New here. and to snakes.. have some questions!!

[LadyRebelJet]

Ok.. questions:

1) I have a 55 gallon fish tank.. we arent comfortable with having that amount of water in our new house.. so decided to get a snake.. will this tank be big enough for the average corn?

2) Can more than one corn be kept in this tank, and if so, do I have to purchase them at the same time, or can one be added later assuming they arent agressive..

3) I have done a lot of reading on cornsnakes..but I am getting a lot of conflicting advice. Some people say use paper towels for the bottom, some say pine shavings.. one place even said potting soil. It is possible to use a clean dirt/soil bedding and plant live plants.. I guess trying to create as natural as possible habitat..

4) Heat rocks.. yes no?
If no.. should I use a standard heating pad under the tank.. and what heating levels should I keep the tank at for a hatchling?

5) As mentioned, i have the 55 gallon tank, if this is sufficient.. how can I go about snake proofing? Right now its still housing my oscars.. so I havent done anything just yet. My big concerns are how to keep the snakes from pushing the lids up, just weight it, or are there some simple tricks to this?

I know im asking some pretty basic questions here.. im trying to get all the advice I can before I make a purchase.. Im going to go this weekend and get a snake care handbook as well. But I like to get different opinions and see what will work best for me.

Thank you in advance

 

[pinatamonkey]

Ok.. questions:

1) I have a 55 gallon fish tank.. we arent comfortable with having that amount of water in our new house.. so decided to get a snake.. will this tank be big enough for the average corn?

It will be great for an adult corn. I would probably raise it in something smaller for about year before putting it in the larger tank.

2) Can more than one corn be kept in this tank, and if so, do I have to purchase them at the same time, or can one be added later assuming they arent agressive..

It probably is large enough for 2 adults, but I'm not big on housing them together. I'm sure others here will give some specifics. Usually, it's best to house them alone.

3) I have done a lot of reading on cornsnakes..but I am getting a lot of conflicting advice. Some people say use paper towels for the bottom, some say pine shavings.. one place even said potting soil. It is possible to use a clean dirt/soil bedding and plant live plants.. I guess trying to create as natural as possible habitat..

You can try using live plants, but I don't know how well they will hold up to being climbed over. For substrates, it's your choice. People like using paper towels and newspaper for sanitary reasons, and you don't have to worry about ingesting substrate. I'm using apsen for my corns, but it's not that natural looking. For a more natural setup, you can try darker products like reptibark, that coconut stuff, or what I use in some of my cages, cypress mulch. I don't know what kind of additives, if any, they put in potting soil.

4) Heat rocks.. yes no?
If no.. should I use a standard heating pad under the tank.. and what heating levels should I keep the tank at for a hatchling?

Heat rocks are not something you'd want to use. Heat pads work well, also heat lamps aren't that bad. One side of the cage should be around room temp (70s), and the warm side should be around the mid 80s. Make sure to measure the top of the substrate, and not the air. If you're using something 'burrowable' and using a heat mat, measure the surface of the glass as well.

5) As mentioned, i have the 55 gallon tank, if this is sufficient.. how can I go about snake proofing? Right now its still housing my oscars.. so I havent done anything just yet. My big concerns are how to keep the snakes from pushing the lids up, just weight it, or are there some simple tricks to this?

Just a screen lid and clips works fine. They usually sell the clips at pet stores.

 

[Khaman]

Answers

1. Yes more than enough though if you are getting a hatchling I would consider getting a temporary home for it till it gets a little bigger.

2. Well they say it is never a good idea to house two snakes together and I will not recommend it but I have kept two of mine in a 40 breeder for several years just make sure one is not overly larger than the other.

3. My suggestion if you have one setup and want something visually pleasing go with repi-bark or aspen shavings.

4. No heat rocks. UTHs are the best 80-85 on the warm side 65-70 on the cool side and they will find where they want to be in the middle.

5. you will probably have to have a snake proof top made if it originally was made for fish I have seen a new make your own top that uses Velcro to secure it to the tank. That might work.


Added advice http://www.corn-utopia.com/Corn Utopia on the Web/The Corn Snake Manual - Book Ordering Info.htm Kathy Love’s corn snake book is the best out at the moment.

 

[LadyRebelJet]

ok, thanks you guys after posting this I went and did some reading on this site and got a lot of good info

few more questions..

1) why would I not want to put a hatchling in the 55 gallon?

2) For a heat lamp.. what type of bulb would I need?

3) are there any types of plants that cannot be kept in this setup with the cornsnake?

there were more, but Im suffering from a brainfart (im 8 months pregnant, hubby says that why, I will admit im that way all the time)

I cant put just a mesh lid on the tank because I have cats.. I have learned the hard way that they will jump on any tank I own and bust in the mesh.. I suppose though I could put a mesh underneath the regular tank lid..

Can I get heat bulbs to put into the existing light fixtures of the tank lid? or should I just get the bell shaped heat lamp?

Probably asking some stupid questions.. sorry If I am.. But we all learn by asking correct?

 

[Wavlyn]

Okee...I'm still new at keeping snakes, but hopefully, my reading/lurking around has helped a touch.

Hatchlings like small, fairly secure spaces. The 55-gallon may make him nervous.

I have a 75W...If you leave it on night and day, a red one would be best, but if you turn it off at night, a normal one should be fine.

Eh, you'll have to look up the toxicity. Try googling it. My rep store has a section with non-toxic plants, so I just got them from there.

Well, you want to make sure that the snake gets enough air, so if you're handy, maybe you could try making a sort of cage over it that cats wouldn't get past..?

Er, I believe fish tanks have flourescent lighting, the tubes? Those are usually best for lizards and stuff, since they need the UV from the tube. Snakes don't need the UV, since they're largely nocturnal. The tubes don't really produce much heat either and it'll be across the whole tank, so warm and cool areas wouldn't be established, so perhaps a regular heat lamp is best.


Er, that's the best I can do...maybe you should wait for someone whose had their snake for more than a week...

 

[pinatamonkey]

Right, a large cage can sometimes stress out a young snake. Plus, it's hard to find a 12" hatchling in a 4' cage.

The screen tops I use are 1/4" welded wire, like hardware cloth. It's pretty tough stuff. The clips hold it on well.
I don't know how secure you can make a fish tank lid.

Fluorescent lights won't provide the heat the snake needs. They are nice if you use an undertank heat pad, for providing viewing light. Use the cheapest kind of fluorescent tube, if you go that route. The snake doesn't need anything special in the way of light wavelengths. For a heat lamp, you should get the reflector dome kind - preferably with the ceramic top, not the plastic.

 

[rachel132002]

I have two corns together bought at different time BUT it's not ideal and mine are saying bye bye to each other tomorrow. just remember these points:
1) 2females is ok together

2)A breeding pair (male n female) are okay once the female is 3ft

3)male and female babies okay but seperate around now before breeding season arrives

4) 2 males together - nah-uh as of breeding time

5)If you have 1 corn and decide to have anoher live with it quarentine the new arrival because even if it comes from a rpeutable dealer it could have the begnnings of an infection and if they're together it passes it on and vet bills ofr snakes AINT cheap and you don't want 2sick snakes.

and apparently hot rocks are a no no because snakes and lizards sit on them but are too dumb to realise they're cooking themselves.

Rachel

 

[Rachel]

and apparently hot rocks are a no no because snakes and lizards sit on them but are too dumb to realise they're cooking themselves.

Rachel

LMAO! Yeah, my leos are like that. I don't have a hot rock but do have a red light. When they were little they managed to climb right up to the light (well leap at it from a high branch) and try to 'grab' hold of it. Luckily, the light was far enough out of reach but it was quite funny watching them act like lemmings off the branch. To keep it corn related , Pretzel used to climb up onto the ledge in his viv and drop off. No reason, just stupid reptiles I guess.....

 

[KevinK]

For a decent premade lid

try PetSmart. I'm not a big fan of PetSmart, but I saw some premade reptile lids for various sized tanks. The ones I saw were a heavy steel frame and the mesh was more like a soilid piece of steel with zillions of holes drilled in it.

It should keep snakes in the cage and cats out.

--Kevin

 

[LadyRebelJet]

Thank you kevin, I will try that for sure.. I was doing some online searching and found that petsmart, even though I also dont care for them, have good prices on supplies (water dishes, basic hides, and substrate) I think ill stay away from the petstore for these things, and shop there instead.

Ill keep you guys updated.. and hopefully show you pics when i find a suitable snake

 

[mattsnake]

caution

be warned that corns are very addictive...

It would be best if you buy a baby to house it in a smaller cage until it outgrows the predator paranoid stage of its life. For substrate the best looking is probably repti-bark-although it can get very dusty and get dust mites, but you probably will not have to worry about that. Good choice for getting a corn by the way.

 

[LadyRebelJet]

Thanks

I have actually had snakes before.. But always did things the way i thought they should be done.. It was back before I knew how to really care for one. I always was succesful though.. I managed to raise a wild bull snake from 12" to 4' then he got aggressive and I turned him loose on our property. I had a boa way back when, but gave him away.. ive also had a ball python, a young rattlesnake.. and 2 rat snakes. I had the python, bull and rat snakes at the same time.. they were all large enough to eat med size rats.. so i started breeding my own.. we lived 2 hours from any kind of supplier. Didnt know anything about rats, and somehow all my snakes went into shed at the same time and wouldnt eat...i went from 5 rats to about 30 in a month (silly me had no idea they bred that fast!!) And i decided I liked the rats better and gave away all the snakes.

Anyhow.. So i do have some knowledge about snakes.. BUT.. with the way things change and all the new ways to care for them im going at this like Ive never had a snake before. Trying to get the freshest information thats out there, rather than what i learned 5-6 years ago.

I chose the corn mostly for looks. My husband will not let me have a boa or a python. He doesnt want anything that will get large enough to eat a large rat.. So i was limited on size. I had talked him into ether a Corn Snake or a King Snake. The kings I have found were a bit bigger on average than the corns (is this right) and I found the corns to be much more visually pleasing. Hence my decision for the corn.

I wanted to thank everyone here, ive already learned a lot by reading though the various posts here, and look forward to continuing to learn as I go..

 

[CAV]

The kings I have found were a bit bigger on average than the corns

I would disagree with this comment. All of my adult kings are much smaller than adult corns. As a matter of fact, my kings are about the same size as a large yearling or sub-adult corn. I'd be interested to see if others have similar observations.

 

[LadyRebelJet]

Really? The ones I saw looked bigger than the corns.. lol, doesnt matter, just dont tell my hubby

 

[mattsnake]

I have been reading up on kings and milks lately (don't ask why), and there are many different subspecies of kings that get as big or bigger than the average cornsnake. I think the popular California king is smaller.

 

[AggieTiff]

Graybands are smaller than corns as well.