Day/Night Cycle and to scared to thermoregulate?

Nanyia - I do not have a lot of direct experience, although I have read up a lot over the years. So don't perhaps attach too much weight in what I am about to write - certainly not as much as the more experienced posters on here!

I take it that you want to use your vivarium light to establish a firm "day/night" routine for your snake, but that the problem is that given the layout of your own accommodation, you sometimes don't want to have that light on for yourself. I would tend to think that given you have an independent heat source - the thermostated heat mat - then perhaps you could have your snake's light on a timer and you could simply override it and turn it off whenever you wanted. I am assuming that your snake gets some natural daylight through windows, and so I would think that this alone would be enough to establish sufficient "day/night" for him - I doubt sunshine levels are a problem for you in Greece! Having extra light on during this period by having his own artificial light on would just be a bonus - in nature, these snakes have bright days and dull days just like the rest of us! In any event, I would also perhaps bear in mind that a lot of corn snakes you see on the internet (youtube videos made by experienced snake breeders, etc) are kept in translucent containers in rack systems for most if not all of their lives, and so their "day/night" light changes will be relatively low. They all seem to be doing okay!

Hopefully one of the more experienced posters will quickly chip in if I am talking utter cobblers here. Otherwise, very best of luck to you hope you soon work out a system that works for you, and that you enjoy your new snake!

what you said makes a lot of sense, im not afraid about it being dark for to many hours but the opposite since the daylight starts coming in at like 7am and i go to sleep at like 2am so there is only like a 5 hour night time

Give it ago you will find the best way for you and your little friend
Pat


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I'm a firm believer that "simplicity" and "routine" are always best. Especially with a reptile.

When I start turning stuff on and off, and adjusting heat up and down, I run the risk(s) of wearing out switches, forgetting to turn something back on, setting something wrong.

I like the idea of "Set it and Forget it" and I think the snake does too.

Keep in mind, Corn snakes come from the Southeastern part of the USA. This is a very warm and sometimes hot area. When heating the cage, you only heat half of it anyway. Why would I want to turn my heat down at night? Then I have to turn it back up the next day. Why not leave it steady? And if the snake wants cooler temps, he can simply crawl over to the unheated half of the cage.

I have my heat on a thermostat and I just leave it alone. One half of the cage stays room temp (about 22C, 73F) and the other half of the cage is heated to (30C, 85F) all the time. 365 days a year, morning or night, the snake knows where to go if he wants to cool down or warm up.

As for the Lighting situation, again keep it simple and routine. Find a way to provide 12 hours light and 12 hours dark. If this is constantly changing, it's not natural. I have a simple lamp plugged into a timer. It turns on, it turns off. I don't have to do anything.

If you can't provide an environment like that, improvise. Get some dark colored cardboard or paper, and cover the cage (like a person that puts a "Tent" over a parrots cage). Of course, this is something you have to do at the same time every day, and sort of defeats the purpose of "Routine and Simplicity."

Thank you for your answer. Do you have any thoughts on the "to scared to thermoregulate" part

My young corn snake (my son's really!) had a tendency to stay in the hide at the cool end. I was getting a little concerned about this, so I played around with the hides. We have a hide at the cool end and one at the warm end. In particular, I improved the one at the warm end, and made it darker inside and more enclosed. We now find he uses both far more often, which of course means he is thermoregulating more effectively. In particular, he stays in the warm hide while he is digesting a meal, which is a relief to us! We were also careful to create cover for him to go through / under between the two hides, so he doesn't hesitate to move between them. Since all of these measures were put into place, he is out and about in his faunarium a lot more generally - he seems happier and more assured.

We will soon be moving him to a full size vivarium, so we will provide 3 or even 4 hides for him, and more stuff to provide cover between each of them.

Hope this helps.

Originally Posted by Nanyia

Thank you for your answer. Do you have any thoughts on the "to scared to thermoregulate" part

thermoregulate means the snake cools off when he wants to and warms up when he wants to. How do you know he's not?

Give him a chance, you've only had him 2 weeks. My guess is he's not scared to thermoregulate, he's scared of you.

Most of the people around here suggest when you obtain a new snake, you give him 2 or 3 weeks of "Absolutely no handling" and just let him get used to his new home. You obviously have not done this.

Yes I agree I’ve got 3” viv and got 4 hides and a cave with damp moss in he loves his cave
It helps with shedding


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something a bit off topic but i dont want to spam the forum.

So Chili just shed, the shed came off in 3 large pieces eyecaps and tail tip are off and he has a very small patch of shed stuck on him here are some pics https://imgur.com/a/e9kT9
it showed up right after he shed and i'm pretty certain that he didn't have it before. I tried brushing it with a damp towel and it wouldn't get off i tried giving him a bath but he hates it and tries to get out while hes in the container, i decided to go with the bath anyway and hope he calms down soon.

Should i even be worried about it? or should i just leave it there if it doesnt come out with the bath and wait till the next shed?

I'd try to get it off for sure, but I don't think you need to panic given that the eyecaps and the tail tip skin are already off. I'd put him in a container with a secure lid on it with some wet towelling or wet paper towel, moss or whatever and leave him in there for 30 mins or so, and then let him crawl through a damp cloth again. Should moisten and soften the stuck piece of skin sufficiently for it to come off pretty easily.

Good luck!