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Comments on my setup

J

Jared O.

New member
Hi all,

I'm a new member and my family is now the current owner of a baby corn snake, named Oscar.

My kids, son 5 and daughter 3, wanted a snake and convinced mom to get one. I wasn't convinced but got over-ruled. We did some research and bought our corn on Friday. The store that we bought him from received him on Wednesday.

We currently have him in a 20 gallon long tank. The substrate is reptile bark (I think that is the name). On the right side of the tank is a cave for him, in the middle is a nice big branch for him, and on the left side is his water bowl. I have the temp/humidity gauge on the bottom of the tank on the cave side.

We are using a heat light near the branch and cave and on the other side we are using a UVB light. The temp during the day is about 82-84 degrees and the humidity ranges from 30 to 50%. We were shutting the lights at night and the temp was going to about 70 and the humidity was between 50-70%.

The snake has been hiding under the water bowl and in the morning when we change the water the snake is cold to the touch. Last night we bought a night blue light and it seems to keep the temp at night at about 77 degrees.

Does this setup sound ok? Are there things that I should look into changing? This is the first snake for us and I have no idea what I am doing :shrugs:

Oh, one last thing. The pet store did not feed him while they had him (2 days) and we tried Sunday with no luck. On Monday he shed half his skin. We are going to try again tonight.
 
Hi Jared,

Just a couple of remarks...

First, snakes don't need uvb rays; they get all they need when they eat their mice. uvb rays are for all other reptiles, except snakes; so, I'd remove that bulb.

Secondly, most on these boards tend to favor an under tank heating pad kept in the opposite side of the tank from the water bowl; you want a warm side and a cooler side in your tank. If you do use a light, a normal uv basking lamp at 50w is plenty - we keep our heating pad on 24/7 (as you should) and only turn on the 50w lamp when the air in our house gets the room colder. Again, under tank heating is the best; and, avoid heated rocks and such. Finally, plug your heat lamp and basking lamp (if you want to carefully use one) into a surge protecting strip; it will greatly increase the life (or protect I should say) your bulb from burning out due to any minor power surges.

Thirdly, a 20 gallon tank for such a little guy might be too much; a larger tank with a smaller tank can stress them out. Our two snakes are around 9 months old and both are doing great in 10 gallon tanks. The rule on up-grading tank sizes, is when the length of the snake is 1.5 times as long as the length of the tank. Smaller tanks makes these little guys feel more secure.

Fourthly, feeding, make sure you remove your snake from his every-day tank; always feed him in a separate tank or feeding enclosure. For many snakes, they like it dark when they eat, at least at first; we have two plastic animal carry tote cages line with a paper grocery bag - we put them in these for feeding and they eat within 10-15 seconds of the mouse being put in - pinkies in our case. The store we bought them from puts their snakes in a brown paper bag with a clamp on the top; so, I continued that, but preferred the more secure top of a plastic vented enclosure vs. a bag with the top flapped over. You likely know that after feeding, once you return your snake to his tank, don't handle him/her for a good 24 hours.

Best of luck with your new snake, they are amazing creatures; and the more you handle them, the more social toward you and your family they will be. We handle ours about 20-30 min. a day, about 4-5 times a week.

John
 
Jared,

Just an additional remark about feeding...this is what I do...

I heat up a coffee cup of water for 2 min. on high in our microwave; then put our frozen pinkies in a small zip-lock baggie that I then submerge into this cup of water that I let sit on our counter. After about 20 min., I remove the bag and pinkies and spill them out on a paper plate and let them sit at room temps for another 15 - 20 min. Then, I feed them to the snakes. You want to make sure you are not giving your snakes frozen mice, or perhaps mice that are too hot. They should feel soft to the touch if you ever touch them after thawing them out. Once the snake is done eating, I wait about 20-30 min. and then return him to his tank and skip on handling him the next day.

Again, about your tank size, a 20 gallon is actually ok for an adult corn; although when I do upgrade our 10 gallon tanks, I may go with two 30s just to give the snake a tad more room as he lives his adult life. I would spent the $10 and get a 10 gallon tank if your snake is a baby, or within a few months old.

Regards,

John
 
Johnny,

Thanks for the input. I will have to look into the heating pad. I am sure there are a ton of them out there, is there anything specific to look for in one? Is there a way to regulate the temperature on them?

I think I am missing something, what is the difference between a heat lamp and a basking lamp?

As for feeding, we did take him out of the tank it just seemed like he wasn't interested. I will try it tonight in a smaller container that we used (a cardboard box about 12" X 24") and put him in a darker area.

I defrosted a pinky in warm water, then held it in the box (I guess thinking he would take it from my hand) and the set it in the box. After about twenty minutes I re-heated it as it got cold (the a/c was on in the house).

Should I just defrost the pinky and put it in the container with him and then leave it alone?
 
JohnnyK hit the mark, but I'd like to add a few things.

As far as substrate I don't know much about reptibark... but I think that it is fine most people here use aspen or paper towels. Don't use sand or pine as substrate as it is bad for corn snakes.

Most people on the forums agree that for a baby corn a 20 long is too big. I have successfully kept babies in 20 long. However if you go that route the snake needs tons of hides to feel secure and possibly two water sources.

Don't overfeed your snake. I always tell people wait one week to feed a snake after bringing it home, I know that seems like a long time but the snake will be fine. If a snake if overfed or fed when stressed they can regurg which can kill them.

Lastly you shed the snake shed half its skin. We really want a snake to shed all its skin at once, if that does not happen then I will actually shed the snake myself. I take a damp paper towel and run it down the snake to get the shed off. Retained shed can cause problems. If a snake does not shed all its skin it cold be a sign of low humidity or a sick snake. Considering you were using a lamp, low humidity is a possibility.

Whew!!! That's alot! I'm sure the snake will be happy with you and congrats on your new baby.!
 
Yeah, the shed looked like it was about half the length of the snake. The head half of him now looks a little brighter than the back half of him.

I would like to switch to the aspen, as I am already not that crazy about the bark. It came with the starter kit that we bought so we were trying that first.
 
You really don't need an overhead light at all for corns. A undertank heating pad (UTH) will be just fine. You get one that will cover approx. 1/3 of the bottom of the tank. They are readily available at Petco and Petsmart and any other reptile related stores you might have around you, as well as on ebay or other online stores. Make sure you have your UTH connected to a thermostat (do a search for different thermostats here on the forum, I use a Herpstat http://spyderrobotics.com/products/herpstat.html and totally recommend them), and keep the "hot" side of your viv around 85 degrees. This means getting a thermometer, with a probe. I have this one http://www.bigappleherp.com/Big-Apple-Deluxe-Thermometers-Humidity-Gauges

If you don't want to invest in a smaller tank, just keep the 20 gallon long and fill it with lots of hides, which can be made from paper towel rolls, tupperware containers with a hole cute out, cardboard boxes, etc. And then drape some fake plants all over it, and your snake should be just fine. He'll be able to move about the tank and still feel sucure from "predators".
When I feed I microwave a cup of water for 2-3 minutes and throw the mouse straight in. Let it sit for about 10 minutes (if you're feeding pinkies they'll proibably thaw more quickly though), use the long tweezers to put the mouse in with the snake, cover the container, and leave. Baby snakes might do a little better in something very small, like a clean butter tub. If they don't eat, try shaking the mouse, dragging it around, slitting it, etc. I keep my snake in her feeding container right beside the thawing mouse so she can smell it.
Good luck!
 
Oh, and the probe of the thermometer needs to go under the substrate, directly on the glass in the middl eof the UTH. This is where it will get the hottest and where it needs to be monitored.
 
Jared,

Do not try to let the snake eat from your hand; you stand about a 99% chance of being bitten. I wash my hands after handling the pinkies just so any scent is totally removed from my hands before I pick up our snakes. They are great creatures, docile, etc., but you don't want your snake to pick up a food scent on your hand, esp. that of a mouse.

As far as under the tank heating, this is what I have, it just stays at the same heat level, no controls to putz with...

http://www.petco.com/product/6353/Z...Heaters.aspx?CoreCat=IO-_-ProductList_3-_-Zoo Med Repti-Therm UTH Under Tank Heaters-6353

Substrate, I use a brown reptile carpet, along with a small area of eco-bedding for him to hide, play-in, etc. I get the green bag of this stuff, lasts forever...
http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=3157992

I have asthma and the aspen bedding stuff caused my eyes to water in about 20 min and my breathing to get heavy.

John
 
Everyone has different opinions, and mine differs slightly from what's been said.

I am 41 years old and have been keeping snakes for 30 of those years.

For starters, I generally will use heat lamps. The sun warms the earth, the snake gets warmth from the earth, I trust heat lamps warming the bottom of my tank more than I do wiring on heat pads. Again, that's just me. I have successfully wired flexwatt for home made racks in the past, but I like the simplicity of a heat lamp.

Neither is wrong.

I have fed "in cage" and I have fed "out of cage". Success with both over the years. I feed out of cage now because it gives me time to spot clean the tanks and change water - which I only change 2 to 3 times a week, not every day.

Hand feeding? Been doing it for years with Kings, Milks and Corns and have never been bitten any more than those I didn't hand feed:

CornEating.jpg


004.jpg



There is no evidence that in cage feeding leads to more bites. There is no evidence that hand feeding leads to more bites. BUT, we hear it all the time and love to regurgitate what we hear.

I am more interested in concrete facts and actual experience than the perpetuation of myths.

Not trying to start any arguments, just giving my opinions and experiences over the past 30 years.

Cheers to all!
 
And I don't wash my hands after handling the mice I feed, and haven't been bitten when putting my snakes back into their tanks after the finish eating.

(I do when feeding time is over, just so I don't transfer to MY food)

Does it happen sometimes? Sure. Is it a rule to live by? Probably not - at least not with the snakes I have had.

I would be more afraid of this if I kept Boas and Pythons. But with Colubrids, it doesn't worry me a bit.
 
Last comment.

A tank can never be too big provided you have enough hides. Baby snakes do great in a 20 gallon long if the temps and hides are provided.

A baby snake in the wild is not confined to a tub or a 10 gallon tank. Why in the world do we believe they are more secure in a small tank?

You could keep a baby Corn snake in a 75 gallon tank just fine if you provide the correct hides and temperatures. A hollowed out log in the wild is much like a flower pot with a hole cut in it in a large tank.

Again, just trying to get rid of the myths that we love to spew. Hides are the key, not tank size.
 
Well, we tried feeding for the second time last night and it was unsuccessful. We took him out of the tank and put him in a deli container. We put in the defrosted warm pinky, put the lid on, put him in a cardboard box and left him there in the dark and quiet. We left him for three hours and he didn't touch it.

It looks as of this morning he is still trying to shed the rest of his skin, so I am misting the tank more to keep the humidity higher.

Thanks for all of the help.

Jared
 
if he;s trying to shed then refusing his food is totally normal. i would forgo feeding until he's totally shed. Then, work on getting the humidity at a good level so he doesn't have as hard a time next time. A humid hide when he's in blue might be a good thing, which is nothing more than a tupperware container with the lid on it, with a hole cut (watch for sharp edges) with some damp moss in it. This reptile cave http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2752525 is on sale right now for $7 with free shipping, which I might buy just because it's only $7. And it's a ready made hide that you can just add damp moss too when he's getting ready to shed. Don't leave the damp moss in all the time as it can lead to scale rot. A great solution I figured out is getting a warm mist humidifier. I got the warm mist because my family room in the basement is pretty cold, so it raises the ambient air temp a little, without raising the temp of the hot side of the viv, and gives a little humidity.
 
I have read mixed reviews on the humidity. I have read that it can be from 30 to 60% which is where it has always been in our tank according to the gauge that we have. Is there are more specific area that it should be at?

I think I will try and get some moss for him later on today when I can get to the store.

Thanks.
 
That humidity sounds fine...you're snake just might be shedding challenged. A humid hide might help as he will actually be in contact with the damp moss, instead of just getting the humidity from the air.
 
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