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heating/humidity/caging

J

jacob8

New member
as a hatchling, how big of a cage would my future cornsnake need?
i already have a 20-gal-long reptile tank from my brother, i think a hatchling corn snake would feel too insecure in that big of a cage? or would it?
what does the "hot" side temp have to be, and what does the ambient temp have to be?
what does the humidity have to be all the time?
 
if not the 20gal tank, what can i use for a hatchling? my bro said a sterillite plastic box? just drill holes for ventillation on the sides, just that he said he wasn't sure what size box it should be. if anyone knows feel free to answer.
 
the 20 gal will be fine if you put a lot of hides/vines etc in it, if you want to start with a smaller tank, 10 gals work great.

hot side should be 82-85 on the glass(using a digital indooor/outdoor with probe on the bottom of the tank not side)
ambient temps anything above 70 is ok, i'd try for 72-75

i wouldn't worry about humidity unless you know the snake is in shed(add a moist hide) or if it end up with a bad shed.
mine shed at 25% easily, most of the time, i've had bad sheds at 70% so it depends on the snake.
 
you can use the shoebox size or slightly bigger, as a warning THEY CAN ESCAPE so you would need to place something heavy on the lid or clamp the sides.


and yes that is from experience, altho it ended well and we found the snake a week later by chance.
i did have clips on the bin but either she pushed enough to pop them off or they were not put on properly the last time she was put away.
 
i got a 20gal long tank with the screen top, that can be locked, and i have the lock for it, and my bro gave me a thermostat and 2 heat pads. both heat pads cover about 1/3 of the whole tank when on the bottom is that ok? and im gonna use repti-bark as substrate i also got that and a wooden sort of half log all from my bro. im gonna use an acurite thermometer/hygrometer, (acurite is the brand) with 1 probe, i will put the probe near the hot side and the actual thing somewhere in the middle. and with humidity, it can just be what it is, but when it sheds, increase it?
also, if i stick with the 20 gal long, i need to put more hides,and i was thinking about fake plants, mostly for decor but also for the little guy/gal to be able to climb, etc
and i dont think i need the heat lamp, do i?

thanks for the help, jacob
 
sounds like you got everything you need.

put the probe right in the middle of the hot side, i leave the main part of my units out of the tank and just sit it on top/beside the tank, as long as room temps are good the cool side won't get too cold.

when in shed you can either mist the tank(can be a pain to mist it enough to get the humidity up, or it gets to humid depending on substrate)
or put damp paper towel/moss in a hide.

a cheap extra hide fix is tp or pt rolls, small butter/sour cream etc containers with holes in the lids and so on work well.

fake plants would work well to make more cover for the little one.
i would skip the lamp if you have under tank heaters.

good luck with your little one.
 
i also have been warned not to mist where the heat pad is under, because the glass with crack, is this true?
so:
a cobra heat pad, hooked up to a big apple herp Bah-1000
repti bark substrate (i dont know how much has to be in the tank, 1" high, 2"?)
a water bowl, to be changed every day
2 hides, one on the hot side, one on the cold side
some mister thats cleaned
vines, i was thinking of those used for chameleons, that are brown, and to make them moveable, put them in water. not too high off the ground
a fake plant
a supply of...(im gonna stick with frozen mice, i know how to thaw them already, but what size approximately for a 10-15in corn snake?)
the lock for the cage
maybe some moss will come in handy some time for another
the thermo/hygro

let me know if there anything ive missed

thanks
 
When choosing what size mice to feed, you need to look at how wide your snake is, not it's length. The general rule is to feed a mouse that is about 1 to 1.5 times the widest part of your snake.

You could also do a search on the Munson Plan. I don't know what the details of that are, but many snake owners use it.
 
as it is a baby, you will want small pinky mice to start.

if the glass was hot and water hit it yes it could crack.

1" of substrate is probably good, just make sure the probe for your temp gauge ison the glass under the substrate as corns like to burrow.

if your putting him right into the 20 gal you will want more then just 2 hides, unless you put a bunch of vines/plants threw out the tank, little ones don't like open spaces so you need hides in the middle too(or lots of vines)

i wouldn't worry about an actual mister, i use spray bottles set on the lightest spray setting.


i would switch to aspen later, the bark is dustier and holds moister, so you should check it often to make sure it's not getting too wet from misting/spilt water.
 
I use the Reptibark. Before putting it in the viv I screen it outside to remove the dust. When you first put it in the humidity will be high, mine starts at about 65%. After about a week it loses some water and her viv stays at about 40-50%. I no longer mist and she has nice sheds.
I'm not sure it's the best choice for a small snake, I think it may be hard to burrow in.
 
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