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Strock

Strock

New member
Want to run my terrarium set up past y'all before I receive my two hatchling corns:

(We have two of each, as we are housing them separately):

10 gallon sliding screen reptile "aquarium"
newspaper substrate (for now, to ease checking the poo)
hide
water dish (small)
therm/hygrometer
thermostat
small lamp
50W blue bulb (was told by several pet store dudes any more wattage would "bake" my babies!)

Sound good to you guys? My snake "mentor" is anti-heat tape or the like and swears by having a lamp. This is the set-up for our ball python. I'm new and eager to learn and do the best by our new family members!

:shrugs:

By the way, my boy has named his blizzard Cyclops and the creamsicle is Gromit.

Enjoy your weekend!
Carrie
 
As everyone here will probably tell you, you do not need a heat lamp (or any lamp, for that matter). An UTH will do fine as long as you use it with the thermostat to keep it around 85 degrees.

Otherwise, sounds good! Just be sure to move up to 20 gallon long tanks when your corns get big enough.
 
It is a good idea to have more than one hide, one on the warm side one on the cool side. Snakes need to feel very secure.
 
You'll be fine using a lamp rather than a heat mat, its a horses for courses thing I guess. Both work.

Make sure your thermostat is a dimmer rather than an on-off or pulse, otherwise you'll have a light show in your tank.

PLEASE get a wire guard for the lamp - they get very hot and your snake will curl round it and burn. Make sure the mesh is very very small though, so there's no chance of your snake getting through it.

I agree with Janine - the more hides the better. The snake should be able to get from one side of the viv to the other to thermoregulate without having to risk "dangerous open spaces"!

Good luck with your new babies!
 
Lamps can work, but most keepers on here recommend using UTHs. They are less drying to the air and can be left on all night. Even a blue lamp will need to be turned off so your snakes can have a night time. I'd say to keep them for now, but when they burn out, get UTHs. It is a matter of personal opinion about heat tape. A lot of the larger breeders on here use heat tape and swear by it.

Also, I'd recommend a digital thermometer with a probe rather than the kind you stick on to the side of the tank. Place the probe directly on the substrate (if you are using a lamp) because that is where your snake lives. When you get a UTH, place the probe directly on the glass, since that is the hottest spot your snake will come in contact with.

Other than that, and the other suggestions already given, your setup sounds good.
 
It didn't sound like the heat lamp was in the viv. I hope not anyway. It should hang above the viv not touching the screen. As far as lamps go, I've used both lamps and UTH's and a uth far surpasses lamps for convenience and safety. Plus as mentioned above, they don't dry the air so much. Since corns are terrestrial uth's offer more belly warmth for digestion.
 
Thank you!

Thank you all for your help.

I am going to get a much bigger home when the snakes are ready. I keep hearing the little ones need to feel snug.

Great advice about UTHs and more hides. BTW, the lamp has a clamp for hanging over the mesh, like we do with our ball python.

Funny about the Dairy Queen remark, as I said the same to my kids the other day.... :cheers:
 
Problem inherent in using a spot (lamp) for heat; maintaining a stable ambient temp is near impossible, and too, recall that most snakes are nocturnal ...thereby, if the light is kept on all the time, the 'sense of security' that you wish to provide for your animals is undermined somewhat - regardless of how many hides you do provide.

I find that my animals will stay in their hides almost exclusively while the lights are on (room lights - I heat with tape), though in the morning, their bedding has been pushed and burrowed in quite extensively. No mysteries there.

Just my half-cent on the matter.

:rolleyes:
 
Red heat lamps can be used 24 hours a day. The red light is invisible to most animals.
 
Good point ...though I still stand by UTH (tape) for maintaining a consistent temp.

Again, just my (very) humble opinion on the matter.

:dunce:
 
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