1st Timer New Tank Help Please

[msmixedcutie]

Hi Everyone, I'm new and am hoping to get some great information from you all. Today I'm proud to say I'm an owner of a little baby corn snake.

I have a tank that I bought use.. (so I'm in the process of getting the cleaned well) but here is the setup..

I believe the tank to be 30 gallons.. kinda tall.. on the right hand side is a screen the left hand side is glass on top. There is already an undertank heater on the side w/ class on the top. I have a heating lamp w/ a day 100 watt reptile light bulb. I have some sturdy reptile water dishes.. and a hiding place.. (though it may be too big for my little guy..

(by the way. how do you know if its a guy or girl ?? ) smile.. let see what else.. I also bought some paper bedding.. for reptiles. . . hmm. . . .

I'm just curious on the setup.. would it be too much to have the heat lamp & undertank heater on. Should I use the larger water dish.. and the larger half log... Also.. should I only leave the lamp on during the day.. I usually try to keep my house pretty warm.. 70-80 degrees..

Well any information and suggestions would be most helpful..

Thanks..

 

[hosstheman]

Hello msmixedcutie and welcome to the forums.

Here is what I do I use heat lights only (red night bulbs) basically
I keep it on 80 % of the time. I bought thermometers with a sensor probe run the probe wire down the inside front or back of cage and then the readout velcros to the front. Then if you cant get enough heat turn the under the tank heater on to make up difference. This is my own opinion. And you will get various opinions from the forums all are good there are very smart people here and things work different for everyone. the reason i dont use heat mats anymore is i had one and it got too hot and crack the glass on my cage. but i think i had a cheap mat. Here is a pic of the thermometers i use. any thing I can help you with let me know.
HOSS

 

[blito]

wont 100watt be rather powerful for a 30 gallon tank?
just how big is 30 gals anway? here in the UK we measure our tanks by their physical dimensions, not the volume.

My tank is approx 36" long, 12" wide and 18" high...
the UTH is 7 watts and the overhead blue lamp is 40 watts
room temp is between 15-20 degrees (depending if the heatings on etc)
hot side of tank is about 85 air temp
cool side is about room temp.

if the central heating is on i turn off the heat lamp in the tank.

for a substrate i use an organic, dust free cat litter stuff made from freeze-dried sweetcorn, layered about an inch thick.
there are 4 hides to provide a nice variety of hiding places, plus some rocks n things to provide "habitat" - the rocks are useful to assist with shedding.

there are 2 water bowls, one at either end of the tank... i`m not sure which one Chione actually drinks from the the "hot" water bowl is there to raise humidity through evapouration.

feeding is done by laying kitchen towel on the substrate, covering about half the tank, and placing the mouse (2 fuzzies a time atm) on top of the towel . This reduces the chance of the snake ingesting substrate with its dinner, although the corn stuff i use is theoretically digestable.

that is my set up
works well for me
hope you find it of some use