Preparing a Vivarium

[hoho19]

I am going to be a first time snake owner next week. Ive been doing a lot of research on corns for about a month or 2 now and I just bought a vivarium today. (a 40 gallon critter cage). I have a bottom mounting heat pad and a bark substrate. I have 4 hides 1 large water "dish" and A "climbing branch". I've let the tank heat up for about 4 hours now and the thermometer is only reading 75°. The heat pad is on one end of the tank and the thermometer is on the back wall of the tank 2 inches from the floor. I have lightly covered the bottom in that area and the bark feels a little warm to the touch. If I move the bark the bottom is definitely warm to the touch. The thermometer on the other side of the tank is registering 70° (which is what my house is). Is that a good set up temperature wise or should the thermometer on the heated side of the tank be hotter? If so what would you recommend as a supplemental heat source.


My last question. I live in south texas where humidity is quite high. In my house it's 60-70% and in the tank right now it's just under 90%. I think it's high in the tank because of the substraite...do I need to lower that a bit or will it be ok.

Thanks for your responses I'm looking forward to getting my first motley striped snake next week.

Oh yeah..and the 40 gallon is a bit big, but I was wondering if I could potentially house 2 corns in there at the same time. Any thoughts...

 

[fergen8er]

First off ss the corn a hatchling, because if so that tank is way too big. Secondly thermometers that above the substrate aren't going to give a very accurate account of how hot it is, your snake isn't going to be floating 2" above it. I don't believe you will need another heat source especially being in Texas(Where are you in Texas, I'm in San Angelo). And from everything I've read most people do not suggest putting two corns in the same tank. Now if you got a glass divider and split it up into two twenty gallon enclosures that would be quite acceptable.

 

[Joejr14]

Don't listen to this "a 40 gallon tank is too big!!!" nonsense. Corn snakes in the wild do not live in a 10 gallon aquarium or a 12 quart sterilite tank.

As long as you provide an adequate number of hides your snake will be more than fine in a 40 gallon tank. You might even have problems finding it.

For a realistic touch, stop by Michaels or like Jo-Ann Fabric, or something of the sort, and get some fake plants. Give them a wash off when you get home and put them in the viv. You can also get some small suction cups and buy some vines and stretch them from the ground up to the top of the viv, etc. It adds a very nice touch.

You might want to switch to aspen though, just because of the humidity issue. Humidity at 90% isn't good for a corn. Too low of temps and too high of humidity/dampness can lead to RI's. Definitely not something you want to deal with.

You could seperate it though. You could do the cool half with bark/aspen mix, and the warm side with a newspaper covering the bottom and aspen on top of that.

Tweak around with it before you get your new snake. Might also consider buying a digital thermometer from walmart or something---not too expensive. That's the best way to measure the substrate temp aside from a temp gun.

 

[luvofthechase]

I agree that if you have enough hides a 40 gal. tank shouldnt be a problem. I currently keep my 2 corns in a viv together, after much contemplation of the risks envolved. please read some of the other threads on keeping more than 1 in a viv before making a decision on this though.