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new keeper needs advice

G

gazzatop

New member
hi all , i am new to this and have found the site very helpfull but am now worried that what i have or been told from the pet shop is wrong .
i saw a post re feeding and not having a substrate that could stick to the food , i am using Beech wood chips , will i be ok ?
i was told not to keep the tank/ substrate moist , but having looked on the site this does not seam to be right
i am using a stick on thermometer is this right
last thing on this i was told to put the food on a bit of slate so the snake knows where to go does this sound right ?
i know that they are daft questions but want to make sure i am doing things right.
 
Alright first off...You always want to feed your snake in a seperate enclosure with no substrate..This will eliminate the danger of your snake injesting any substrate and plus this lets the snake know that when your hand goes into his home tank it's not food..but in the other tank is where he gets the food..As for having the tank moist..You only want to raise the humidity when the snake looks close to shedding..On average you can keep the humidity at about low 30's...but when it's shedding you can raise it to the 50's or low 60's to help with the shed..As for the thermometer..Your gonna want to get a thermometer with a probe so that you can tell what the temp is on the ground where you snake is..Not an ambiant air temp...To keep the snake warm your gonna want to have a UTH (Under Tank Heater) with a thermostat or rheostat to regulate the temps..I hope this helps..
 
thanks that helps a lot . i have a heater mat that keeps that tank at 74 ish ( or so the thermometer shows , and a basking lamp that takes it upto 84 . in the day only . i will get a probe to check the temp. as for the feeding tank can this be a plastic tub , with a lid ? and if so do i put him back once he has eaten or does he have to stay in it for a while ?
 
You can't have the temp dropping to the 70's at night- that's asking for digestion trouble. Why doesn't the UTH keep it warmer?
 
hi , i am not sure , i was told by the pet shop that it needed to be between 72 and 76 at night and 82 and 86 in the day is this not right ?
i am getting a thermometer with two probes tomorrow so i will be able to check the corect temp . looks like i have been give the wrong info from the pet shop :shrugs:
 
No, that is wrong. You need a side that is about 84F all the time, and a side that is room temp, but not under 65F. You measure the temp on the glass, under the hide on the warm side, directly over the middle of the UTH. I wouldn't feed the snake until you get the temps right- the snake could regurgitate.
 
Lizards are more the type to have a temp change in their tank..like my uromastyx lizard..His tank is in the high 90's to over a 100 in the day..but at night I let it drop to the 70's..snakes however need a constant warm spot..They need one side of the tank to be a constant 82-85 degrees and the cool side to be in the 70's..And definitely get a thermometer with a probe..if your UTH doesn't have a thermostat regulating it, it could be a whole lot hotter then you think where your snake is feeling..and you don't really need a light if you have a UTH..
 
For what it's worth, the temperatures definitely drop into the 70's at night here in S. Carolina..home of the cornsnake and they do just fine digesting. My snakes almost always digest on the cool side, so having it always in the 80's is not really that critical. That said, there should be a spot where it stays warm so that if your snake wants to go and lay on it, it can. How are you measuring the temperature? If you're still using the stick on thermometer, it just means that the glass is cooling to 70 at night, not the substrate. If you have a thermostat regulating the UTH it should have no problem regulating the temperature for you.
 
MegF. For what it's worth, the temperatures definitely drop into the 70's at night here in S. Carolina..home of the cornsnake and they do just fine digesting. My snakes almost always digest on the cool side, so having it always in the 80's is not really that critical. That said, there should be a spot where it stays warm so that if your snake wants to go and lay on it, it can. How are you measuring the temperature? If you're still using the stick on thermometer, it just means that the glass is cooling to 70 at night, not the substrate. If you have a thermostat regulating the UTH it should have no problem regulating the temperature for you.
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Hmm, the temperature may be that low outside, but will corns in the middle of digestion be outside in them?

Or would they find a dark, quiet, possibly underground hiding spot? would'nt they seek out as warmer spot they could find?

I mean in the wild they'd have loads of hiding options, more than in a three foot vivarium, so i personally think it is important to monitor any night time drop in temps

Tom
 
They would be as they don't have a choice. If the highest temperature available is the 70's, then that's what you take. However, I can say without question, that my snakes sit around on the cool side for the most part to digest. They almost never spend time on the warm side unless they are going into shed. There are people who regularly do night drops without a problem with their snakes. My arboreals are on a night drop program right now while they are breeding and they digest with warm side cage temperatures only at 75. Cool side is much lower and they spend some time on the floor of the cage. I've not had issues with regurgitation ever.
 
Thing is out in the wild, snakes have a tough time. Only the strongest get to survive. In captivity, they recieve optimum conditions all the time(pampered). Controlled temps, no weather, regular feeding, no predators... If 2 snakes out of a clutch survive to adulthood in the wild, that's be pretty good I think.
 
If 2 snakes out of a clutch survive to adulthood in the wild, that's be pretty good I think.
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I remember reading somewhere (can't quote a source, sorry) that there's a 1% survival rate in the wild.

So if you say that a usual clutch size is twenty eggs, that means that for every five clutches laid in the wild, only one Corn will make it to breeding age.

Nature is a harsh mistress alright.
 
That's true of most species. Survival is definitely not assured. I doubt that death in a cornsnake is from regurgitation though except in situations where prey attacks and they regurgitate to be able to move faster. More would die from predation...or people....and probaby disease than chronic regurgitation.
 
bitsy Quote:
If 2 snakes out of a clutch survive to adulthood in the wild, that's be pretty good I think.

I remember reading somewhere (can't quote a source, sorry) that there's a 1% survival rate in the wild.

So if you say that a usual clutch size is twenty eggs, that means that for every five clutches laid in the wild, only one Corn will make it to breeding age.

Nature is a harsh mistress alright.
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Yikes thats scary! I would have thought that 1% survival rate is very open to change though, and we must be talking just reptiles?

Relates very closely to animal strategies.

In particular wouldn't it be directly related to the number of offspring that can be produced from one mating of a species? ie. some lizards which only have one or two larger offspring, have invested more energy into each individual offspring so they are more likely to survive, where as in others species, like corn snakes, the energy goes into increasing offspring numbers
 
Yikes thats scary! I would have thought that 1% survival rate is very open to change though, and we must be talking just reptiles?
Click to expand...

Yep, that refers specifically to Corns, and it is just a statistic - like predicting morph breeding outcomes, in reality there could be more or less than the theoretical statistical possibility.

I'm sure that a clutch or brood size of any animal must relate to the factors which are going to prevent it reaching adulthood e.g. lack of parental care after birth, number of natural predators etc.
 
hi i have changed a few things and just wanted to check before i swap over .
i have changed tanks and now have a 3 foot wooden Viv , heat mat and heater at one end , using the same type substance (the snake keeps going under it) i have a thermometer with two probs.
the heater mat is on all the time and shows a temp of 74 and the heater is on 12 hours a day and takes it up to 86
the other end of the tank is between 68 (when the heater is off) and 74 when its on
two hids , water bowl and a tree branch .
can you let me knwo if this is right (this is how i was told to set it up )
and if i need a uv bulb ( was told i did not have to have one)
 
That all sounds good apart from one thing.

Your going to want to have your heat matt at about 85-87 ish all the time, not at 74. You'll need a probe sitting under the substrate with the heat matt to keep this properly monitored.

And no you don't need a UV lamp
 
That sounds good and no you don't need a UV bulb. We are talking about a corn snake right? You didn't say.

If I understand you correctly you have a heat mat under one end. The hot end goes from a day time high of 86 to a night time low of 74. On the cool end you go from a day time high of 74 to a night time low of 68. Is that correct?

Most of the people on this forum don't do the night and day temperature fluxuation. It isn't necessary but since you are set up for it, its good. I use it on some of my racks.

I think it sounds like you have studied it out and are ready to go.
 
I would just leave a set temp of 82-85 on the warm side all the time and let the cool end fluxuate in the 70's somewhere.
Actually the 1% survival rate in the wild is true of many species. Hawks and other birds of prey have a survival rate of only 1-5% Reptiles are not the only ones at high risk of being demolished before they mature enough to reproduce.
 
:)hi , thanks for the replies , yes its a baby corn snake. will get her changed over to the new tank today, just hope she likes it:crazy02:
 
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