New forum assistant.

[Xyzzy]

Via the magic of Snake Measurer:

[Xyzzy]

We switched to a deeper corner bowl. The snake likes to go completely in the water and hang out there.

We also got a weird ladder and some stringy aspen bedding so the snake can burrow holes all over the place.

Finally, we put a rheostat on the heater that is stuck to the bottom of the glass under the cork cave so we now have a 75°F to 85°F gradient for the snake to pick from.

[m_f_h]

Originally Posted by Xyzzy

A few more pictures.

Congrats for the recruitement and welcome to the new assistant.
First, I wondered whether the First Aid Kit would contain the antidote, but then I realized that this is a "constrictor type" assistant.

From WP:

Pet Corn Snakes are usually fed by their owners on a diet of commercially available rodents, predominantly mice,(...) Frozen mice are usually preferable, ...

to me this does not mean the same than

comparatively simple care make them excellent and popular pet snakes.

Can we have a picture of your freezer ?

as live prey can possibly (...) injure the snake if it has not been raised on live prey.

:-D ! But this would make feeding a lot more amusing

[Uncwilly]

We had a snake in my grade 1 class and we fed it goldfish (they bite less than mice).

[ewmayer]

Originally Posted by Uncwilly

We had a snake in my grade 1 class and we fed it goldfish (they bite less than mice).

Did your class snake prefer the Cheddar or Ranch-Onion-flavor Goldfish? Just curious what a constrictor-style snake might go for when it comes to baked snacks that don't come in rodent-flavored varieties.

[Uncwilly]

Originally Posted by ewmayer

Did your class snake prefer the Cheddar or Ranch-Onion-flavor Goldfish? Just curious what a constrictor-style snake might go for when it comes to baked snacks that don't come in rodent-flavored varieties.

I think that the snake was a "garter" snake (not to be confused with said knights), and the fish were known as "feeder" fish.

[Xyzzy]

The Snake is now 194g and is doing quite well. It is now eating two ~20g mice a week. We thaw the mice overnight and then right before feeding we warm them up in hot water. We use special tongs to feed the Snake because the strike is incredibly vicious. Much constricting and coiling occurs at this point. We then cover the "snake box" and let the Snake do its thing. We use a "snake box" so the Snake does not ingest substrate and so it does not associate food with the regular tank.

The Snake really likes it if we "animate" the food by moving it around like it is running away. We've tried some panicked mouse-like sound effects but the snake does not seem to appreciate the effort.

[Uncwilly]

Originally Posted by Xyzzy

The Snake really likes it if we "animate" the food by moving it around like it is running away. We've tried some panicked mouse-like sound effects but the snake does not seem to appreciate the effort.

A look at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snake#Perception would show that snakes have no hearing, and explain why warming the mices would enhance the dinning experiance.

[xilman]

Originally Posted by Uncwilly

A look at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snake#Perception would show that snakes have no hearing, and explain why warming the mices would enhance the dinning experiance.

Further, most mouse sounds are well above the frequency capable of being produced by most humans.

A frequency-shifted recording of male mouse singing hit the net around a year ago. Quite beautiful and similar to bird song in many ways.



Paul

[Xyzzy]

Maybe the mouse sounds are more fun for us than for the snake?

[cheesehead]

Lets consider sounds made by our own food.

Many (e.g., steam escaping from a cooked item, or the sizzling of a fried item) might be considered amusing or at least pleasant.

Perhaps less so when sounds are made by our food while the food is still alive. (I mean something like a cornfield rustling in the wind, which might be eerie in the context of a horror movie -- what did you think I meant?)