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Jon Carre · #3 (**permalink**) 19th January 2010, 11:16

You and John pretty much have it covered. I was going to make the exact same point about space, that always seemed ludicrous to me, and if you take two seconds to think about it, like John says, they don't feel threatened in the wild, and how much more space do they need.
I do have one or two things. I don't like heat bulbs with snakes, even with covers, you'd be surprised what a corn snake can open/move/detach with their belly muscles! It's just personal preference, but if your snake figures a way of getting into a light guard it's not going to be pretty.
Handling when shedding - I never have a problem with this and regularly help my snakes shed if they are having problems, some of mine don't shed a whole skin but in sections. Bathe them in luke warm water and gently rub the areas where the skin hasn't shed, DON'T peel it off though, if it isn't quite ready you can damage the new skin. It will beobvious when you do it where you can and can't help. Also with shedding, after a snake has finished shedding check the eyecaps and the tip of the tail. These are the two places that may not have shed properly after a full shed. Eyecaps normally come off easy but sometimes get stuck, again just bathe them in luke warm water and gently rub the cap with your thumb. Check the tip of the tail as sometimes a snake will appear to have shed properly but missed the very tip. If this isn't rectified it can lead to restriction of the bloodflow to the tip of their tail and they may lose it, not detrimental to the snake, but I'm sure we would all prefer our snakes 100% intact.
I use chipsi for substrate but it's all down to personal choice. I wouldn't use soil, but wood chips, orchid bark, chipsi etc. are all fine.
We feed all of our snakes once a week, with an appropriate sized mouse. Make sure it is an appropriate size though, you'll be surprised at what they can take. I recently boarded a snake, almost fully grown, and the owner was feeding a fluff once a week because he wasn't sure it could take anything larger! We fed it a large the first feed and it took it no problem, would probably have taken a jumbo. One mouse per feed is a good general rule, but when they are babies and they get a bit bigger we start feeding two pinkies, purely because they need the extra food (a snake will refuse a mouse if it is not hungry/ready to eat) and can't handle a fluff at that age.
One more thing to mention. I know you are starting with just one (so did we, now we have 11) but if you did get anymore they may need to be housed seperately. Females tend to be alright if they are introduced to females, and males can be alright if introduced to other males at a young age, but adult males tend to be rather protective of their area. You may get a dominance issue if you try to introduce an adult male into another adult male's viv. This can lead to problems feeding etc.

Good luck with it, they are beautiful and diverse snakes, and so handleable.