Pips Pet Post #8 - Twink the Corn Snake

Twink (Twinkle Toes, bad leg joke) was my 2nd reptile, and 1st snake. I re-homed her back in October 2017, after seeing her on Facebook in an entirely unsuitable setup, with the owner saying their son had lost interest, and kept offering lower and lower on the price, so I knew she really wasn't being cared for, and frankly just fell in love with how pretty I thought she was. I had always thought to myself if I ever got a snake it would be a corn snake, because of their simplicity in care, and the range of morphs they came in, however maybe jumped in a little at the deep end with my first snake being a 5ft long 1.1kg bright pink adult snake, needing an entire new home. 

She is a strawberry snow morph, clear from her white and pink striping, which is also a strain of albinism, as shown with her pink eyes. 

This is the image from the Facebook posts that showed her enclosure, corn snakes are mainly terrestrial snakes, (although they will and do climb) however their enclosure really needs to focus on floor space over height. Her vivarium was only 2.5ft wide, and she was 5ft long, meaning she was unable to fully stretch and extend herself out. The heating was also unsuitable, as it was just a heat lamp with no stat or guard, so not only provided improper basking and ambient temperatures, but also was a burn risk to her. Not to mention, upon inspection once home, there were shreddings of past sheds and mouldy faeces in the substrate This is the setup I moved her into, a 4ft wide and 2ft deep/high vivarium, with of course the proper heating, on a stat, and lots of hide and cover for her to explore and keep herself entertained. This was later updated to the one below when I moved her to a new position in the room. It is also always good to mix up the decorations and layout of your snake vivariums to help keep the animal entertained and provide enrichment when in the enclosure. 

I also regularly let her free-roam around my room, I simply close my door and windows and let her loose, I know there is nowhere she can get that will harm her, and will not wedge herself into a tight spot and stay put like a ball python would, as corns are very inquisitive and love to explore. There have been times in the past I have let her out for 2/3 days at a time, leaving her vivarium glass cracked open so she can take herself back as and when, or whenever I find her and think its time to go back (as I did the other day when I woke up to find her next to my pillow at 7 in the morning after 2 days of free-roaming).  Unless you have a fully safe environment and trust your snake completely though, I would not recommended this to other keepers, especially not for smaller snakes either, as corns can fit themselves into surprisingly small gaps, and are a lot more capable of reaching places than people may appreciate.