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newby corn snake owner (tips please !!! )

bambam1313

bambam1313

animal lover :)
Hello all,
Newby corn snake owner here :) ... A few friends new I wanted a snake really bad so they decided to get me a ghost corn snake ... They didn't get me a hatchling, they got me a five year old one she's about 3 ft. .. Was this a good idea ?? ... Buddy I got her off of, only used a heating pad we would use for a bad back on the bottom of her tank her life. So I went and got a heatpad for underneath but its only keeping the viv at about 70degrees F I also bought a heatlamp for the top from a local pet store, with both it going it keeps the tank at about 80-85 depending on how cold or hot my room is ... I'm not to sure it its such a good idea to use both of it ... She don't seem to like to stay in the heat all that much she rather be onb the colder side of the tank ! She seems pretty healthy though!
I read a book on cornsnakes and everything.
Wants more tips from others would be great
a newfie like myself is gonna be welcome to this site :)

,Xo*
 
Hi there !!
What books have you read on corns. So we know what tips not to give ya!! LOL LOL

OK one tip. But two of very thing...'cause your going to need it when you get you other snake!!

Second throw out the heat lamp!!
 
But the pad on the bottom of the tank isn't giving her enough heat? .. What am I suspose to do she don't get enough heat ?
 
The temperature that matters is the one on the floor of the tank on top of the mat, because that's where the snake is.

If you're measuring the temperatures in the tank air, they'll be a lot lower than the ones the snake is experiencing on the floor.

You need to floor to be around 85 degrees at most, and heat mats without a thermostat will get way over 100 degrees. With a heat lamp, it will be even hotter.
 
Weird. Are you measuring the temp right down on the floor? Most UTHs get too hot for a corn snake. But if your snake is not hanging out on the warm side, she is not feeling too cold, she'd go to the warm side if she needed it.

A 5 year old is a nice young adult snake, good choice for a first snake. Hatchlings are fragile & sometimes they don't survive even with perfect care, probably because they have some sort of internal birth defect or something. She's well grown but will live another 10-15 years so you will have plenty of time to enjoy her. And she's not a small crazy snake trying to get away from you, she should be mellow & happy to move in a more calm fashion when being handled.

Welcome to your new addiction!
 
The heat pad should cover about 1/3 of the bottom of the tank. As stated, you need to measure the temp under the bedding, right on the glass. You also need to wait several hours after plugging in the pad, maybe even overnight, before measuring the temp, because it can take that long to get warmed up to full potential. Unless the pad is defective, I can almost guarantee that it will get over 85 if you wait long enough and measure it in the right spot with a proper thermometer. The proper thermometer is one with a probe where you place the probe right on the glass under the bedding in the middle of the pad and give it a few minutes to get the reading. These thermometers are about $10 at Walmart. It's the kind where you place the main unit inside your house and you are meant to place the probe outside so you can check temps in or out.

As long as you provide a proper hot spot and a cool side, the snake will decide where it wants to be. Give it at least 2 places to hide, one on the warm side and one on the cooler side.
 
Thts what I have done but she don't seem to like the heat that much buddy wo had her only ued a heat pad we would buy at walmart for a bad back she rather be out on my bed curled in a blanket then be in her tank
 
The tep gauge I had is just a smal one from a pet store I ust bought a zoo med digita thermometer eith he temperature pride for her. Paid 11.99$ for her at the pet store on the way home now with a mouse and the temp guage. :) hope it works out good ...
 
You shouldn't be using a human heating pad, they are not designed to be on all the time, and therefore are a fire hazard. What you need is a special reptile heating pat, also called an under tank heater or UTH. Those are designed to run 24 hours a day, but without something to regulate it, they get way too hot for corn snakes. So, what you need is the UTH, a lamp dimmer, like from a hardware store and a thermometer with a probe. You put the UTH under 1/3 of the tank, plug it in to the lamp dimmer and plug that into the wall. Then you take the probe from the thermometer and place that on the glass above the middle of the UTH, but underneath the substrate. Adjust the dimmer until the temperature is in the 82-85 range. If the temperature in your house fluctuates a lot, you might have to play with it, or get a thermostat, which will keep the temperature steady.
 
bambam1313 said:
I understand that! But the heatpad on the underneath of the. Tank isn't going to High
Click to expand...

What kind of thermometer are you using to measure the temperature, and where is the thermometer placed in the tank? Does the thermometer have a wire coming out of it with a probe at the end of the wire (and the probe reads the temperature).

If you place your hand on the inside of the tank, right above the heat mat, do you feel any heat?

I think a 5 year old corn is great for a first time owner :)
 
I was useing a ty temp guage, I got the one with the prode today I noticed the heat pad is getting to high but how am I suspose to manage the heat from the pad ....? Like I was going to go away for the weekend but I'm afaird to because he pad gets to hot and I don't want to burn her ... Since I fed her earlier today she's been over in the heat but I had to turn the pad off cuz it was at 95 degrees F ... What can I do to fix this problem ?!?
 
bambam1313 said:
I was useing a ty temp guage, I got the one with the prode today I noticed the heat pad is getting to high but how am I suspose to manage the heat from the pad ....? Like I was going to go away for the weekend but I'm afaird to because he pad gets to hot and I don't want to burn her ... Since I fed her earlier today she's been over in the heat but I had to turn the pad off cuz it was at 95 degrees F ... What can I do to fix this problem ?!?
Click to expand...

For the meantime I would unplug the under tank heater. The ambient temperatures in your house should be okay for a couple days. I might skip a feeding until you get the heat pad back up. I'd be more worried about burning the snake. I tested my UTH pad once (without a snake) to see how high it would go unregulated and it got up to 110 degrees before I turned it off (probably would have went more...)

You will need to get a thermostat or rheostat to control the temperature.

With a thermostat you can set it at the temperature you want to maintain the heat pad at, and it will shut off or turn down power to the heat pad as it approaches that temperature, and turn on or turn power back up as it starts to lose that temperature. The most common thermostats I see used are probably the Ranco or Johnson control ones http://www.reptilebasics.com/ranco-etc-111000_pre-wired.html and the Herpstats http://www.spyderrobotics.com/products/herpstat.html

These thermostats have a probe which you would adhere on the glass on inside bottom of the tank above the heating source. You then set it at what temperature you would like to maintain.

The less expensive and for now quicker alternative is to get a rheostat, in the form of a lamp dimmer that you can buy from home depot or wal mart, or any hardware/home supply store. The lamp dimmer plugs into the wall outlet, and you plug the heat UTH mat into the lamp dimmer. The lamp dimmer will reduce/increase the amount of power going to to UTH, so you would have to play around with it, adjusting it up and down bit by bit to get it where you want it via a thermometer.

The con of a lamp dimmer is that it is dependent upon room temperatures. The heat mat temperature output will go up or down if the temperature in your house goes up or down. Imagine your house is at 78 degrees...your lamp dimmer would send whatever amount of power you tell it to to get to the temperature you want, lets say you want your heat mat at 84. Now imagine your house temp goes up to 85...well now technically your heat pad probably doesn't even really need to be on, but since it is a lamp dimmer and not a thermostat it will not turn off and the temperature of the heat pad will go up. If the temperature in your house drops to 70 the heat pad would have to work harder (need more power) to get to your desired temp of 84, so the temperature of the heat pad will drop unless you adjust the lamp dimmer. Therefore if you do get a lot of up/down temperatures in your house you might want to get a lamp dimmer for short term just to get some heat control in there, but look into upgrading to a thermostat as soon as you can. Just keep an eye on the temperatures with the lamp dimmer and adjust as necessary.

My house tends to vary from 70-76 depending on the season, and even with just this 6 degree variance I have seen a huge variance in temperatures when using a rheostat.
 
I had to turn the pad off cuz it was at 95 degrees F ... What can I do to fix this problem ?!?
Click to expand...
That's not a problem - that's the heat pad working properly. A human heat pad is supposed to get over 90 degrees. Human core body temp is around 98 degrees. If it gets down to 88 degrees (a Corn's ideal maximum) then it wouldn't feel warm to us so it wouldn't do any good. Even with a dimmer or thermostat, you can't turn a human heat pad down as far as a Corn needs it to go.
 
Good move. A thermostat will let you turn it down to the Corn's safe temperature range.
 
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