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New corn owner (most likely misinformed) -__-

morgan.mac814

morgan.mac814

New member
Hiii my name is Morgan and I got my first corn snake on Thursday. I've always wanted one, but I usually spend all my money on my fish hobby. But this year I decided a corn would be my Christmas present!

Well, I bought him from Petco (from which I would never buy fish from, so idk why made an exception in this case) and some guy set me up with a 10 gallon tank, some Aspen bedding, a water dish, and a heat lamp. When I looked up some info at home, I realized I needed a UTH (which I already had from something else), and that I needed to ditch the basking lamp. I also went to the store and picked up two hides for each side of the tank, some plants, and a piece of mopani driftwood. I also put a small container with moist beaked moss in there. Usually I learn everything I possibly can when it comes to owning a new animal, but I got a little too excited last week and just bought my snake.

If I am doing anything wrong, or need to add/take away anything, can someone please let me know? Btw, when he gets bigger I have an empty 40g for him.
 
I would start here: http://snickersnakes.com/caresheet/

I hope he sold you a Critter Cage. If not, I would consider returning it for one. You will see a lot of threads on escaped babies here. Enjoy your first corn, and welcome to the forums... and to the addiction!
 
Welcome, Morgan! You will want a thermostat for your UTH. People recommend Hydrofarm as a good starter thermostat.

Don't forget to post some pictures after your new guy/gal has had a chance to settle!
 
Hello and welcome! Sounds like a decent setup, I'd second either a Critter Cage or to otherwise make sure your enclosure is escape proof. And something to regulate the UTH, either a thermostat or a rheostat works.
 
Chip said:
I hope he sold you a Critter Cage. If not, I would consider returning it for one. You will see a lot of threads on escaped babies here.
Click to expand...

:( it's just a regular 10g aquarium. I have a screen cover with locking clips... Maybe that'll keep him in? And I've been keeping my literature and trig textbooks on top for extra security. Teehee and thanks!
 
Geminiluna said:
Welcome, Morgan! You will want a thermostat for your UTH. People recommend Hydrofarm as a good starter thermostat.
Click to expand...

I have a Zilla UTH and it doesn't seem very warm. I can feel it a liitle bit through a thin layer of the aspen, but it doesn't feel like much. My UTH is the only heat source I have for him, and I'm worried that he might be cold. Will the thermostat fix this?

Also, on a different note, what about humidity? I have a water dish in there and the moss container, but that's it. Plus, I have a screen top, so it is not like I can change the overall humidity in the tank without changing the humidity of my room, right? Sorry if I'm overdoing it with the questions, and I can probably find all of these answers on another thread, but I just want to make sure I'm doing everything right. Thanks again :D
 
Don't worry about humidity. At least not now. There are two things to keeping a baby corn. Temperature and temperature. Oh wait. Temperature and temperature, and keeping the baby in that glass box with the proper temperature.

A thermostat will not make the enclosure any warmer. It's job it to turn it off when it gets too warm. Did I mention temperature? The most important tool is a good thermometer. Find a good one. We like infra-reds here, because you need to know more than the hottest spot in your tank. While it can be done to run a UTH wide open safely in a large enough tank with the right ambient temps, it's not something I recommend to someone with their first tank. And UTH. And baby corn. But even more important than a thermostat right this second is something to tell you exactly what your surface temps are. We can provide lots of links to good ones or cheap ones that are pretty good.

Oh yeah, and that warmth, SHOULDN'T feel like much to your hand. Even 100 degrees on a piece of glass in 75 degree air doesn't feel like much at all, but it is.
 
Your body temperature is almost 100 degrees. Corns like it almost 20 degrees lower than that. What feels a 'little warm' to us might be 90 degrees or higher. I've had an unregulated UTH reach 117 degrees and all it felt was "warm".
 
Chip said:
Don't worry about humidity. At least not now. There are two things to keeping a baby corn. Temperature and temperature. Oh wait. Temperature and temperature, and keeping the baby in that glass box with the proper temperature.

A thermostat will not make the enclosure any warmer. It's job it to turn it off when it gets too warm. Did I mention temperature? The most important tool is a good thermometer. Find a good one. We like infra-reds here, because you need to know more than the hottest spot in your tank. While it can be done to run a UTH wide open safely in a large enough tank with the right ambient temps, it's not something I recommend to someone with their first tank. And UTH. And baby corn. But even more important than a thermostat right this second is something to tell you exactly what your surface temps are. We can provide lots of links to good ones or cheap ones that are pretty good.

Oh yeah, and that warmth, SHOULDN'T feel like much to your hand. Even 100 degrees on a piece of glass in 75 degree air doesn't feel like much at all, but it is.
Click to expand...

Ok I got a thermostat and an infra-red thermometer a day after your post, and the temperature on the ground under his warm hide is 84, and 76 on the cool side. I find him hanging out all over the place, even bathing in his water dish on the cool side. He has eaten twice already, on the 15th and the 20th, and I'm going to feed him tonight. I found 3 poops in the cage! His favorite place to sleep right now is on top of his hide on the warm side under one of the vines. Thanks for the advice everyone, I'll try to get some pictures up soon! :)
 
morgan.mac814 said:
:( it's just a regular 10g aquarium. I have a screen cover with locking clips... Maybe that'll keep him in? And I've been keeping my literature and trig textbooks on top for extra security. Teehee and thanks!
Click to expand...

Welcome!

I just wanted to point out that a 10g aquarium is perfectly fine with clips and books stacked on top. I have never used a critter cage for any of my snakes. The only escapes that I have had, escaped from my home made enclosure or a not very tight lid on a plastic tote.
Also if you are still curious about humidity then corns are generally kept on 30-50%.

Hope everything is going well! Can't wait for some pics!
OH! and a general rule to follow. Never listen to pet store employees :laugh:
-Skully-
 
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