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Bad advice??

M

Medusa

New member
So my mother, who apparently cared for a friends boa for a short time, is insisting that my snake needs an OT uv black light to get vitamins like it would from the sun and she says I should also be using a heat lamp... Oh AND that I need vitamin powder to put on the frozen feeder mice?

I'm still somewhat new to snakes but Iv done a lot of research (mainly from this site :p). Everything Iv heard has suggest not using OT heating in favour
of UT heating, and the black light would be useless, because he's not out in the day and would probably not appreciate it at night. I tried to explain this to her but apparently I have no idea what I'm talkin about. The powder on the mice does sound possibly reasonable though....

Is there any grain of truth in this advice at all????? Thanks for reading :)
 
No, corn snakes are not basking snakes, they are nocturnal so to speak. They best kind of heat is belly heat. An undertank heater regulated by a thermostat. You could use reptivitamin powder once a month or once every couple of months but truly it isn't needed. They get all the vitamins and minerals they need from their food.
 
Some reptiles have evolved the need for UV - they have to have UV in captivity as without it, they can't form Vitamin D and this is what metabolises the calcium from their food. Without UV and in some cases, a Vitamin D supplement on their food, they develop skeletal deformities as their bones become soft. Corns have never evolved this dependency on the UV in sunlight. They're active in the wild at times or low or no light - dawn, dusk and overnight. They get all of the vitamins they need from their food.

Some people use overhead heat sources for Corns and others provide a hot spot. However, a hot spot will be used only very occasionally and is more likely to put the Corn off using that area of the tank. When we talk about "hot" for a Corn, their ideal maximum temp for the floor at the warm end is 90 degrees - that's below human core body temp and will actually feel quite lukewarm to out touch. The way of providing heat for a Corn that we generally recommend on this board, is an undertank heater (UTH) controlled by a thermostat or dimmer to keep the floor of the warm end at around 85.

So you can assure your Mom that no UV of any description is required for a Corn, neither is a heat lamp or hot spot for basking, nor vitamin powder on food. Amongst my Corns I have a 23 year old and a 19 year old, neither of which have ever had any of the facilities which she suggests. Different reptiles have very different husbandry requirements and one of the advantages of Corns is that they *don't* need the extra frills and fripperies that are vital for some other reptiles.
 
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