Getting my corn, what do I need?

I'm getting my first snake (an Amel Corn) in a week. I'll be converting a regular Hagen 30Gal. fish tank to a Terrarium. I need to know what I need to get to do this and to make my snake happy.

I've been told a few things by the breeder:

Under tank heater (but how many watts? 8? 16?)
Substrate
Thermometer (where should this go?)
Screen for the top of the tank
a hide


Anything else I need to buy/need to know?

looks about right

for my 3foot tank (about 30 gals i think - see my earlier post about silly americans bumbling away with strange units of measure )
7 watt uth
40 watt heatlamp (on a thermostat)
substrate of organic corn chip cat litter (look around the forums to see what other ppl use)
2 pieces cork bark
one ceramic hide
one old mug tree secured to the tank base (climbing frame á la elaphe guttata guttata)
several small rocks
cave made from an old washing powder scoop buried in the substrate
SECURE lid with ventilation holes
TWO water bowls of about 3-4" dia - one where ever you want and the other at the hot end to inrease humidity through evapouration

thats my setup... others will do things differently... heres no such thing as a "right" setup - as long as the snakes basic requirements are met then they seem to be prety tolerant of the actual setup

I have a 20 gallon set up right now. I also have two Them. in them. I found some that are specificly made for reptiles. I have one on each in, one on the cooler end and one on the hot end. Put them as center as you can. Since heat rises, this is a easy way to keep a quick check on your temps.

You should buy a corn snake care book as well.

GexTheGecko said:

You should buy a corn snake care book as well.

Click to expand...

Definately agree with that although I would go one step further and recommend doing a search for corn snake care on google. You will get dozens of care sheets, many with conflicting advice! But use your common sense and follow the advice that is most often given and you cant go wrong really.

BTW I am also an inexperienced keeper. I read a lot of books and websites and talked to keepers and breeders before even deciding that a corn snake was the right snake for me. I then went off and re-read everything about cornsnakes that I could. Care sheets, forums, Herpatology text-books, everything. Knowledge can't be beaten. If you add that 'paper' knowledge to the experience of people on forums like this then you have an incredible resource.

I read an account on another forum of a woman who bought a corn from a petshop and was told it ate crickets! after a few weeks of it not feeding she posted a request for help on the forum. She was told to offer it some pinkies quickly. On the way out to get them she realised it was dead....... In my opinion she is more responsible for the death of that snake than the petshop who misadvised her. Anyone who attempts to 'care' for an animal without first making a concerted effort to research its requirements is an idiot and shouldnt be allowed to keep animals.

Thats what I think.

The Corn Snake Manual by Kathy Love is the bible for most of us. The problem with the web is ferreting out the good advise from the bad. I'd suggest that any newcomer to the corn world start with this book.

I say everyone above got it all listen to them 'cause i'll just say the same things.

Alright, I've got my habitat set up now and just getting the temp right. Right now the cool side of the tank is averaging around 82 degrees and the warm side of the tank is about 86-87 degrees. That sound about right?


ps. I'm picking up my snake on Monday.

Congrats on the new snake. When you get the snake, avoid the temptation to feed it right away. It is much better to wait about 3 days before feeding to give it some time to settle down and get used to the new surroundings.

Good luck
Mark

I agree with morereptiles also try to avoid handling it for these three days. When I got mine I left her for two days she ate on the third day and shed on the forth day.......

Not that there is a textbook answer.....

I'd suggest reducing the temperature a few degrees. 87-82 is a little warmer than optimal. I try to keep the warm end at ~83 and cool end at ~78. Just a thought.

Well, I got my snake today. Haven't named him/her yet, but he seems to have survived the 3hr trip home in the car in 90 degree heat ok. I put him in his tank and he went straight for the hide. After staying there for about ten minutes he finally came out and explored the tank. He did that for about 20 minutes then he burrowed into the reptibark and has stayed hidden in the substrate for about 10 minutes now on the cooler side of the tank.

Newbie

I am a new member and also a new person to the snake keeping world. I have researched all I need to know about keeping Corns and I will be getting one or two hatchlings soon hopefully. Anyway, I know you need to feed Cornsnakes Mice (proprtional to snakes girth/head, bla bla) but I was thinking that my mum wouldn't really like having frozen dead mice in a box in the freezer. Is there another alternative like frozen fish that are just as healthy?
Thanks,
Joe