Hi! New user questions (adjustment time, thermostat, amels, constrictors, breeders)

Shepherd said:

I said Hi in the welcome forum and I wanted to ask these questions, but figured they should be asked here. These questions came about from what I read in the rest of your forums.

Quick recap: I bought an amelanistic corn snake on July 17 (this last Saturday). This is my first snake.

1) I should wait a week for it to "get settled," then feed it (FT pinkies in another container), then leave it to rest for another two days for digestion, right?

This is what I try to do. I suppose, if the baby seems very active, and doesn't flee instantly the minute it sees you, you would probably be safe feeding it on the fifth day.

2) It seems the corns are pretty tolerant of temperatures, since every website seems to give a different temperature or gradient that makes their snakes happy. My setup runs 80F (substrate surface) during the day and 75F at night with just ambient room temp and lighting (no heat lamps). I just bought an UTH for one side so I can make a gradient and for the non-summer months when it will be cooler in here. Should I increase the temp for post-feeding to help with digestion, or will the gradient do that fine? I was going to shoot for 85F on the hot side. Also, is there a good thermostat control for UTHs? I have a dimmer to regulate the wattage manually, but maybe there is a device that can regulate it automatically? Thanks for the posts on spacing and airflow for the UTH, I'll have to experiment and figure out what will work for mine.

Corns don't need a night drop, although a natural slight drop in temps at night won't hurt. I would get an appropriately-sized UTH, about 1/4 to 1/3 the size of the bottom of the viv, and set it to 84ish, and leave it at that all the time. By set it I mean use a rheostat or thermostat to control it. Herpstat makes a very nice thermostat at $125 or so. The Bean Farm carries an Alife thermostat for around $35, I think. You get what you pay for. The temp is measured in the center of the UTH, under the aspen.


3) Since I have an amel, what should I know about lighting? Someone said they are more sensitive to bright light and UV since they don't have the melanin to absorb it. My light source is a white florescent, which I now have lighting indirectly - maybe that's why it hid all this time, because it was too bright. Or maybe because it's stressed due to the new place and a three year old running around the house making the floor shake. I want to get a night light too. It sounds like a red florescent would be the right way to go there, right?

Cornsnakes don't need or benefit from any lighting. If you need to see the snake, I'd use a small LED fixture. Really, they are much more comfortable in dim lighting. You'll see more of your snake with no to low lighting.

I'll fire off more questions as I think of them!

Oh, here's one already, on a related note. I read a lot of comparisons between activity levels of the larger constrictors and the corns. The larger ones seem to be more sedate than corns, the consensus suggests. Boas and pythons are the larger pets, right? How do they differ from corns, aside from obvious size? Interestingly, I saw some "Childrens Boas" at a reptile store I recently visited, which supposedly stay small(er).

Aha, another one. So, those of you with the breeder racks, just what do you DO with all those snakes? Do you sell them? I can't imagine having fifteen 20+gal vivariums around the house is practical when they get older... Corn snake soup, perhaps?

I have about 30 snakes. They are all pets. All but four are in my living room.

Thanks for letting this newb ... well, normally the expression is "talk your ear off," so would this be typing your eyes out? Maybe the moderators will count this as five posts for my little counter on the left there.

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Daniel said:

Say Shepherd

What kind of handheld IR Therm Gun do you prefer?

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