Some more newb questions...

[Arson]

As I near my purchasing of my first snake, I've been steadily collecting those things which I would need to care for my corn. Now, I admit I tend to go a bit overboard, but this is my first snake and I don't mind going the extra mile. I understand not everyone feels that everything I'd like to have is necessary, but I'm sure most people are probably inhibited by cost efficiency. Since I'll only have one corn, this won't be a problem. Maybe a year from now when I'll likely have 100, lol, I might worry about cost.

Thus far, this is what I have:

1 30 gallon long aquarium
1 UTH heater designed for 30-50 gallon aquariums
1 large bag of compressed Aspen
1 heavy ceramic water bowl
1 wire screen cover designed to fit a 30g aquarium.


On to my questions...I have a few things that I can use as decorations and hides. I have some left over cypress cuttings that I used to use in my aquariums. They used to be water-logged. I've since rinsed them thoroughly and dried them out, both of which were originally designed as hides for my fish, so their shape is quite perfect for making a snake hide as well. I have two of these medium sized pieces of cypress. Does anyone think these will be harmful to the snakes in any way? I live in southern South Carolina and both cypress and corns are native to this area. I don't believe it will cause any issues, but I'll wait for the experts to answer.

I also have a resin replica of a tree trunk with holes in it which is also designed as a hide. This I used as a place for some of my tropical fish to hide for those that were mouth-brooders. This has also been thoroughly washed.

So, 3 hides, each of which would reside in a different microclimate in the aquarium.

I know that I still have to buy food, but until I figure out which specimen I'll be owning, I can't know what size I'll need. I know I plan to order from the Big Cheese Rodent Factory.

I'm also missing a thermometer. I have an analog thermometer and hydrometer from when my roomie used to keep a hermit crab. However, I'd like to purchase a digital thermometer that will measure min./max. temps during 24-hour periods. I know this isn't completely necessary, but since I don't really know anything about the temperature trends in my apartment I thought it would come in handy.

Another question is about lighting...I plan to keep my snake in a room that receives a lot of ambient sunlight (the light hits the white blinds and the room is lit up quite well) from about 12:00pm-7:00pm in the evening. I'm not concerned about lighting for the source of light as much as for the source of heat. The C.S. manual says that providing a basking spot of about 95*F is optimal. Should I try adding a light to achieve this?

I feel like I'm forgetting some other things here, but that's what I'm posting this for.

Lastly, I notice a lot of breeders keep their snakes in the bookshelf type rack systems. My only question here is about lighting. Snakes in these systems don't seem to get a lot of light. Is this not a problem? How do most people provide heat in these systems?

Thanks for all your replies in advance. Please remember that I'm aware not all this is necessary, but this will likely become a display tank in the future, so I'm looking for both function and visual pleasure.

 

[8Corn*Freak8]

Corn snakes dont absolutly need light...and i dont think that a 90* basking zone would be safe or be able to be done in just a 30 gallon tank since all this heat would radiate threw the tank and make it too hot for the snake. And secondly im not sure about the hides but they seem fine to me, but im still a newbie here so i cant say for sure about any of this but im just trying to help out! Good luck with your new snake, and welcome to the forum! :cheers:

 

[MegF.]

The only thing you might want to consider on the hides is making sure that they have open bottoms so that you can get your snake out if necessary. A lot of the hides for fish are enclosed. I think the best warm temp is around 82-86 degrees for digestion, so I don't think you'll need 90. Make sure the sun doesn't hit directly on the viv or you'll end up with the glass magnifying and heating everything in it. The room my snakes are in gets plenty warm in the summer, and I don't need any external heat except the UTH. As a matter of fact, my one snake seems to prefer staying on the cooler side of the tank which stays in the mid 70's. I'm not sure about the cypress. It might have resins in it that are a problem, but since they were older wood and are well-dried, it might not be an issue.

 

[Arson]

None of the hides are enclosed. They were not designed specifically for fish.

There is no direct sunlight coming into the room I mentioned keeping the snake in.

I live in an apartment and the room I'll be keeping my snakes in will likely be about 70*F year-round. Unfortunately, this cannot change. So, I'm back to my original question about lighting. Do you think an UTH will provide sufficient ambient air temperature for the aquarium, or should I consider a light?

The cypress is completely natural and came straight from the swamps here in the area by a local collector, so unless cypress naturally has some harful chemicals...

 

[MegF.]

Probably the UTH will be enough. It seems to heat my tank on the warm side to about 82-84 degrees just above the substrate. The rest of the tank goes down to about 74. I would put in your thermometers and place them fairly close to the substrate and see what they read. I use a heat lamp during the winter as my house gets pretty cool at that time. The tank temps were dropping to around the mid 60's. I shut the heat lamp off at night to simulate normal nightly cooling, and my snake still spent most of the time on the cool side. Turn on your UTH, put your stuff in the tank and then see what your readings are on the thermometers. Judge by that.

 

[starwarsdad]

Cypress is OK for use with reptiles.

Pine and other coniferous woods can cause respiratory problems and even death in captive herps.

I would rinse the pieces you have and then bake them for about 30 minutes at 275°F (make sure they do not burn by wetting the pieces if the get too dry). That should kill off anything hanging out from the time they were in an aquarium.

Go ahead and set up the enclosure and start getting an idea of your temps now. It can't hurt and will only benefit your new snake.

Good luck!

 

[Arson]

Thanks guys.

 

[J_Daniels]

Hey there! Sounds like you're well on your way!

To address a couple of your questions (as best I can)...

I've found that even hides with open bottoms, if they're too small, can prove to be problematic come feeding day. If the hides not big or open enough to just lift off of the snake, good luck getting him out of there! (Speaking of feeding day, may I recommend that you by a Rubbermade or Sterilite container, somewhere around shoebox or sweaterbox size, and drill plenty of tiny little air-holes for feeding).

You said that you were planning on buying feeders from Big Cheese... I hear that they have incredible quality and prices, but it seems like I've heard about problems with freezerburn if you have to keep the mice for too long and don't have a deep freezer. I could be completely wrong here, hopefully someone else with more experience in this area will chime in.

Last thing I wanted to tell you is that Wal-Mart (at least the one on Main St. in Summerville) has these awesome dual-zone digital thermometers with lifetime high/low monitoring. It runs off of one AAA battery. The cool thing about it is that you can switch it to "outside" monitoring and run the supplied wire lead into your substrate. That way your thermometer isn't inside the Viv where it may be subject to things like misting, and snake poo (hey, mine don't seem to care where they go...) Also, I think the price is only like $12 for the thermometer. They also have some that will measure humidity, but the unit itself has to be in the Viv, so I just use a small hygrometer with adhesive backing in the tank.

Hope this helps!