How much moisture do corns need?

A tiny hole in the screen cover over my snake's cage proved to be a problem. I caught him half way out it(thank god he wasn't all the way out!), so he's since been relocated to a 10gal for the time being. He's been there since just after his first feeding and I've noticed that he rarely leaves his fake tree bark hide and when he does, it's to go under the water bowl(not sure how he does it since the water bowl sits directly on the aquarium floor, with the bedding around it). He fed Sunday, so today's the first time I've actually held him and he seemed a little high strung for some reason. He seemed to strike "at" me(he didn't bite me, always stopped short of my hand) when I picked him up and while I was holding him he wouldn't stop moving. I only held him about 5 minutes and I just put him back. He went right back under the hide and coiled up. The hide is in the middle of the tank between the hot side and the cold side. Hot side is about 85-90F and the cold stays about 75...both sides cool down at night when I turn the light off. Should I be misting the tank? He seems to go where it's wet.

He sounds like he may be too warm...are your sure of your high temps? Are thye therm regulated?

what are your humidity levels in the tank?

also does he have a hide on the hot and/or cold sides or just in the middle?

if the water bowl sits where the bottom of the water holding part touches the ground try putting it over the UTF if you find your humidity is just a hair to low, just be sure there is alway good clean fresh water in there. and it should raise the humidity a bit, if you even need too. Being he sounds a little smaller like a hatchling or yearling it might just be whats comfortable to him.

best of luck.

typo!

oops! Should be UTH not UTF :shrugs:

I don't have any way of checking the humidity levels, but I do have 2 thermometers in there(one on hot and one on cold side). The temp's only regulated by me when I look at the thermometer. When I leave the house, the light gets turned off and the tank temp goes down. When finances permit, I will be getting an undertank heater that will go on a regulator, but I'm not sure exactly when that will be. For now I have a 50watt bulb over the hot side.

He has a hide/basking log on the hot side(which I've NEVER seen him use), the hide in the middle, and just the water bowl thing on the cold side. I'm not sure how old he is, but He's about 15inches if that tells you anything about his age. I change his water every day to every other day(depends on what I have going on that day).

sounds like the light is bugging him and at 15 inches i'd guess he is a summer 06. a UTH for a 10 gal goes for between 15 and $20 depending on the store, and there are instructions on here for building a rheostat for under $7, i also recomment a probe thermometer to calibrate the rheo for the UTH.

Jcapicy said:

....i also recomment a probe thermometer to calibrate the rheo for the UTH.

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You lost me here...what's a probe thermometer and how do I tie it into the UTH?

Well without having a thermostat (same concept as the one that regulates your house) or a dimmer to move the heat up and down...a probe thermometer is just how it sounds, normally a digital face with a wire and a probe attached to it. You place the probe over the glass where the uth heater is, directly on it to get an accurate reading. But without having a thermostat or a rheostat(dimmer) the only way to stop the heat is to be constantly plugging and unplugging it, and that is not efficient nor will it work very well as you are not always there.

90 degrees is a little on the warm side. I suggest getting a UTH, digital thermometer, and a Thermostat. Place the UTH under the glass. Place thermometer probe and thermostat probe ontop of the UTH, but ontop of the glass - while still under the substrate. Adjust the thermostat device so the thermometer does not reach hotter than 88 degrees but no cooler than 80 (85 is good.)

This setup will cost you about 40 dollars.

And btw humidity isn't really a problem for corns unless your snake is having bad sheds. Humidity above 50% is fine but they might want more while in shed.

His colors seem faded, but I don't see any "blue" on him. Could he be starting a shed? I noticed when I bought him, a couple of the others that were around the same size as him were already shedding, but he wasn't. I have read that sometimes shedding makes them testy.

Also, is he safe under the water bowl? I guess he wouldn't go there if it wasn't comfy, but it just seems like he's too big to be hanging out there.

If your snake is dullish, it is probably going into shed. On some snakes it is very hard to tell. On my amels and creamsicles easy they turn very "bluish" on my normals I can hardly tell except for eyes sometimes. I agree 90 is a bit on the warm side. As for putting a water bowl directly under the light or over the UTH you may end up with snake soup as the water can get pretty warm. As for light vs. UTH I have some tanks with lights and some with UTH. You could try a 40watt red light about $7.00. hope this helps some, susan

mommyof2 said:

His colors seem faded, but I don't see any "blue" on him. Could he be starting a shed? I noticed when I bought him, a couple of the others that were around the same size as him were already shedding, but he wasn't. I have read that sometimes shedding makes them testy.
Also, is he safe under the water bowl? I guess he wouldn't go there if it wasn't comfy, but it just seems like he's too big to be hanging out there.

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Oops! just to ease your mind some, well really all spend some time under the water bowl, I use the plastic type dog water bowls with opening on the side, makes a perfect hide. Snakes are testy when blue because thier eyes cloud over and essentially they can't see.