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Just got a 2yo corn, need some advice.

G

GRNDPNDR

New member
So I've never owned a reptile before, of any kind. A friend of mine got given a corn snake, and then decided to sell it. Well I bought it because it didn't seem like it's conditions were so great, and I'd hate to see it continue living in squalor with some random internet buyer.

Also my 9 year old daughter has been bugging us for a pet for years.

So, I've been doing research and trying to improve his habitat. When I got him he was in some form of garden mulch as was evidenced by the bits of shredded plastic I commonly see in garden mulch.

His heating pad was also broken for god knows how long.

Here he his before we moved him to my place. In his old setting. He was under a rock, but the rock was removed for the picture.

CLICK IMAGES FOR FULL SIZE



I've cleaned his bedding and replaced it with aspen bedding, and I now have a small 4W heating pad on the glass under his rock, and there is an indentation in the bedding for him to curl up in.

There is also now a larger 8W heating pad in front of his rock, to provide some warmth to the rest of the tank, while leaving the most of the far side and his water dish cool.

This is what his setup currently looks like. It's still very sad if you ask me. The plants are just some random fake grass that was rolled up and tossed in.

He also had a screen cover which was letting all the heat out. I have it covered now, and his tank is much more warm now, and I'm going to be working on a nice lid for the tank.








So here are the questions I have.

I had the tank over near our patio door for a brief period. During this time I would notice that the snake would come out from his rock and sort of lay out of it a little bit. Also when I had him in a warmed box to clean his tank, he enjoyed sitting on his rock out in the open.

Now that I have the tank where I do (temporary) I haven't seen him come out at all, except for when I've taken him out a few times to hold him and get him used to his new owners.

I've measured temps with an infrared thermometer and have about 89*F coming off the bedding where the big heat mat is, and under his rock seems to be around 95-100*F. Humidity I'm not sure of, I need to get a hygrometer and a proper thermometer.

Is he ok?? Is this normal considering the temp in his rock? should he not want to come out a bit?

Also I noticed this when I was looking at him lastnight. Is this normal or something bad?



Lastly, lighting. What kind of light should I use for him? I was thinking of maybe using one of those small halogen spot lights that are used in kitchens and stuff. They run on 12VAC. they get warm and I figured it would be a good spot light, but in all honesty I want to try and avoid having a light that will shine too brightly in the room.
 
As far as heating needs cool side 70-75* and warm side 80-85* and you should take temp directly over heat mat as the snake will get under bedding. Also bedding 3-4" deep is good gives them lots of strolling area.
No light is needed.
 
What I found very helpful on this site, was reading the first few threads under each section.. the ones that say "Sticky" in front of them... Like the area you put this thread under "Husbandry and Basic Care". And also the "Sticky" threads under the Health area too. I learned quiet a lot from those areas.
 
by the way, that little area on his scales looks like he might have scraped it on something.. or it's healing from a little injury from before. I had a corn that had something like that on him and a breeder here told me to buy Athletes foot cream and rub it on the area.. it cleared up real fast. But upon saying that.. it doesn't look that bad and would probably be alright on its own
 
I'm a new corn owner myself. My corn is only about 7months old, so a lil younger than yours. I would also agree that the 'stickys' are a great source of knowledge. I've had my corn for about 1 month. No previous snake or other reptile experience & since I joined this site I am just gathering more & more information. I'm learning heaps! &, I might add, LOVING IT!! This forums is a must for new corn owners to check out if you ask me. Several people on this site have kept me sane when I've mistaken normal corn behavior for her being ill etc.
As said by someone else corns don't need artificial lighting. Just make sure they have daylight during daylight hours & dark at night. They are nocturnal so you won't see him out & about much during the day but he will be active at night- except when shedding! Thought I'd add that as I freaked out recently when my baby holed up for 2-3days solid in her hide & didn't move at all. As Nanci & a couple others correctly predicted she was in blue & shed shortly after phew! Lol.
How many hides do you have in your enclosure? Ideally you need at least 2. 1 on warm side & 1 on cool side. I have 3. 2 as mentioned & 1 the centre filled with damp sphagnum moss- humid hide from her recent shed. She seems rather fond of it so I've left it in there.
Anyway I hope you and your corn soon settle in together & welcome to this highly addictive hobby :)
 
There is only one hide. I have a 35g tank and the water dish seems to take up quite a bit of space so I'm not too sure where I'd even put another hide.

Under his rock now the temp I believe was reading about 80-85 on the bedding which is only about 1" deep in his rock.

As for activity, I haven't even seen him being active at night. He has been strictly hiding under his rock. I've not seen him come for a drink and it never looks like there's been any activity in the morning. no disturbance of bedding or any other signs of movement.

What also concerns me is that being the temp under his rock is so warm (pushing 100*F as far as I can tell) why is he not coming out even a bit ? isn't this too warm for him? I've been trying to control under rock temp.


I really need some ideas for layout of the tank and what should go where and what would make him happy.

I'm off to read the stickys.
 
You definitely don't need anything fancy... my largest corn, Dizz, uses a small plastic Folger's can with a hole in the lid about the size of a silver dollar... it's laid on its side, wedged between the water bowl and a "log"... we tossed fake plants across the top and he loves it! That's his cool side hide, and he spends more time there than on the other side of the tank.
 
It just seems to me, from what I've observed over the last couple of days, he knows his rock and loves his rock. It's always the first place he wants to go when he's scared.

I know reptiles don't do much, and I'm cool with that, I'm just concerned that I've really seen NO attempt at coming out of his rock since I moved the aquarium away from my patio door.

Maybe worried for nothing, but I just don't know.

how long would it take for him to adjust to his new clean sorroundings, and his new human companions?

would it be recommended to handle him more? Take him out once a night maybe?
 
What also concerns me is that being the temp under his rock is so warm (pushing 100*F as far as I can tell) why is he not coming out even a bit ? isn't this too warm for him? I've been trying to control under rock temp.
Click to expand...
That's because he's prioritising safety (staying out of sight in his one hide) over being the correct temperature. Unless he has somewhere to hide on the cool side, he won't go over there. If there isn't room for another hide then try some plastic foliage as ground cover on the cool side.

90 is the danger point for Corns - anything over that for any length of time could cause neurological damage. You ideally need to buy a thermostat for the heat mat to get it down to a safer temp - as above, I aim for 85 degrees at the warm side.

As a new arrival you won't expect him to be out and about much until he's settled in and feels more secure. That can take weeks or months, depending on the individual snake.
 
I'll see if I can get something else for him to hide in on the other side.

Should I have him out a bit more? would that help him get used to us or is it best I just leave him be?
 
The plastic water dishes for dogs/cats that have hand holds in the sides work well on cool side. They will crawl under and coil around.
I would also stress the temp on top of the aspen is not as critical as under the aspen over the heater. Both are important, but since they like to burrow under and through aspen???? If you make the aspen thicker as I suggested that also gives them more hiding space.
Layout hide and water on cool side, hide on warm side since it is a 35 gallon you can probably get a hide in the middle. Hides should be small compared to snake as they like to feel closed in.
 
Well I took him out for a bit and removed his ugly fake grass.

I added more aspen and the temp on top is just about 80*F where the large heating pad under the middle is. His hide over top of the small pad is now down to about 83*F from what I can tell by measuring temp with my infrared thermometer inside the hide.

I bought some fake foliage from the dollar store, I'm soaking it now and am going to wire it on to the sad looking branch that's in the tank now. I also got some vine like stuff.

I hope I didn't just waste $6 buying this stuff :)
 
GRNDPNDR said:
Well I took him out for a bit and removed his ugly fake grass.

I added more aspen and the temp on top is just about 80*F where the large heating pad under the middle is. His hide over top of the small pad is now down to about 83*F from what I can tell by measuring temp with my infrared thermometer inside the hide.

I bought some fake foliage from the dollar store, I'm soaking it now and am going to wire it on to the sad looking branch that's in the tank now. I also got some vine like stuff.

I hope I didn't just waste $6 buying this stuff :)
Click to expand...
Never a waste to add more plants - they love 'em!:) and the more the merrier, i think - a lot of corns love climbing, and i think having more hiding places in his tank will encourage him to venture out from his "security blanket" (his rock) more. Corns don't generally like wide open space, and I think plants help them feel more confident they aren't exposed when they do decide to venture out from their hides.

Sounds like you are doing great though, and must say it's so admirable to have 'rescued' him like that, be willing to take on the extra responsibility, put forth the effort and money that it will take to assure he's well cared for and the obvious love you clearly are extending to this guy(or girl?). It's just really commendable, good job, and best of luck!:) u definitely came to the right place to find out how to care for him;)
 
GRNDPNDR said:
Well I took him out for a bit and removed his ugly fake grass.

I added more aspen and the temp on top is just about 80*F where the large heating pad under the middle is. His hide over top of the small pad is now down to about 83*F from what I can tell by measuring temp with my infrared thermometer inside the hide.

I bought some fake foliage from the dollar store, I'm soaking it now and am going to wire it on to the sad looking branch that's in the tank now. I also got some vine like stuff.

I hope I didn't just waste $6 buying this stuff :)
Click to expand...

OK, the heat pad should be on one side not in the middle. That gives the gradient temp, with the pad in the middle the heat is to even across the viv and hotter in the middle. You don't need two pads either the large on one side is plenty. I agree lots of hidey stuff is always worth it.
 
susang said:
OK, the heat pad should be on one side not in the middle. That gives the gradient temp, with the pad in the middle the heat is to even across the viv and hotter in the middle. You don't need two pads either the large on one side is plenty. I agree lots of hidey stuff is always worth it.
Click to expand...

This happened because I bought an emergency 4W heater. it basically heated only his rock.

So I needed to go buy another one.

I don't really want to peel the heating pad off the bottom....again and move it but not much of a choice I guess. I will have to do it later if I can.
 
You don't really need to stick the heat pad down/up. I've never stuck any of mine and the weight of the tanks keep them in place.
 
I moved the pad, removed the small one. I actually had some nice wide and very sticky double sided tape. working a charm.

The tank won't hold it in place, there is a lot of room under the bottom.

Anyway, one big heating pad, temps coming from the top of the substrate are about 80*F, and his rock seems to be holding around 81-83*F.

I only have an infrared thermometer right now. It seems to be pretty accurate though and reflects various changes in temp across the substrate, so I don't have a reason to believe it's wrong when I point it into the rock.
 
Have you tested the temp right on the glass, just above where the heating pad is? That's where we take our temps because that's going to be the hottest place and I really worry about burns. Our corns love to burrow down and hide out right on the glass with all those safe hidey aspen shavings covering them. :)
 
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