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Help on my new corn snake

L

luvisme3

New member
Hiya,
I just got my first corn snake today and have a few silly questions which the shop couldn't answer. I was told not to buy a heat mat at the moment as it is warm but I do have a uv bulb and another light bulb they gave me too. One gives off heat, will that be enough or should I invest in a heat mat now?
Also where do i position the hide for the snake, should it be over the warm or cooler side?
Also another silly question, do i just turn off the lights at night?
Thanks for your help, I'm a tad confused :)
 
Most here will recommend a UTH (under the tank heater) controlled by a thermostat. Snakes need belly heat for proper digestion and heat lamps can't provide that consistently. I would also suggest having at least one hide on the warm side and one on the cool side, so he can pick where he's comfortable. I don't have any lights on my corns so I can't really help you there.
 
I wouldn't bother with the lights. The UV lights can actually be harmful to the snake. They are nocturnal anyway. Put at least one hide on each of the warm and cool end, and go ahead and get an undertank heater, belly heat is very beneficial to the digestion of the snake.
 
bkelm18 said:
I wouldn't bother with the lights. The UV lights can actually be harmful to the snake. They are nocturnal anyway. Put at least one hide on each of the warm and cool end, and go ahead and get an undertank heater, belly heat is very beneficial to the digestion of the snake.
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A moment of correction snakes are not nocturnal (instead they're active around dawn and dusk) and I'd be curious to see the research about UV being harmful, considering that's what the sun puts out...They're just not necessary is all.
 
I'd be curious to see the research about UV being harmful, considering that's what the sun puts out...
Click to expand...

I think the problem with using UV in a tank, is that it's more concentrated and the snake can't easily get away from it. At best, it could lead to the Corn not wanting to venture out into the open during the day, which would affect its thermoregulation.

My source for it being harmful is someone I knew who ran a reptile rescue and took in blind Corns over the years. She found that they were generally lighter morphs lacking melanin (Amels, Snows etc) that had been kept with UV. Her reasoning was that their eyes lacked the darker pigment that would have protected them from the UV rays and this caused damage. She described putting a light-coloured Corn under UV, as being akin to putting a redhead out in the midday sun all day.

I don't believe any formal research has been conducted to date, due to the potential for harm to the Corn.
 
UV light provides no benefit to corn snakes. Corn snakes will do just fine with natural room lighting/light cycles and an undertank heat pad set to the proper temperature. Bright light can be harmful to albino animals. At the very least, it causes stress.
 
Thank you bitsy and tspuckler for those clarifications on the UV lighting possible concerns, as I too and fairly new to the Corn Snake hobby and had been told by the Herp vet here that they needed UVB light for Calcium digestion.

Several people here had said, no they did not they were harmful but had left it at that and had never expanded or given reasons why.

I have consulted Kathy Love and she has advised that there is no need or benefit from the the use of them, that Corn snakes are not diurnal (day snakes) nor are they nocturnal(night snakes) but as bitsy said they come out mostly at dusk and dawn and occasionally during the day, all ventures out of hides are for feeding and thermorugulating. As well Kathy had stated she and all the breeders she knows in the US never use UV lighting of any kind and the snakes are healthy, but because they do not use the lighting she does not know anything about them causing harm and if I had already purchased them and was going to use them so as not to waste the bulbs then make sure I follow the day cycles in my area. In short, I stopped using them, if Kathy Love says they are not needed well then they are not needed.

Yet again, I am thankful for the extra info on why not to use them, as I am the type of person who likes to learn as much as possible and understand why to or not to do things.
 
and had been told by the Herp vet here that they needed UVB light for Calcium digestion.
Click to expand...

To add to Asbit's info, for basking reptiles such as Bearded Dragons, UV is essential for this purpose. Exposure to UV enables the reptile to produce the vitamin D3 which is vital for the absorbtion of calcium. Without D3, calcium isn't properly metabolised from food and supplements; the reptile's bones will become weak and deformed (MBD).

A vet that advises the use of UV with Corns, is applying a rule for certain species of reptiles, to all reptiles. This isn't appropriate. As Corns do not bask (they are only active at times of low sunlight levels), they have never developed the dependency on UV that some other reptiles have.
 
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