Okay, lets say....

[BMueller777]

This is a hypothetical situation. Lets say I go out and get one baby corn snake.

What would be an ideal lifetime set up for the snake?

Would a baby corn be able to, from birth to an adult, live in a 20 gallon long that measures 30'' x 13'' x 13''?

What kind of heating source would you use?
-UTH?
-Heat Lamp?
-Both?

How would you regulate the temps in the tank?

I've already decided on Aspen for a substrate, I've heard a lot of good things about it.

Feel free to add anything I might have missed.

I'm very curious to read everyone's ideas about this.

TIA guys :grin01:

 

[Nanci]

A 20 long is considered to be the minimum adequate size for an adult corn.

You don't need a heat lamp. Cornsnakes have no need for lighting. You'd heat with a UTH, and control it with a thermostat or rheostat, (basic models cost ~$20-25) and monitor the temps, ideally, with a dual probed thermometer- $25 or less. The snake needs a minimum of two hides, one for the cool side, one for the warm side. A water bowl he can't tip over. You can put in all the climbing branches, vines, etc. you want. Snakes like to hide. You should probably start with smaller hides for the baby, and expect to upgrade once or twice as he grows. They would rather be in a tight space than a roomy space.

Nanci

 

[tyflier]

There is a difference between "minimum requirements", and ideal setup...

But for the minimum...20L(~$40) with an UTH and thermostat(~$50 for both). 2 hides(one warm, one cold--a plastic coffee can cut in half works well), a large water dish that the snake can submerge itself in without tipping over(~$15 from a pet shop), aspen bedding($5), and an indoor/outdoor thermometer with a prode that reads humidity($20 at K-Mart). About $130, not including snake.

But your snake will "need" other things to be happy. I like to put backgrounds on 3 sides of thick forest brush or something similar, to help the snake feel more secure(~$1 a foot X 5'). Add a nice climbing branch with plenty of arms and climbing area(~$15), some facke foliage on the climbing brach and scattered across the ground and maybe some fake moss and a nighttime lamp with a red incandescant bulb for optimal viewing pleasure. For around another $40 bucks you could provide a really nice enclosure that makes your snake feel secure and comfortable, as well as looking quite good.

Here are a couple pics of different "display" enclosures I have laying around:

 

[Nastassja]

Since I recently bought a hatchling corn snake about 3 months ago, I think I can share my experience with you..

Because it was my first time owning a snake, I kept it simple with the substrate and used paper towel. It's really efficient for keeping track of where and when he poops, so that I can take care of it quickly and hygienically. Aspen has the bonus of being "burrow-able", but in my case, so does paper towel- my snake opts to squeeze himself under the paper towels and still feel burrowed and secure, but without the mess of having to dig around to locate him when it comes to feeding time, or play time, if I want to take him out and hold him for a few minutes.

Everybody has great ideas on hides, but for a little guy, I was advised to keep it really simple, and I'm glad I recieved that advice, so I'm passing it on to you! I got myself an empty toilet paper tube and an empty band-aid box for my snake's hides. To be honest, he doesn't really use them that often, as he prefers to burrow under the paper towel, but I do see him use them from time to time. However, when I first got my snake, I, too, wanted crazy neat cage decorations. I purchased a piece of decorative reptile driftwood from a petshop, thinking it would be cool for him to investigate and be all semi-arboreal on, which it was... but the log had a hole in it, and he crammed himself so far up in there it took me a good half an hour to get him out. Since then, log isn't in the cage, and won't be until he's too big to fit up in that stupid hole.

His water dish is an empty candy dish... big enough for him to fit in, but wide enough at the base that he can't tip it over. And that was free. In fact, all of my snake's stuff was virtually free and low-cost.

I keep him in a 10 gallon aquarium with a screen top. The aquarium was 9 bucks at wal-mart, but the screen top that allows clip locking was somewhere around 13 dollars if I remember right. The under tank heater was the largest expense at around 27 dollars. His thermometer is a 5 dollar thermometer, it's a little round brass thing that I lay on top of the paper towels at his warm spot. I don't use a thermostat or rheostat, I used trial and error, by raising and lowering the aquarium off the UTH with various things. It's currently sitting on top of a paperback textbook covered with a pillowcase which has kept his warm side at a constant 83 degrees for the past 3 months.

My snake is happy and healthy and growing fast, so the stuff he's got to live with is just dandy-fine for him and I'm sure if you want to go the cheapskate route with your snake too, it'll be just fine!

Goodluck with your decisions!

 

[Topazfyre]

20L's arent' usually recommended for hatchlings because they may not feel secure with all that space to be 'exposed' in- a 10L would be better at first. However, if you think you'd prefer to set it up in a 20L, it's fine as long as you provide PLENTY of hides. Also, it's recommended that you get a sliding-lock lid to easily prevent escapes.

For the bare basics you'll need a waterdish it can fully submerge itself in, two hides, a UTH, Thermometer/hygrometer, and a thermostat or rheostat.

Like others have said, lights aren't really necessary for a corn. I use a Zoomed 500R Thermostat and a Zoomed heat pad, and it's been working great. The heat pad will have a power cord that you should plug into one of the slots in the thermostat (like an extension cord), and that will control the heat. You may not want to stick the heat pad directly on the tank if you've revealed the sticky side, simply because it makes it extremely hard to take off. Rheostats are alright, I personally prefer the Thermostat because if the room temperatures change, you have to change the setting on the Rheostat. Either should come with a probe that you can stick inside or under the viv. I have mine outside on the heat pad so I don't have to deal with getting any wires under the lid of the tank.

The thermometer should have a probe to be placed on the glass (under the substrate) inside the tank on the hot side, since that will be the hottest part and you don't want your snake burned. Many probe thermometers come with a hygrometer (measures humidity). If you get one with that included, it will probably have a second probe that should be placed on the glass walling above the substrate so it can accurately measure ambient humidity. Again, for lack of wanting wires comming out of the tank, I keep my displayer inside the tank as well, away from the water.

The two hides can be anything you want. To an extent. Again, as other have said, it should be the appropriate size for your snake to feel secure. If you have something like a long log or some other tunnel-like thing that stretched over both the hot and cool sides, you can use that too instead of having two hides. The main point is to give your snake the option of being hot or warm without sacrificing security. If your going to use ANYTHING from outside in your tank it should be baked and/or bleached first. (AKA: Don't just grab a log out in the wooks and stick it in your snakes tank. That's not cool.)

The water dish doesn't have many requirements, just that it's not so deep that the snake can't get out of it easily once in.

Anyways, I hope this was helpful to you despite a lot of it being restated. Good luck!

 

[Nastassja]

Oh, I forgot to add... Most of the things in my juvenile-snake house are temporary.

Next summer I plan on constructing my own, lovely wooden vivarium that will be about 30-35 gallons for my snake. At that point I do wish to switch to aspen, and decorate the cage with hides, faux plants and climbable surfaces that are aesthetically pleasing to human beings.

Because of the large cost of purchasing even a petstore 20 long, I decided to stick it out with skimpy stuff and gradually acquire the things I need for his final home without immediately denting my finances (being a college student isn't easy, lol). As an added bonus, though, once my snake is too big for his current aquarium, he can leave it and my gecko can move in. Haha.

I chose the setup in my previous post because it was very easy on my pocketbook, and I can keep real good track of his health. It was really important to me that I be able to keep record of not just his health, but his behavior as a youngster. If something goes wrong and you need help, lots of people on this forum will be more than willing to help you, but in order to pinpoint specific problems, keeping things very simple and concise will, in the end, eliminate any fogginess in determining the causes.

 

[BMueller777]

Wow I just want to say that I love this forum and the people on it! 5 replys in one day without me even commenting back on the replys. Thanks alot guys, this was very very helpful.

I now know everything I need to do/get for a snake now.
( I just might be doing it tomrrow morning :grin01: )




Thanks