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Lighting for corn snakes

X

xchris

New member
Sorry if this has subject is brought up too often but i had a quick question, i just got a corn snake and i did all the research before buying but i see alot of mixed opinions on lighting, some say no lighting is required, others say UVA is and another said UVA and UVB, im very familar with all of these because i have a bearded dragon so i know how important UVB is but was told that snakes get all the UVB they need through their food.

I have an infared bulb on 24/7 right now and just a viewing light (aquarium fluorescent) on during just the day time, my baby corn is never active unless handling and is always either in a plant or in a cave, i figure she might be adjusting to the tank but it might have to be with her being unable to distinguish night and day. I bought a Sun glo light today just incase its needed, just need a reply to see if i need to put that in there.

I work at petsmart but we never have snakes in, just ball pythons who get sold the second i put them in
 
Corn snakes do not need to be exposed to either UVA or UVB radiation to live happy and healthy lives.

Regards,
Steve
 
Corns and Beardies have very different requirements.

Beardies need to bask under UV to get Vitamin D, which in turn allows them to metabolise calcium.

Corns have no such need. They do indeed get all their required Vitamin D from their food. They aren't a basking species and are most active at dawn, dusk or overnight, when either the sunlight is at its weakest, or there's no sunlight.

As long as the room you're keeping them in has natural sunlight, they will be fine. It's possible that if you use artificial light, your Corn might hide away more. As they are more active in lower light levels, you might (ironically) have more chance of seeing yours out and about if you switch it all off.
 
I have a Hypomelanistic, can he be damaged from UV?

As for the lighting.... i want to have a light on to see her but if shes never gonna come out... umm im kind of perplexed on what to do, my friend has 5 snakes and they all come out when the infared light is on, he has a colombian red tail, burmese python, california kingsnake, apricot pueblan milksnake, and a ball python.

I dont know if they have different lighting reqiurements then my snake, do you think a moonlight (blue light) would get my snake to come out?
 
Im curious to what that means?
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A lady here in the UK who runs a very reputable reptile rescue, hs suggested that extended exposure to UV can cause blindness in Corns, especially those lacking pigmentation that would provide natural protection (sort of like red-headed or fair people getting sunburn easily). She has no proof of this, but she has observed that when she's taken in blind Corns, the common husbandry factor seems to be the use of UV in their tank/viv.

Just anecdotal as far as I know, but it seems plausible.
 
bitsy said:
A lady here in the UK who runs a very reputable reptile rescue, has suggested that extended exposure to UV can cause blindness in Corns, especially those lacking pigmentation that would provide natural protection (sort of like red-headed or fair people getting sunburn easily). She has no proof of this, but she has observed that when she's taken in blind Corns, the common husbandry factor seems to be the use of UV in their tank/viv.

Just anecdotal as far as I know, but it seems plausible.
Click to expand...

Does sound like it could. I think we will be hearing more about this, in regards to lighting and it's effects on certain "morph" reptiles. I was reading online somewhere about albino bearded dragons. Specifically about the problems a basking reptile would have that lacked melanin to help protect it's skin.
 
xchris said:
if shes never gonna come out... umm im kind of perplexed on what to do,
Click to expand...

Give her time to settle in! I bought a Nelson's Milksnake in November of 2006. I saw her once during her first week, and then never again for over a year (except when I hunted her down and got her out). After she was a year old, she would peek out but remain as hidden as possible. It was not until she moved into a rack with somewhat opaque bins and lots of vines for cover that I would see her whole body out, and that is only about once a week. Some snakes just don't like to be seen.

I bought three corn hatchlings in February. I see one daily, and the others I've seen one twice and the other three times, and they vanished as soon as they saw me.
 
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