I’m just a baby…

. . . and it’s my first time away from home!

Don’t be surprised if I’m a little shy and nervous at first. I just survived a long, bumpy (and maybe hot or cold) journey. Everything in my new home looks, smells, and vibrates completely differently than anything I’ve ever experienced in my short life. My old home at CornUtopia was small, secure and usually quiet except each week when a towering two-legged monster intruded to bring food, water or clean. Our next couple weeks together will influence the rest of my life, and I need assurances that it will be calm and safe for me like at the last place. This will help:

I know I’m irresistibly cute, but please try to let me rest for the first three days. Just give me a quiet little home with a hide box, water bowl, and the correct temperatures (low end – around 75 – 80 degrees F; high end – low to mid 80sF. The shavings in my shipping cup are from my old home; please put them in my new hide box to make me feel more secure. After three days, you can give me a VERY SMALL meal, much smaller than would be typical for my size. I’m used to eating in my shipping cup – just me and my mouse, nothing else – about once per week! After about 3 weeks of small meals and very little handling, I should be acclimated and ready for normal-sized meals and some gentle handling. You may wish to feed me more often, like once every 3 – 5 days, so I’ll start growing even faster. Remember – AVOIDING UNNECESSARY STRESS is the key to keeping me ‘chilled out’ to assure long-term health and growth success!

After the first three weeks, I would like frequent, short periods of gentle handling so I become really tame and friendly with my new “parents”.

If I have any problems (feeding, digesting, or anything else), it is important to catch them early while they can be corrected. Please check The Corn Snake Manual first to see if my problem is covered there. If not, please make a quick call to my former owner, Kathy Love, at telephone # (239) 691-4414. Please do it SOON to see what can be done before much time passes. Please don’t hesitate to call her for help if I need it.

Please keep me alone, at least for the first few months. I may become intimidated by a cagemate, or I may do just fine. Who knows? Please wait until you know all of my habits before you introduce new stress into my life.

(and on the back....)

Dear Customer,

Hello from the “towering two-legged monster”, otherwise known as me, Kathy Love.

I hope you enjoyed the care sheet written by my critters. It outlines the initial basics of what is needed for a successful experience in the keeping of young corns as pets. An easier pet for a child or adult might be impossible to find, but there are a few important things to remember:

Snakes are great escape artists and will make every attempt to thwart your best efforts at keeping them in. Baby corns climb very well, even up relatively smooth surfaces, and they can squeeze out of incredibly small cracks or openings around doors and cage tops.

Children should always be supervised when handling pet reptiles. Their over-enthusiastic handling or short attention spans could be dangerous for your new pet. Pet keepers (and ESPECIALLY children) should learn to always wash their hands after handling any animals. Snakes are very clean, but may carry some germs (such as Salmonella) that are not usually dangerous to the snake, but can be dangerous for people if ingested.

Be sure to save the label information on the deli cup lid your baby corn(s) arrive in. It may look old and worn, but includes such valuable items as the sex of your baby, its mother’s and father’s ID number, and what hidden, or recessive traits it may be carrying. I produce LOTS of babies each year and may eventually be able to supply some that are from the same or different parents, depending on your future needs. My babies are the product of many generations of selective breeding aimed at emphasizing certain traits. I try my best to keep the genealogy straight for the benefit of both my own projects and yours.

Remember, this is the first day of the rest of our lives together!

Sincerely, Kathy Love

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CornUtopia P.O. Box 516, Alva, Florida 33920 U.S.A . TEL: (239) 691 - 4414

WEB: www.cornutopia.com

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