• Hello!

    Either you have not registered on this site yet, or you are registered but have not logged in. In either case, you will not be able to use the full functionality of this site until you have registered, and then logged in after your registration has been approved.

    Registration is FREE, so please register so you can participate instead of remaining a lurker....

    Please be certain that the location field is correctly filled out when you register. All registrations that appear to be bogus will be rejected. Which means that if your location field does NOT match the actual location of your registration IP address, then your registration will be rejected.

    Sorry about the strictness of this requirement, but it is necessary to block spammers and scammers at the door as much as possible.

my first snake!!!

hayley13

hayley13

New member
hello I have just got my first ever snake, he is a corn and he is about 16 weeks old , he is currently in a plastic viv which i am heating with under tank heat pad. (having trouble getting the temp to 80 with this) I dont have a light just use day and night for him. he was eating two pinkies a week but only ate one larger one this week. wuld like to get him proper viv as wpuld be able to reg tem easyier but feel he may be too young for a four ft tank. the man in the shop wasnt clear how old he is but he is about 30cm in length. I am smitten with him he is fab( named him severus) looking forward too many years with him!!!!Hayley
 
hayley13 said:
hello I have just got my first ever snake, he is a corn and he is about 16 weeks old , he is currently in a plastic viv which i am heating with under tank heat pad. (having trouble getting the temp to 80 with this) I dont have a light just use day and night for him. he was eating two pinkies a week but only ate one larger one this week. wuld like to get him proper viv as wpuld be able to reg tem easyier but feel he may be too young for a four ft tank. the man in the shop wasnt clear how old he is but he is about 30cm in length. I am smitten with him he is fab( named him severus) looking forward too many years with him!!!!Hayley
Click to expand...

As for proper cage size from my best knowledge and from articles I've read it's best to go with a tank double the size of the snake. For temp, make sure you are reading from the subtrate level on the warm side, and not just anywhere in the tank.

Good luck, would like to see pics.
 
Good luck with Severus, cant wait to see photos of him. How small is his tank? is it one of the small critter cages? i would work on getting him a glass tank thats a 10 gall. i think that would work with a good lid. i think it would come to 20 bucks with the tank and lid that locks. i would be careful with the heat. i would be scared to melt the Plastic, (but am not really sure if it would) a heat lamp would help. but you can work on that after you get another tank. good luck!

a 10 gall can work for about a year of a Baby corn.

if you want to move up a size with a tank get a 20 gall long. there about 32 dollars the lid for mine where 15 each. but that can last a snake for years.
 
MO said:
As for proper cage size from my best knowledge and from articles I've read it's best to go with a tank double the size of the snake.
Does this rule change at some point because I would need 4 vivs at least 9 feet long and my yearlings would require vivs that are 48 inches long:shrugs:susang
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
susang said:
MO said:
As for proper cage size from my best knowledge and from articles I've read it's best to go with a tank double the size of the snake.
Does this rule change at some point because I would need 4 vivs at least 9 feet long and my yearlings would require vivs that are 48 inches long:shrugs:susang
Click to expand...

I agree with you. Cause you would need an entire room for one snake if you had a reticulated Python. But I would guess max 30 - to 40 Gallon if the corn is full adult and say reaches 4ft, wouldn't you? That's just the rule of thumb that I know most herp shops and breeders I know go by, and like I've said before articles I've read. They say the same for Lizards, but bearded's get pretty big and monitors get to be the size of some medium size dogs, but I would guess you have to stop somewhere.
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
welcome.jpg
 
MO said:
susang said:
MO said:
As for proper cage size from my best knowledge and from articles I've read it's best to go with a tank double the size of the snake.

I agree with you. Cause you would need an entire room for one snake if you had a reticulated Python. But I would guess max 30 - to 40 Gallon if the corn is full adult and say reaches 4ft, wouldn't you? That's just the rule of thumb that I know most herp shops and breeders I know go by, and like I've said before articles I've read. They say the same for Lizards, but bearded's get pretty big and monitors get to be the size of some medium size dogs, but I would guess you have to stop somewhere.
Click to expand...

I've always gone by what I read on here 20L for adults, 40 good for gravid female, but not necessary. I know beardies take a large viv, but cresties tall and can co-hab. susang
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
I have three 20L, one forty, 2 10 gal for yearlings, 2 in tubs and babies in sterilite rack. I will be getting 4 20L for the two in tubs and the yearling. I garage sale and goodwill for mine. Babies will move up to tens after first of the year.
 
Hi Hayley, welcome to cs.com from another brit. I'm in Essex too but much closer to London, Dagenham in fact.

When you say you've got your new baby in a plastic tank at the moment, I'm assuming it's one of the Exo-terra plastic vivariums that measure approx 16-18 inches long, 10-12 inches wide and about 6 inches deep, that a lot of our English pet shops sell as starter tanks for corns. This type of cage is fine to keep your baby in for 6 to 12 months depending on how quickly he grows.

With regards to your heat mat and not getting your temps right, I would suggest getting a digital thermometer with a probe (you can buy one online or most good reptile shops over here sell them) and measure the temperature on the bottom of the tank over the heat mat with the probe. You may find the temps a bit on the high side if you're not using a thermostat, which some pet shops over here don't tell you that you need. So you can either buy a thermostat (mat stat) or raise the tank up off the heat mat to different levels untill you get the right temperature. You're aiming for the warm side to reach 83 to 85f and the cool side in the low to mid 70s.

A lot of the members on here are Americans and sometimes their terminology can be a bit confusing to start with, but stick around long enough and you'll soon work it out. I used to point out I was "across the pond" if I didn't understand what advice I was being given. They are a great bunch of people and have obviously been in the hobby longer than us Brits and we can learn a lot from their experience.

I hope I've helped you some and I hope you enjoy your stay here.
Look forward to seeing you around the forums!

Best wishes,
 
thanks guys for the advice

cheers every one i think i will get him another tank as i am worried that he is not warm enough and also i cant get his tank even slightly humid which will hinder his shedding, which i think he will be doing very soon! ta hayley x x x
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top