dbntina
New member
First off let me say I love this forum :dancer: and without it my son’s snake and I would be in a bad situation and the worst part is we wouldn’t even know it. We got our snake last Saturday and it is now Thursday and everything is finally the way it needs to be. I am summarizing all the 20+ hours searching I have done on this site to get the answers I needed and figured I would share my journey in hopes it would help others. It has been a lot of information in a short time so please correct my facts if I get it wrong…thanks! The Husbandry and Basic Care FAQ was a great start. 
1) Buy from a local breeder: I found a website that listed local breeders of cornsnakes and was going to post it but now I can’t find it. Anyway they will help you a lot I imagine and will answer your questions accurately if you find a good one I imagine. That was my first mistake….(daddy please they actually have the striped albino corn snake the one I showed you in the book…they only have one left) :shrugs:
2) I bought the kit….then changed EVERYTHING out because it is not a good setup. I was given a tank with a lid that didn’t fit well. I was given a lamp for the hot side. I was given Eco-Earth and Repti-Bark as a mix and told I only had to change it out every 6-8 months. I was told to keep the temperature strip in the middle at about 85 degrees. I was given a 65 watt blue reptile bulb for the lamp. That only got the strip to 82 so like an idiot I bought the 100 watt and it still didn’t get to 85 but started reading information on here so only had that on for one full day and then worried incessantly that I might have burned my snake or it would die soon (BTW if you have a snow or very light skinned corn you don’t want UV light on it or you could seriously burn it…in fact everything I have read on this forum seems to indicate you don’t need a lamp for the most part if your temps in the house are in normal living range 70’s).
a) Set your tank up beforehand after doing your research. I recommend the Zilla Critter Cage, the one I bought when I realized ours was a piece of junk! I don’t want to have to worry about an escape!
b) Get an under the tank heater with thermostat ($50-$100 or rheostat control $10 solution)
c) Use Aspen. Freeze it for 24 hours in the refridgerator. For a newbie it is the easiest setup and less chance for complications. RB and EE can cause issues from critters to stuff getting in the snakes nose when he burrows.
d) Limit the handling of your snakes for the first 5 days as much as you can. When I asked I was told handle him as much as you want its no big deal. Would it be easier just to say I don't know? :flames:
e) Consider geting an older snake…hard to do I know…less chance for issues. Ours was 1 ½ to 2 years old and I am glad we did. Easy to find, very resistant to our ignorance and had been feeding well.
3) Attaching the temperature probes to your tank.
http://www.cornsnakes.com/forums/showthread.php?t=87371&highlight=suction+probe&page=2
http://www.cornsnakes.com/forums/showthread.php?t=81574&highlight=colonel+slithers&page=4
I followed this advice and got the non toxic blue loctite fun tack. After putting it down and pushing aspen on the blue to cover it up before filling the tank I wish know that I had used a glue gun. I am constantly worried he will get stuck to the tack or that he will push hard on it and loosen it from the bottom of the tank. So I will probably change to glue on Saturday. You can also use silicone but you probably need to let the tank air out and I only have one good tank.
4) Under the tank heater. Wrap in aluminum foil and tape to the bottom. Once again I attached straight to the bottom and the next time I go to clean I will have to remove…learning the hard way.
5) Get a temp gun if you can afford it. If my little guy loosens the Repti 500R thermostat then my heater will continue to heat up and my temperature gauge will go up so that can help me recognize the problem. If the temperature probe gets knocked loose and the thermostat stays in place then my temp gauge will read in the 70’s possibly when in actuality it could by 84. If they both get knocked loose I could be in real trouble thinking its 70’s when it could be over 100! Temp gun buys information on if the probes are still in place and peace of mind!
6) Which brings me to another point. It seems that you want your heat side no higher than 87F or so and the cool side low 70’s. However there is some disagreement apparently that the 90F temp issue is an ambient temperature not an UTH issue. Although I keep my thermostat set to around 85 creeps higher and lower to be safe. Some people have been known to keep it as high as 100F on the UTH as long as the ambient temp is 75 or so they will move off…maybe do more research but 85F seems to be the safe choice for UTH. Since I am a newbie 85 on hot side 72-75 on cool side.
7) Cleaning the tank. Options 1 to 10 ratio bleach to water. 50/50 mix water and white vinegar in spray bottle. F10. Soap and water. I used ¼ cup of bleach in 5 gallons of water. I used the vinegar spray I put the wood hides in the oven for 1 hour at 200F after rinsing in the bleach and rinsing well with water. I put them in damp no worries.
8) Thank Goodness for the community and helpfulness of the people on this forum. Here are the pictures of the before setup and the after setup. I am so glad I got an older snake…he is docile, used to handling and feeds well. After handling him way too much for the first 4 days and him not being able to hide on the heat side and him musking the first few days out of anxiety…I still fed him last night in a Tupperware container on the kitchen table with four young kids who can’t keep quiet and he ate…so hopefully after the next 48 hours go by and he doesn’t regurge then I should be out of the woods. Also I read on here it should take about 5 minutes or so to eat the meal otherwise it could be too big. It took him 6 minutes to get it down. Meal no bigger than 1.5 times widest girth of the snake (diameter). Don't handle the snake after eating for at least 24 hours and preferrably 48hours.
9) Here are the pics. The fact that I have been able to learn so much in such a short period of time is a testament to the posters and community on this forum and I am very grateful. I am trying to return the favor to someone in my shoes.
10) I have an IR red bulb 50W pointed at the wall at night to monitor and see gauges at night. Some recommend LED's inside the cage to monitor and they are cool looking also but they give off no heat. You might need some sort of heating for the air if it gets really cold where you live or in the winter.
Thanks again to everyone who has regularly posted on this board. I am sure I have come your posts during my research…too many to thank..you know who you are! :spinner:
1) Buy from a local breeder: I found a website that listed local breeders of cornsnakes and was going to post it but now I can’t find it. Anyway they will help you a lot I imagine and will answer your questions accurately if you find a good one I imagine. That was my first mistake….(daddy please they actually have the striped albino corn snake the one I showed you in the book…they only have one left) :shrugs:
2) I bought the kit….then changed EVERYTHING out because it is not a good setup. I was given a tank with a lid that didn’t fit well. I was given a lamp for the hot side. I was given Eco-Earth and Repti-Bark as a mix and told I only had to change it out every 6-8 months. I was told to keep the temperature strip in the middle at about 85 degrees. I was given a 65 watt blue reptile bulb for the lamp. That only got the strip to 82 so like an idiot I bought the 100 watt and it still didn’t get to 85 but started reading information on here so only had that on for one full day and then worried incessantly that I might have burned my snake or it would die soon (BTW if you have a snow or very light skinned corn you don’t want UV light on it or you could seriously burn it…in fact everything I have read on this forum seems to indicate you don’t need a lamp for the most part if your temps in the house are in normal living range 70’s).
a) Set your tank up beforehand after doing your research. I recommend the Zilla Critter Cage, the one I bought when I realized ours was a piece of junk! I don’t want to have to worry about an escape!
b) Get an under the tank heater with thermostat ($50-$100 or rheostat control $10 solution)
c) Use Aspen. Freeze it for 24 hours in the refridgerator. For a newbie it is the easiest setup and less chance for complications. RB and EE can cause issues from critters to stuff getting in the snakes nose when he burrows.
d) Limit the handling of your snakes for the first 5 days as much as you can. When I asked I was told handle him as much as you want its no big deal. Would it be easier just to say I don't know? :flames:
e) Consider geting an older snake…hard to do I know…less chance for issues. Ours was 1 ½ to 2 years old and I am glad we did. Easy to find, very resistant to our ignorance and had been feeding well.
3) Attaching the temperature probes to your tank.
http://www.cornsnakes.com/forums/showthread.php?t=87371&highlight=suction+probe&page=2
http://www.cornsnakes.com/forums/showthread.php?t=81574&highlight=colonel+slithers&page=4
I followed this advice and got the non toxic blue loctite fun tack. After putting it down and pushing aspen on the blue to cover it up before filling the tank I wish know that I had used a glue gun. I am constantly worried he will get stuck to the tack or that he will push hard on it and loosen it from the bottom of the tank. So I will probably change to glue on Saturday. You can also use silicone but you probably need to let the tank air out and I only have one good tank.
4) Under the tank heater. Wrap in aluminum foil and tape to the bottom. Once again I attached straight to the bottom and the next time I go to clean I will have to remove…learning the hard way.
5) Get a temp gun if you can afford it. If my little guy loosens the Repti 500R thermostat then my heater will continue to heat up and my temperature gauge will go up so that can help me recognize the problem. If the temperature probe gets knocked loose and the thermostat stays in place then my temp gauge will read in the 70’s possibly when in actuality it could by 84. If they both get knocked loose I could be in real trouble thinking its 70’s when it could be over 100! Temp gun buys information on if the probes are still in place and peace of mind!
6) Which brings me to another point. It seems that you want your heat side no higher than 87F or so and the cool side low 70’s. However there is some disagreement apparently that the 90F temp issue is an ambient temperature not an UTH issue. Although I keep my thermostat set to around 85 creeps higher and lower to be safe. Some people have been known to keep it as high as 100F on the UTH as long as the ambient temp is 75 or so they will move off…maybe do more research but 85F seems to be the safe choice for UTH. Since I am a newbie 85 on hot side 72-75 on cool side.
7) Cleaning the tank. Options 1 to 10 ratio bleach to water. 50/50 mix water and white vinegar in spray bottle. F10. Soap and water. I used ¼ cup of bleach in 5 gallons of water. I used the vinegar spray I put the wood hides in the oven for 1 hour at 200F after rinsing in the bleach and rinsing well with water. I put them in damp no worries.
8) Thank Goodness for the community and helpfulness of the people on this forum. Here are the pictures of the before setup and the after setup. I am so glad I got an older snake…he is docile, used to handling and feeds well. After handling him way too much for the first 4 days and him not being able to hide on the heat side and him musking the first few days out of anxiety…I still fed him last night in a Tupperware container on the kitchen table with four young kids who can’t keep quiet and he ate…so hopefully after the next 48 hours go by and he doesn’t regurge then I should be out of the woods. Also I read on here it should take about 5 minutes or so to eat the meal otherwise it could be too big. It took him 6 minutes to get it down. Meal no bigger than 1.5 times widest girth of the snake (diameter). Don't handle the snake after eating for at least 24 hours and preferrably 48hours.
9) Here are the pics. The fact that I have been able to learn so much in such a short period of time is a testament to the posters and community on this forum and I am very grateful. I am trying to return the favor to someone in my shoes.
10) I have an IR red bulb 50W pointed at the wall at night to monitor and see gauges at night. Some recommend LED's inside the cage to monitor and they are cool looking also but they give off no heat. You might need some sort of heating for the air if it gets really cold where you live or in the winter.
Thanks again to everyone who has regularly posted on this board. I am sure I have come your posts during my research…too many to thank..you know who you are! :spinner:
