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Preparing for my baby

R

RewiredLain

New member
Still no snake. I am having surgery this week but planning to get my snake in the next month or so (depending on my recovery etc).

I just wanted to hop back on here and get your opinions on products.

Obviously I know I need to get a good UTH and its best to get a thermometer hygrometer with probes.

Any specific brands I should look into? I am looking around online and so far eyeing some zilla brand stuff and exo-terra but then I also see stuff even cheaper. (though I don't know that I would want to go cheaper and risk getting inaccurate readings).

The UTH I prefer to pay more and have a good reliable heat source. Also would it be okay to start off with a 20 gal tank or if I am getting a hatchling, should I start him/her off in something tinier?

Still unsure of which morph I am getting, but the local reptile place we go to for my gf's snake supplies has sooo many corn babies right now (creamsicle, butter, snow, anery stripe...gahhhh idk lol)

I have Kathy Love's book and have read a bit, but plan to read more while I am sitting at home recovering from surgery. I also lurk on here A LOT...Any suggestions before I become a new snake mommy would be awesome :D
 
OK, to start off a 20 gallon long will suit most adult corns, which means it it suit your baby just fine and last the entire life of the snake. Just make sure you give him/her plenty of places to hide so that the tank doesn't feel so spacious! Its only highly recommended that you cover 3 sides to help increase the feeling of security.

I have always gone by the "you get what you pay for" method of purchasing supplies. This isn't always true, but I find it usually is. I would be more concerned with the quality of the Thermostat than the quality of the UTH. Zilla is a good brand for UTH's, I have one, but I also have a Fluckers, which is relatively inexpensive and its worked just fine!

The only real requirement is PICTURES as soon as you get the little booger home!!!:cheers::cheers:
 
Thanks! Definitely will post pics. I can't wait, but I definitely want to make sure I have the stuff for its habitat and proper care first.

I am thinking of going to Repticon down here in a couple weeks as well which I am equally excited about too. Who knows maybe my baby will come from there? hehehe
 
With hatchlings in a 20 long, if you provide enough hides, they should feel very secure, BUT...

I have found that 20L's are somewhat harder to secure against hatchling escape, and even if they don't get OUT of the viv, it can be very frustrating and/or scary to try and find a newly hatched corn in a 20L, especially if you have a lot of hides and aspen litter.

If you can start with a 10, that would probably be better for the first six to twelve months. My $.02.
 
A 20 gallon should be ok but if you find the snake is just going stir crazy in it you can always section it off with an acrylic sheet or some of that corrugated plastic sheeting to make it feel more secure.
IMO an adult corn shouldn't be housed in anything smaller than a 30 gallon long. All of my adult corns are housed in 40 gallon sized enclosures or the large under the bed storage bins which a really close to the same width and length of a 40 gallon. I just couldnt see my 4.5' corn being much too happy with me if I put her in a 20 gallon :p
 
Oh and I preffer the exo-terra tropical heat mats to any of the others, they tend to stay right around the perfect temp, mine have never gone over 88 degrees and often sit at about 84 to 86. I tried a zilla one once and it got to 98 so I returned it and stuck with what I knew :)
 
rosewood said:
Oh and I preffer the exo-terra tropical heat mats to any of the others, they tend to stay right around the perfect temp, mine have never gone over 88 degrees and often sit at about 84 to 86. I tried a zilla one once and it got to 98 so I returned it and stuck with what I knew :)
Click to expand...

Interesting. I have never heard of a UTH that would actually run at a safe Corn temp without a thermostat...I may have to look into some of those!
 
I monitor them on a regular basis just to make sure but so far they have never really gone above 90, its nice not having to run them on a thermostat :) I have been using them without a thermostat since I got my first corn and have never had a problem.
 
I have the zoomed mats in a few different sizes, I always run them on a rheostat because even the little tiny less than 5 gallon one gets over 100F unregulated.

What I would do with a baby is pick up one of those plastic critter keeper cages with the snap on lids. If you remember to close them tight they are pretty much escape proof and it will give you and your baby time to get used to each other and feel each other out. Searching a 20L for a 10inch hatchling through hides and aspen is stressful, sometimes I even panic that my juvie somehow escaped (he is almost 3ft and in a 41qt tub) so I can tell you the extra stress is not worth it. However, if you want a display tank, I have heard really good things about the zilla critter cages with the sliding lids.
 
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