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Newbie with first snake.

C

chid

New member
Hi all.
Just thought Id introduce myself. I have kept tarantulas for ages and have always wanted a corn snake . I have just bought myself a young corn snake, Its a july hatch and about 15" . I pick it up at the weekend.
I have a couple of questions if anybody could help.

I have set a container up the same size as it is in in the shop and all is well with it. What is the largest size tank that I could put the snake in? As I dont want it to be to big for the snake.

I have my container in a 2 foot wooden viv that has a heatmat on the back wall that is used for my smaller Tarantulas. I have the corns container against the mat and the temps are ok. But everywhere I read they say use the mat under the tank. Is this because the snake needs belly heat or as long as the temps are ok does it matter that mine is on the wall?

Also what do you guys use for substrate, I thought I'd start with paper towels as it seems easiest?

Sorry for my newbie questions.

Thanks
Chid
 
congrats on the new snake. for a full size snake u need a 20gal long tank. having the heat mat on the side of the tank wont help it needs to be on the botum. i use lizzered litter for a substrate my snake likes it because he can dig in it.
 
Congratulations with your new snake :D

The viv can be as big as you want it (since n the wild they have a huge amount of space) but if the viv is very big, it can be a bugger trying to find the snake it in (specialy if the snake is as smal as yours). An Adult corn shold be kept in a 3ft viv or bigger.

Im not sure about the heatmat thing, sorry. My heatmats are just kept under the substate INSIDE the viv. But on my tubberware container which is holding a corn, the heatmat sits under the container.

There are many substrates to use. Like paper kitchin towels, newspaper, woodchip, aspen, astroturf and many others.

Kitchin towels and newspaper are easy to change and hardly cost anything but they dont look that nice.

WoodChip (what I use) looks nice, easy to spot clean, keeps the smell of snake feces away and smell quite nice but it does cost a little more than kitchin towels or newspaper but ot that much more.

Cheers

Alex
 
Yeah not everyone has the best advice, do lots of research on your own.
*sigh*

Welcome to the world of cornsnakes Chid. When getting your hatchling you can in some cases have success with "vivs as big as possible" but in most cases this can cause feeding problems. I'd pick up a rubbermaid (shoebox size) to house in until the snake is in your care and an established feeder. Then at that point try moving him up. When you place a hatchling into a huge enclosure, even with 65 hiding spots, he will feel to open in most cases. Again sometimes it works fine but for most hatchlings a shoebox sized enclosure works. Kinda like with T's (since you keep them) you would put a spiderling into a ten gallon tank.

Anyways good luck and come back if you have more questions because most of the time you'll get ACCURATE adivce here! :D

BMM
p.s. I am also a tarantula fan! I only keep two at the moment, a Brazilian Birdeater and a Bolivian Salmon Pink :D
 
congrats

Hi, I'm a newbie snake owner too, and my ghosty corn who is a summer '03 hatchling is also just about 15 inches long. I use woodchips for my substrate, and he digs under them a lot and enjoys it. I am new to the site but I've been doing a lot of research so that I figure everything out. Heard that the Cornsnake Manual really helps, so go out and buy it if you can. Congrats again.
 
Welcome, Chid!

I'll give ya my two cents in order that you asked them:

Size: As Alex mentioned, nothing is technically "too big," especially considering their "enclosures" in the wild. But, as a snake hunter, I can assure you that you almost never see a hatchling corn out in the open. In all practicality, smaller is better because it is easier to heat, clean, keep an eye on, easier to find the snake, and much easier for them to find their prey items.

Heat: I personally put heat tape on the back of my shoebox racks, as pictured below. This photo should clear up the size of a shoebox, the heat tape can be seen on the top, it runs all the way down and only heats one small side of each box. As long as the cage temps are where they should be, the snake could care less if the heat source was warming his belly! ;)

Substrate: Paper towels are fine for hatchlings. As they grow, you need something more absorbent. I actually am using newpaper, carefresh, aspen, reptibark, and astroturf. Turf only in three display cages, I was feeling experimental with some of the other stuff! Bulk aspen from my local outdoor store seems to be the cheapest that looks better than newspaper.

You'll find your corn to be a fun, relatively easy to care for pet. There are LOTS of opinions and ideas out there, but buy yourself a copy of the Cornsnake Manual and read lots of threads here. Best wishes and merry Christmas.
 
Oh, here's the photo!

I forgot that!
 

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Hi All.
Thanks for all the replies, I have a copy of the corn snake manual and have read it a couple of times allready:)

The heatmat question was because like I said In everything I've found on the internet it says the mat underneath the tank. I didnt know if this meant you had to place it there or if it was because of ease of putting it there.

I think I'll keep it on paper towels in the tank I have set up for now and set up a larger one with woodchip and move the snake to that when it seems to be ok.

elrojo - Thanks, that is the set up with the heatmat that I was talking about so mine seems to be ok as it is the same system as yours ( on a smaller scale of course).

bmm - Thats the thing I was on about, the spiderling in a large tank thing. Nice T's , I have about 40 currently with 2 on eggsacs so it might increase soon

I cant wait to pickmy snake up at the weekend, be prepared for a couple of pics when I get it:D

Thanks again for the replies.

Chid
 
beardie said:
for a full size snake u need a 20gal long tank.
Click to expand...

This is not always true. I have some corns that do not fit in a 20-gallon long. They need much more floor space. What I am getting at, is that sometimes it depends on your individual snake. Some of them need more room than others.
 
I agree with CornCrazy. None of my adults would seem comfortable in a 20 gallon. Not nearly.

But yeah individual snake! It all depends.

bmm
 
I currently have 2 03's in faunariums but they'll go into 3ft vivs and I have a feeling my female candycane (that im questioning on it's candycaneness) will need a 4ft the rate she's going, she's going to overtake my older male soon. Hope ya enjoy your snake when you get it (assuming you haven't already) and like BMM said go there and to elrojo or rich for accurate advice!

Rach
 
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