Problems with heater... and a few other newbie questions.

[kipchack]

So I'm a first time snake owner, I just brought home my new baby yesterday and for the most part things have been going smoothly... But I noticed that the under the tank heater I put on one side (an ExoTerra 8 watt "medium") is barely warm at all, and my boy's been almost without fail buried under the substrate on the "hot" side, and when I picked him up today he felt colder than he should have. He's currently chilling out in my shirt (his favorite place so far) and warming up a bit, I know you're not supposed to handle them too much off the bat but he LOVES being held and I was worried that he seemed cold. I don't currently have a thermometer (the one thing I forgot yesterday!!) but I'm going back to the pet store tomorrow to get one and I'm thinking I should ask about my heater. I'd rather not turn my boy into a snakesicle! He resides in a reasonably sunny, warm room and the humidity in my city is always fairly high so I'm not SCARED scared but I am concerned that the heater doesn't seem to be doing much.

I also have some general questions about my setup. I tend to ramble so apologies for the walls of text.

He's currently in a 33 gallon tank (the guy at the store said that was the bare minimum size that would be sufficient), with cypress mulch bedding. The UTH is on the left side under the skull and his water dish takes up most of the right side- I was told I needed one big enough that he could immerse himself if necessary. The cork hide in the center is leaned up against the far wall to provide more space and he seems to like it well enough. However, it seems a bit wide and clunky- I would have gotten something skinnier but the store didn't have any. Should I return it and try to find something else? It seems like his tank is completely consumed by stuff and there isn't much flat space, is this okay?

My last question is about his food- the guy said he'd been eating adult mice once a week and that was perfectly fine for him, and I bought ten of them, but I've been reading that the appropriate food should be about 1.5 times his width, and the mice I got aren't even quite the same girth that he is. Is this okay or should I be feeding him something larger? He's about three feet long and about 2-3 years old.

Thanks in advance for any help, I really want to get everything right the first time and I have a tendency to worry myself sick about my kids!

 

[bitsy]

Welcome!

Firstly, I agree that you need a decent thermometer (infra-red or digital, not the plastic dial or cardboard strip types) as a matter of urgency.

when I picked him up today he felt colder than he should have.

A Corn's safe maximum is 90, which is below human core body temp (around 96). He should always feel coolish to you. That's safe.

I am concerned that the heater doesn't seem to be doing much.

If your undertank heater is conrolled by a thermostat or dimmer (which it should be), then it needs to be set so that it keeps the floor surface around 85. Again, this will feel cool to you. It's designed to heat the surface nearest it, which will be the floor - belly heat is ideal for Corns, as they spend most of their time hidden away on the floor. An undertank heater isn't designed to heat the air in a tank - this is unnecessary for a Corn anyway, as they aren't up in the air. Don't measure the temp in the air - when you get your themometer, concentrate on getting the temp of the floor surface right.

However if you're using your undertank heater without a controller, it wouldn't be uncommon for them to reach 110-120+. If you put your hand on the tank floor immediately above it, it will feel warm or even hot (dangerously hot for a Corn). If your heater isn't doing this, then it could well be faulty.

However, in order to check for any of this, you need a decent thermometer first. It will be a good investment, as you'll need to use it throughout your Corn's 15+ years of life, to keep an eye on the temps. Sounds like you're already on the way to figuring out the heat issue anyway.

The UTH is on the left side under the skull and his water dish takes up most of the right side- I was told I needed one big enough that he could immerse himself if necessary.

In my experience, most Corns rarely soak in the water bowl. Mine only do so when they get too hot. Others will soak to try and get rid of mite infestations. An adult Corn can squish themselves into surprisingly small spaces, so if you do want to allow for soaking anyway, you could happily provide a much smaller water bowl.

Ideally they need at least two hides - one on the warm side and one on the cool side, so that they can thermoregulate. They're very hidey by nature and chances are your guy is hanging out at the warm side only because he feels exposed and unsafe on the cool side.

The cork hide in the center is leaned up against the far wall to provide more space and he seems to like it well enough. However, it seems a bit wide and clunky- I would have gotten something skinnier but the store didn't have any. Should I return it and try to find something else?

Corns like to feel secure, so they like to feel the walls/top of the hide in contact with their body. I think your instinct that the hide is too large, is spot on. Whilst it hides him from sight, it probably isn't making him feel safe. It might be better to try and find a couple of smaller hides that he has to squish into. They don't have to be anything fancy. Whilst they don't do much for the look of the tank, any old cardboard box with a hole cut in it will do. If I need disposable hides, I use cereal boxes - cut one of the large sides off (so that I can lift it off them if I need to), then cut a snake-sized hole in one of the sides. You just need to make sure that the boxes you use can't have come into contact with household chemicals (cleaners, fly spray etc).

It seems like his tank is completely consumed by stuff and there isn't much flat space, is this okay?

I'd say that's fine. Corns spend all their time in the wild hiding from predators and don't really benefit from "wide open spaces" in their tanks. That just makes them nervous and wary of moving around the tank. I like giving them plastic foliage for ground cover. It allows the snake to sneak around, but gives me a bit more visibility. Plus they look good in the tank. You can get them from craft stores, where they're stocked for floral arrangements - just make sure you deal with any wire ends before using them.

the guy said he'd been eating adult mice once a week and that was perfectly fine for him, and I bought ten of them, but I've been reading that the appropriate food should be about 1.5 times his width, and the mice I got aren't even quite the same girth that he is. Is this okay or should I be feeding him something larger? He's about three feet long and about 2-3 years old.

Sounds like he's about right for adult mice, certainly. I wouldn't feed anything larger. Once mine are on adult mice I usually feed once every 14-21 days. However, it depends what size of adult mice you can get. You're right that we usually look for it to leave a lump in younger ones and be 1.5 times the snake's girth, but this guide no longer applies once they reach adult mice (otherwise you'd be increasing the food size its entire life!)

Don't worry about worrying, or asking questions. You're a great owner - the good ones always get into a stew over the details! It's the sign of someone who's doing the right thing by their Corn, which is fine by us

 

[rainkeltoia]

Look into the snake caves by exo terra, I got one for my girl and she ADORES It. She spends most of her time in there. They come with moss too, so they double as a humid hide for shed times I got a small for my girl, she'll move up to a medium once she's full grown I think, but the small is just fine for her now (she's a small 2 year old, was a reluctant feeder in the beginning). You sound like you're worrying about all the right things Definitely get a thermometer, and as always bitsy is spot on I agree! I worry about little stuff all the time. Like my baby boy not shedding or other such silly stuff. The folks here are awesome when it comes to us newbies!

 

[kipchack]

Thank you so much for the help guys!

So I goofed and DID in fact get a digital thermometer, it was just hiding in the bottom of the bag (I wouldn't have noticed save for checking my bill this morning to see about returning the water dish and cork hide). I put it in stuck to the floor above the heater and waited about half an hour and it was reading 86.5 degrees when I left, so is this about right temperature wise? I'm going to check it when I get home from campus to make sure it didn't spike during the day but it's felt consistently barely warm so it would be quite out of character for it to get particularly hot.

Regardless of whether it's at a good temperature now, I want to look into getting a thermostat later today, and I think I'm going to return the cork hide and water dish and trade them in for some smaller models. Do corns like to climb at all? I've read mixed opinions on this and was considering getting him a climbing branch of sorts.

I'm glad to know him feeling cold wasn't anything wrong- he had me a bit scared when I picked him up and he was chilly!

Also, about handling- he seems to REALLY like being handled and he tends to crane towards my hand whenever I reach into the tank, and he'll happily chill out in my shirt or wrapped around my neck for an hour or more if I let him. I've read I shouldn't be handling him at all for the first week after getting him but he seems to really enjoy it, is this no-handling thing more for the snake's comfort or is there another biological reason too? Should I stop handling him for a little while and leave him be for now?

So full of questions.:blowhead:

 

[Nanci]

I would like to add- snakes escape ALL THE TIME out of vivs with books, rocks, etc. holding the lid on. You need to get proper clamps for it.

 

[bitsy]

Do corns like to climb at all? I've read mixed opinions on this and was considering getting him a climbing branch of sorts.

It seems to be down to their individual preference although they tend to climb more as youngsters. I certainly have some adults which happily trundle up and down split-level vivs. However I also have some which will remain firmly at ground level in the same setups and won't even contemplate climbing around.

I'd give your fella a branch and see what happens!

You need to get proper clamps for it.

Good spot by Nanci there. They can lever up surprisingly heavy lids - corners are a particular weak point. They can also squish through the most ridiculously small gaps in comparison to their body size.

Should I stop handling him for a little while and leave him be for now?

The "no handling for a week" recommendation is to let the snake settle down and get used to his new home, before he has to start getting used to a pink blobby monster picking him up! If yours is proving to be relaxed and is eating reliably, then you're probably OK to carry on as you are. The risk with a new arrival is that it gets so stressed by early handling and the change in environment combined, that it doesn't eat. The hunger strike is a Corn's failsafe way of registering an objection, so keep an eye open for missed feeds. Hopefully you should be fine.