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Post by sgtyayap on Sept 2, 2010 20:32:12 GMT -5
I must say, I love the boas especially, pitbulllady. Course, then again, I'm a sucker for large constrictors. ;D
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Post by mistica0christina on Sept 2, 2010 23:36:02 GMT -5
So, if I'm understanding right, she (at least I'm assuming is a she) is more of a mix breed than? Supposedly according to Petsmart, she is catagorized as an amelanistic corn snake but since her appearance and pattern didn't match the picture they had advertised, I thought that she was something completely different. Her former cage mate who is known as a black corn snake matched exactly the basic picture they had advertised but she didn't so that's why I was curious as far as her type was concerned. My dad thought she had to be the exact same type as my brother's snake but I honestly didn't think so because their color patterns have very little in similiarity.
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Post by pitbulllady on Sept 3, 2010 5:15:52 GMT -5
So, if I'm understanding right, she (at least I'm assuming is a she) is more of a mix breed than? Supposedly according to Petsmart, she is catagorized as an amelanistic corn snake but since her appearance and pattern didn't match the picture they had advertised, I thought that she was something completely different. Her former cage mate who is known as a black corn snake matched exactly the basic picture they had advertised but she didn't so that's why I was curious as far as her type was concerned. My dad thought she had to be the exact same type as my brother's snake but I honestly didn't think so because their color patterns have very little in similiarity. You have to understand that color, aka pigment, in reptiles is inherited separately from pattern. "Amelanistic" means the snake has no melanin, or black pigment, so it is technically an albino. Terms like "Motley" or "Aztec" refer to the pattern, which can appear on any Corn, regardless of color. Your new Corn IS amelanistic, hence her pink eyes, a sure sign of an albino animal, but the pattern on the front part of her is close to that of an Aztec Corn, but changes to a normal Corn pattern further down. pitbulllady
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Post by mistica0christina on Sept 3, 2010 10:35:46 GMT -5
Wait, you said that she is amnelastic which means albino. Does that mean that I have to keep aware of her skin since albinos are more prominent to getting stuff like sunburns and damage to their skin caused by light? I'm sorry if I'm having a hard time getting this, I've never had a reptile pet before ever, all of my past pet experience was mostly fish, birds, dogs, and a guinea pig, reptiles are a total first for me.
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Post by pitbulllady on Sept 3, 2010 16:23:13 GMT -5
Wait, you said that she is amnelastic which means albino. Does that mean that I have to keep aware of her skin since albinos are more prominent to getting stuff like sunburns and damage to their skin caused by light? I'm sorry if I'm having a hard time getting this, I've never had a reptile pet before ever, all of my past pet experience was mostly fish, birds, dogs, and a guinea pig, reptiles are a total first for me. Yes, it means she is albino, and yes, it DOES mean that you will have to be VERY careful with her around sunlight or UVB artificial lights, since albino animals are very prone to sunburn AND skin cancer. Unlike lizards, snakes are able to synthesize Vitamin D, and so they do not need artificial lighting at all other than to provide heat for tropical species, so there is no need for a UVB light, although most pet stores will try their best to convince you otherwise so they can sell you the expensive lights to go with the snake. Ordinary household lights do not produce UVB, which are the wavelengths that cause sunburn and skin cancer, though. You still will have to limit your snake's time outdoors in the sun, as it can damage both her skin and her eyes, since they lack protective pigments as well. pitbulllady
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Post by mistica0christina on Sept 3, 2010 21:10:05 GMT -5
Okay...I'll have to check the lightbulb when I get home then but at least having a light on in the cage is fine I would think? I have my cage set up the same as my brother's snake and lizard cage. He has a light on one side that keeps that side warm while there is no light on the other side in order to keep that side cooler. The two sides of the cage do stay at different temperatures mostly ranging about a ten degrees difference from the other. Is that okay? Also, she has two caves in her tank so if she wants to stay out of the light, she can which she tends to do most of the time, she rarely comes out when the light is on anyway. The warmest her cage can get on the warm side is about ninety which normally we'll turn off the light for a little while or turn on my fan in order to decrease the temperature but mostly we just turn off the light for a little while. After ten at night, I always turn off the light and keep it off until morning. The basic snake kit did come with it's own light but that light covers the whole top of the cage and also gets too hot so I bought a seperate light myself in order to have a warm and cool side in the tank. I don't take her outside due to the fact that I don't have a seperate container for her and also, since you stated that snakes produce their own vitamin D anyway, I don't see a point of taking her outside...also, knowing my dogs, they'll bark like crazy due to their curiousity and all it will do is just stress her out which I would rather not do.
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Post by mistica0christina on Sept 3, 2010 23:23:11 GMT -5
Here is a link to the brand of the light bulb I am using for my snake tank. www.zilla-rules.com/products/day-blue-light.htmIt says that this particular bulb emits UVA rays, are those similiar to UVB and if I'm using the wrong bulb then what else can I use?
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Post by pitbulllady on Sept 4, 2010 12:44:18 GMT -5
Okay...I'll have to check the lightbulb when I get home then but at least having a light on in the cage is fine I would think? I have my cage set up the same as my brother's snake and lizard cage. He has a light on one side that keeps that side warm while there is no light on the other side in order to keep that side cooler. The two sides of the cage do stay at different temperatures mostly ranging about a ten degrees difference from the other. Is that okay? Also, she has two caves in her tank so if she wants to stay out of the light, she can which she tends to do most of the time, she rarely comes out when the light is on anyway. The warmest her cage can get on the warm side is about ninety which normally we'll turn off the light for a little while or turn on my fan in order to decrease the temperature but mostly we just turn off the light for a little while. After ten at night, I always turn off the light and keep it off until morning. The basic snake kit did come with it's own light but that light covers the whole top of the cage and also gets too hot so I bought a seperate light myself in order to have a warm and cool side in the tank. I don't take her outside due to the fact that I don't have a seperate container for her and also, since you stated that snakes produce their own vitamin D anyway, I don't see a point of taking her outside...also, knowing my dogs, they'll bark like crazy due to their curiousity and all it will do is just stress her out which I would rather not do. I've argued again and again that native US snakes which are found in temperate regions do NOT need any auxilliary lighting or heat sources, and in fact, it can be very stressful to them and disrupt their normal cycles. Corn Snakes are nocturnal animals; I've never caught a wild Corn during the day. I always find them out at night. These snakes need a winter cool down period, and having a light on them interferes with that. Unless you live in a part of the US where it gets very cold, even indoors(and you live in TX, right?), there is no need for a light or heat source on the snake. Lizards are a different matter; with the exception of the nocturnal gecko species, they MUST have access to UVB rays in order to metabolize Vitamin D, and many lizards kept as pets are native to desert or tropical regions where the climate is much warmer than in much of the continental US. I'd lose the light if this were my snake. Again, most pet shops will sell you a "snake kit" which consists of many unnecessary items just to make an extra buck or two and will typically brush off advice from people who have bred and owned snakes successfully for longer than those businesses have been in existance. When I last spoke with Bill Love, who along with his wife, Kathy, is one of the world's foremost breeders and authorities on Corn Snakes, he joked about pet store chains writing him and telling him that he didn't know what he was talking about, calling him a "newbie", lol, after he advised against purchasing most of the things they told their customers that were required for keeping a Corn Snake! pitbulllady
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Post by mistica0christina on Sept 4, 2010 20:29:29 GMT -5
Doesn't the snake at least need a light in order to know when it's day and night though? I'm guessing that it's best that I explain the layout of my room, the snake cage is positioned against the far wall AWAY from any windows due to the fact that is the only place where I can put the cage, my blinds and windows in my room are ALWAYS closed cause the last thing I need is for my neighbors to watch me while I'm watching them sometimes. The cage without a light only gets to 77 and according to a extensive corn snake guide/book I bought, it says that a corn snake needs to have a temperature ranging from 78 to about 88 and part of that reason is for it to help them with their digestion when they eat stuff! Also, exactly what am I supposed to do when it gets cold...in case you don't know, it DOES get cold in Texas, just because I'm as south as you get down here doesn't mean that the temperature NEVER changes from heat to cold, you know.
I'm sorry, but I'm going to have to get a second opinion, one of my LDD buddies has snakes herself and her vet is some kind of herpo something or other (a reptile vet) I'm going to have to ask her just to make sure...and just in case you're wondering, I bought the snake kit cause it was on SALE so it helped me cost wise in the end as compared to buying everything separately.
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Post by pitbulllady on Sept 4, 2010 20:53:01 GMT -5
Doesn't the snake at least need a light in order to know when it's day and night though? I'm guessing that it's best that I explain the layout of my room, the snake cage is positioned against the far wall AWAY from any windows due to the fact that is the only place where I can put the cage, my blinds and windows in my room are ALWAYS closed cause the last thing I need is for my neighbors to watch me while I'm watching them sometimes. The cage without a light only gets to 77 and according to a extensive corn snake guide/book I bought, it says that a corn snake needs to have a temperature ranging from 78 to about 88 and part of that reason is for it to help them with their digestion when they eat stuff! Also, exactly what am I supposed to do when it gets cold...in case you don't know, it DOES get cold in Texas, just because I'm as south as you get down here doesn't mean that the temperature NEVER changes from heat to cold, you know. I'm sorry, but I'm going to have to get a second opinion, one of my LDD buddies has snakes herself and her vet is some kind of herpo something or other (a reptile vet) I'm going to have to ask her just to make sure...and just in case you're wondering, I bought the snake kit cause it was on SALE so it helped me cost wise in the end as compared to buying everything separately. Corn Snakes do NOT need temperatures that high, no matter what the books tell you! Most of the books aren't written by snake breeders, let alone people who actually live where Corn Snakes are native. I have always kept mine at normal household room temperature, which ideally should be between 70-75 degrees. This summer, with triple-digit temps outside and only one AC vent in my room, the temps often went up to 85 degrees...and all of my native snakes stopped eating and had problems with regurging food. They simply don't tolerate such high temps well at all. Stool samples were negative, so it was not a matter of infections, just being too hot. Household lighting is sufficient for the snakes to find their way around and know what time of day it is. I've kept snakes for almost 50 years now, in case you were wondering, and EXPERIENCE will always trump a doctor's degree or a book-writing contract. It gets cold here in SC, too, but the house still maintains a temp of around 70 degrees, though I let it get cooler in my room because the snakes need to "brumate", or go into semi-hibernation for winter. Without this winter cool-down/dormancy, they cannot breed. I keep my BOAS and Pythons at 88 degrees; my Corns and Rat Snakes will just puke up anything I give them at those temps. TOO high a temp for a snake is really just as harmful as too cool a temp, when it comes to digestion. That is why mine temporarily stopped eating when the summer temps were so hot. You won't even find any wild snakes when it's hot, not even at night, since they go into hiding just like they do when it's cold. I have NEVER, ever found a wild Corn if the temperature at night was above 75 degrees. They just do not like it that hot and will stay in hiding and won't come out to feed. I HAVE caught them on the road when the temps were in the low 50's, in late fall, though! I'd bet that none of the book writers or vets have ever caught a wild Corn in its native habitat at all, so they have no experience with the habits of these animals whatsoever. I normally catch Corns at night after a storm or heavy rain, when the temperatures have cooled off considerably. I found one youngster last fall when the temperature was just 45 degrees, crossing the road at night, and I still have him. He ate the next day after I caught him, and hasn't slowed down one bit...except when it got so hot during the past month. pitbulllady
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Post by mistica0christina on Sept 4, 2010 21:37:57 GMT -5
Okay, no offense but you don't need to lecture to me like I'm one of your students, I am an adult you know! Also, aren't you the one who told me that light for snake is BAD yet you say that household lighting is FINE for the snake...now please explain to me, are you saying that I should keep my ceiling fan on ALL day because considering that I DO NOT pay the light bill, my parents are NOT going to go for that, my f*cked up son of a b*tch father is already doing this whole stupid thing of "turn on a fan in living room, turn off AC in REST of the house" because somehow this will save him money on the F*CKING electricity! Which means, we are all dealing with freaking heat issues in this damn house due to him! I'll just get a second opinion, thank you.
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Post by ivyandbro on Sept 24, 2010 23:45:44 GMT -5
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