hi all i got my first corn today :crazy02: but all he seems to do is burrow so that he is directly above the heat mat that is on the outside he has spent hours there not even bothering to go in his hide.so i was wondering is this normal and he wont over heat spending all that time there will he ?
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burrowing
- Thread starter joe0709
- Start date
Nanci
Alien Lover
Burrowing is normal. I have some questions, though. Is the heat mat under the tank, or on the side? Do you have a hide directly over the heat mat? Do you have a hide only on the cool side, or both? Do you know what the temp right on the glass above the heat mat is? Do you have your heat mat regulated by a thermostat or rheostat?
Nanci
Nanci
CornNoobie
No longer a Noobie!
Ideally you need to get a hide on the warm side aswell. This may stop him burrowing so much if he has a warmer hide to choose from. If money is tight, a half cut cardboard tube (toilet or kitchen roll) would be sufficient.
Nanci
Alien Lover
Ok, so you need to put a hide on the warm side, too. And do you know that an unregulated UTH can, and will- I've seen it- reach 120-130F, which can burn your snake? So getting a thermometer and most likely a thermostat should be done ASAP. Until then, if you could get a ceramic tile and place it in the tank over the UTH, that will cut the heat down enough to keep the snake from getting burned. Then, many people don't feed or handle the snake for a week, to give it time to settle in. It might be a good idea especially for you to hold off feeding until you know your exact cool and warm side temps. Other people feed right away and have no problems, but a too cold or too hot temp could cause regurgitation, which you absolutely don't want to have happen. It won't hurt him at all to wait until you have the temps dialed in. So back to burrowing- snakes love to burrow- that's normal. If you don't have a hide right now, you can use any small box or toilet paper tube or something like that. They like those just as well.
Nanci
Nanci
EddieF
New member
Caution: I am not an expert!
We tried to put a piece of slate over the UTH (which for us is on the bottom of our snake cages) and it didn't conduct enough heat to get the temp where we wanted it. What we ended up doing is putting reptile carpet down on the glass, then put aspen in on top of that, then a hide on top of the aspen. The carpet takes the 'edge' off the heat, but still lets enough heat in to get the temps where we (and the snakes) like them.
We tried to put a piece of slate over the UTH (which for us is on the bottom of our snake cages) and it didn't conduct enough heat to get the temp where we wanted it. What we ended up doing is putting reptile carpet down on the glass, then put aspen in on top of that, then a hide on top of the aspen. The carpet takes the 'edge' off the heat, but still lets enough heat in to get the temps where we (and the snakes) like them.
joe0709 said:
Burrowing is normal. My snake Josephine burrows extensively woven underground highways in the dirt/peat mix I have her on. We're talking 3 inch deep underground tunnels. One of my new 5 month olds burrows under the aspen he's on and the other doesn't.
If you've got a burrower you may need to consider allowing for that behaviour (so the snake feels secure and like it can do what it wants to do) but then also consider how to best enable yourself to observe the snake during this behaviour. Vivarium design can be an ongoing refinement.
It may want nice snug spots to hide in. small hides are great for that. I am making a bunch of hides right now out of papier mache so I can size them accordingly and not break the bank.