All in all, corn snakes make great pets, and are fantastic animals. I highly recommend buying one! But before you buy one: do your research. They are exotic pets, and they should be treated that way. So give them a right environment to live in, with proper temperatures, and plenty of hiding places.
Written by: Gideon van der Stelt
