Unexpected Snake Owner with Questions!

[Lindseylollygag]

I recently acquired a 16in Snow corn, (thursday 4/26/12) guessing she's about 6 months old. I am very new to this and I don't know much but I am willing and happy to learn. I've visited every pet store in town and just about all websites! There is so much information. Right now I have her in a 10gal, with a heat lamp (50 watt neodymium basking lightbulb, recommended by petsmart) which is on for only 8 hours in the daytime.

I bought a UTH (haven't set it up yet) because I'm wondering if having the lamp on during the day, and the UTH set up at night might help her digest. A few days ago she was very active at night and seemed fine, but after this feed she seems off after a few days. Is this normal-three days after feeding? Also, suggestions on the correct amount/time/type of heating and lighting would be greatly appreciated, i know there are MANY different opinions and options and I can't seem to wrap my head around the right one. I do like having a light on her during the day, as soon as it turns off she usually comes out, but i'm still unsure what is best. Thanks!!

will this work best for a thermostat? (good price!)
http://www.amazon.com/Hydrofarm-MTP...sr_1_sc_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1335014237&sr=8-1-spell

 

[beautifullywild77]

I use UTH for all my snakes. I don't use lights except on the pythons and even then its for an hour to heat up the air while the swamp cooler is on.

Most of my corns are in a rack system and only have belly heat. I would provide hides on both sides. One on the warm and one on the cool with the water bowl in between. Sometimes when you have the light on top it can contribute to bad sheds because it totally sucks the humidity out of the air in the tank.

 

[bitsy]

All of my Corns have a UTH controlled by a thermostat, and no lighting. Each UTH covers around one-third of the floor surface and I keep them in the mid-80s (beware that this is well below human core body temp and will feel a lot cooler than you expect!). The thermostat in your link should be fine.

Remember that a UTH is designed to heat the floor surface and not the air in the tank. Temps should be measured on the floor surface immediately above the UTH, rather than part way up the tank wall. Also worth bearing in mind that the cardboard strip or plastic dial-type thermometers can be 20 degrees off either way. A digital or infra-red thermometer is the best way to go.

Some folks on here use heatlamps successfully, but again, they need to be controlled. There aren't any real hard and fast rules, other than keeping whatever you use low enough to be safe.

It's probably easier to choose one or the other, rather than combining both. There's no advantage to their digestion in switching from one to the other, that I can think of. Switching from belly heat to overhead heat might actually interefere with digestion.

Corns are most active in the wild during times of low or no light - dawn, dusk and overnight. They don't have a dependency on basking either. A light just for the sake of lighting isn't necessary for them. It's probably why she comes out when you switch it off!

 

[Airidies]

That thermostat is fine, I've got one of those on my BP rack now and I love it. It does fluctuate 4 degrees but I haven't had any problems with digestion because of that. I do suggest having a probe thermometer one it as well just in case the probe on the thermostat is off. I had one of the zoo med thermostats and it just quit working after about 6 months and it never held a steady temp. It would go way to high or way to low.

Most of mine poop 3 days after eating and that's when they become a little more active. Most of the time they are more active at night so you may not see them at all during the day. If you add more hides and more ground cover they tend to move around that a lot more. You can find vines at the dollar tree to place all around the bottom of the cage and since she'll feel secure and hidden she'll move around more freely.