Waterfalls?

[Skazzle]

I keep my cornsnake Togo in my dorm room at school, and the humidity stays fairly low, around 30%. I mist when he's going to shed, and he always sheds well, but my question is more about the addition of a waterfall. I was curious if anybody has used these with cornsnakes. I'm looking at something such as the waterfall offered by Exo-Terra. ( http://www.exo-terra.com/EN/products/water_falls_i.html ) The website says the waterfall raises humidity which would be good, and I really like the look of them. I think it would add something to the cage. What do you think?

Also, I was looking at the exoterra terrerriums. They seem to be more vertical than horizontal. ( http://www.exo-terra.com/EN/products/glass_terrariums_i.html ) Would a snake actually use the additional vertical climbing space? I know right now I have my young corn in a 10 gallon aquarium, and he just loves exploring along the top of the cage. I was just curious if anybody has used these with corns, or if a more horizontal free space terrarium would be a better idea. Thanks for any and all input! It is greatly appreciated.

 

[Joolz68]

I've never used a waterfall (tank too small), but I has seen some that looked real cool.

If your snake sheds properly, you probably don't need any adding humidity. And if it's too humid, your snake could get ill. If you get one, use a hydrometer to measure the humidity and keep it within acceptable levels. Also, you must check it often to ensure that the water is clean (snakes like to "go" in water).

my young corn ... just loves exploring along the top of the cage.

Young snakes feel more secure up there (it's a snug fit, they can look down to see if something's coming, but can't be surprised or ambushed), but pretty soon, he will no longer fit.

The exoterra terrerriums: They seem to be more vertical than horizontal.

They are. So before you buy, I would suggest you find out if your snake is a climber (All snakes crawl, some climb, and a few fly ... but that's another topic). I would put some type of climbing item in his tank: a piece of wood, a vine, etc. (I recommend covering it with some sort of greenery in case he's shy). If you see his use it, you have a climber. If you never see him on it, maybe not. But then you can judge whether or not it's worth the expense.

Personally, I like to give my snake the most crawling room possible. How about this instead?

 

[Skazzle]

Ah I've never seen that addition for the top of the cage. It could be good occassionally to get him some extra exercise. Togo seems to like exploring new places, and I'll definetly keep that in mind.

 

[marchettid]

I dont know about the waterfall. It would look cool.

I always thought corns were more land dwelling rather than climbers. Arnt tree dwelling snakes called "arborial" or something? Either way, I say use a longer tank, like a "20 gallon long". That should also suit your snake for the rest of its life.

 

[SaulsMom]

I keep my cornsnake Togo in my dorm room at school, and the humidity stays fairly low, around 30%. I mist when he's going to shed, and he always sheds well, but my question is more about the addition of a waterfall. I was curious if anybody has used these with cornsnakes. I'm looking at something such as the waterfall offered by Exo-Terra. ( http://www.exo-terra.com/EN/products/water_falls_i.html ) The website says the waterfall raises humidity which would be good, and I really like the look of them. I think it would add something to the cage. What do you think?

:-offtopic I experimented for almost two full years with a paludarium set up for freshwater fish. (Live plants and fish where the water trickles over the back wall in a waterfall effect.) I worked and slaved over that thing and could never get it to work right. The humidity from that set-up peeled the paper off of a wall, but again, that was a 50 gallon tank. However, the real problem was the algae growth. More surface area, more algae. I had hair algae, black algae, slime algae; Oh the wonderous varieties of algaes I cultivated there. Lo, the many hours of frustration as my water quality began to jump all over the map. Indeed, I now recall the many trips to the freshwater aquarium store to pick up one more gadget to fix one more problem and to spend more time with perhaps the grumpiest clerk known to man or woman. Perhaps I'm not the best person to comment on the wisdom of adding a waterfall to a cage.

Also, I was looking at the exoterra terrerriums. They seem to be more vertical than horizontal. ( http://www.exo-terra.com/EN/products/glass_terrariums_i.html ) Would a snake actually use the additional vertical climbing space?

We have an exoterra for my daughter's tree frogs. I think it's a great cage. I took out the styrofoam backer, because we don't have cords coming up, but overall, I think it's a great cage. Well designed. That being said, even the tree frogs don't use all that vertical space. We chose it because the footprint exactly fits on one section of her dresser, but I'm still surprised that the tree frogs spend so much time on the floor. I'm not sure that I'd use it for a corn snake, but then again, I've seen geckos in them. :shrugs:

SaulsMom

 

[Joolz68]

:-offtopic

The real problem was the algae growth. More surface area, more algae. I had hair algae, black algae, slime algae; Oh the wonderous varieties of algaes I cultivated there.

I had the same problem with my 72gal fish tank for the first month!