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Heating Help

jennixnay

jennixnay

New member
Hi!

New to forums, & to corns -- hello!


We're going to be adopting a 2-year-old female corn who needs to be re-homed (owner has 30+ snakes & can no longer care for all of them) this week.

She'll be coming home with a 20-gallon tank, screen lid with latches, hidey-log, & water bowl. Her current owner said he had a heating pad, but doesn't recommend using them.

We're heading to the pet shop today to pick up substrate, some frozen mice for once she's settled & ready to eat, a heater & thermometer.

Am looking for recommendations on a heating set-up for our new baby. Any advice would be hugely appreciated.

Thank you!
 
Well a heatpad IS recommended here. You either have a 20g Long or a 20g tall? A long is better fit.

Anyway. A heatpad 10-20g, like this.

A thermometer with probe, like this.

You will need some kind of thermostat or dimmer.

Ok so I'll give you the basic care since you are new.
Aspen bedding is the substrate you want. Remember there is a warm side and a cool side. You need two hides on each side and keep the water bowl near the cool side. Temps no higher than 90 on the warm side. Cool side is room temp but don't let it go over 75. Feed a female once a week and providing a humidity hide with moist moss is optional for when a snake sheds.
picture.php

This is for my corn, Tang. Warm side is to the right and coolside to the left and much to do :D

Any other questions?
 
First all welcome to the forum! Corn snakes are not hard to take care of and you should find it not that bad once fully set up. Yes UTH or "Under the tank heaters" are recommended. Cornsnakes need the belly heat. If you get a Rheostat like this
pPETS-3760022t400.jpg


To use with a mat like this:
pPETS-3756839r200.jpg


That will be a cheap as you can probably get going to a local pet shop today. I may be wrong so if am the others members please chime in! Word of advise is that the rheostat is a bit unpredictable cause you will find that the heat mat temps will fluctuate as the house temperature changes. Because of this keep the rheostat on its lowest setting until you can have a few days to monitor the temps under the bedding and can adjust to get the temps as close to around 80-85 degrees as possible.

Secondly make sure your new friend has two places to hide. One on the cold side and one on the warm. I use Sculpy polymer clay to make hides for my snakes because I can design them as I want with all the colors of the world available and it is cheaper than buying the store hides.

In your setup I would also suggest your water bowl to be over the heater if possible if not only partially there. That will help it evaporate more and keep humidity a bit better.

Sorry if I kept on and on but I hope this all helps and good luck!
 
Arpolis said:
In your setup I would also suggest your water bowl to be over the heater if possible if not only partially there. That will help it evaporate more and keep humidity a bit better.
Click to expand...

Only do this if you want your tank to crack. :rofl:
Clearly on a heatpad package it says to avoid water around the surface and avoid air pockets when applying.

Cornsnakes don't really need humidty until it is time to shed. When it comes to that time you use a container filled with moss and wet it down so it is moist or soak in shallow warm water or let them crawl in a moist towel.

So avoid the waterbowl near the heatpad.
 
Skully23 said:
Only do this if you want your tank to crack. :rofl:
Clearly on a heatpad package it says to avoid water around the surface and avoid air pockets when applying.

Cornsnakes don't really need humidty until it is time to shed. When it comes to that time you use a container filled with moss and wet it down so it is moist or soak in shallow warm water or let them crawl in a moist towel.

So avoid the waterbowl near the heatpad.
Click to expand...

It all depends on your humidity, really. I keep my humidity in a "comfortable" range and when a snake goes into blue, sometimes I up the humidity by putting the water bowl over the heat. If your heat pad is under the cage, moisture won't come into contact with it. I would be surprised if 85° made the glass crack.

If you live in a high humidity location, you need less humidity. Corns like it fairly dry. I live in Utah, and it is really dry. So adding humidity becomes necessary around sheds.

It looks like you have a good setup. I'm looking forward to pics and tales of yr rescued snake!!
 
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