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Question About substrate

X

xchris

New member
I have a Juvinille corn.... she was 16 inches 3 weeks ago when i got her and has since shed. I have her in a 20 long tank with many hiding spaces but i have her on Reptile carpet, in her hides she has moistened moss and it seems that every other day she will either be in there or wrapped around the this one stick on plant where shes at the very top. I was wondering if it is normal for her to become semi arboreal or is it because she doesnt have a true place to burrow?

If its because she has no true burrowing area... is this unhealthy for her? the only thing i could think of is that she might be stressed but shes a fantastic eater and has never bitten me, she striked once when i didnt give her enough time to smell me but thats it.

So basically... do i have to go to aspen bedding or bark? or can i keep my reptile carpet... i enjoy being able to see my snake instead of digging it out to see it
 
Corn snakes like to climb. You could say that they are semi-arboreal. So it is not unusual for them to climb or even bask in higher spots in their vivs.

They also like to burrow, but it's not going to harm your snake if it doesn't get to burrow, as long as you have a hiding spot on each side of the viv.

You do not have to switch bedding, just make sure you have a back-up piece of reptile carpet you can use when the other one is soiled. Just keep everything nice and clean, and your snake will be fine. :)
 
I agree with everything Voodoo said, the only thing I would add is that you said you had moistened moss in her hides....does that mean she has more than one hide and that they all have moistened moss in them?

If so, I would take the moss out and just fill one of them with moist moss when she is getting ready to shed, the option to use a moist hide at that time will aid her with the shedding process. Too much moisture can lead to scale rot. If she is not using the hides at all this may be why, although it is quite normal for them to enjoy climbing too.

Hope that helps, best wishes,
 
I like newspaper! Makes it so easy to clean that you will stay on top of it much more easily.
Take it out and quick spot wipes on tank if needed. I tend to change paper around twice a week and do a good disinfect clean no less then once a month.
You can also tear some up on top of the paper covering the bottom for digging and hiding.
Makes it so easy to see the waste and get it out right away.
 
Susielea said:
I agree with everything Voodoo said, the only thing I would add is that you said you had moistened moss in her hides....does that mean she has more than one hide and that they all have moistened moss in them?

If so, I would take the moss out and just fill one of them with moist moss when she is getting ready to shed, the option to use a moist hide at that time will aid her with the shedding process. Too much moisture can lead to scale rot. If she is not using the hides at all this may be why, although it is quite normal for them to enjoy climbing too.

Hope that helps, best wishes,
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She has two hides, one on the warm side and one on the cool but shes hides in four total places. She hides in the two places i have jus mentioned but also behind the warm side hide (its like a cave thing) and in the vine up top.

Both Hides do have moist moss but it drys by the next day and so i moisten it every other day so shes not in a moist environment all the time.
 
o also, for the newspaper comment.... no offense but i think the newspaper just looks bad, i like to go all out on my tanks and although newspaper would be easier, i just want it to look good, if it requires more work for me, so be it :smash:
 
Personally, I would recommend trying Aspen myself. I didn't use it for years... in fact, not until I started hanging out here. I switched and my big male, who never burrowed, had a blast. He created a den for himself under his waterdish (a heavy thing) and had tons of tunnels. He spent tons of times popping his head out to look around. He doesn't burrow as much as he use to, since I got him a mesquite log long enough for him to fit into, but he'll still to do it from time to time.

Interestingly enough of the five snakes I currently have, only Gailleann climbs and she hides in her papertowel roll. The others tend to burrow or use the hides. Daire, my Anery, actually spends more time under the log I gave him than in it :)
 
thats the thing though, i dont want her to burrow unless she has to because i would like to see my snake, its the same reason why people dont buy sand boas and sandfish skinks, etc. i mean yea some people buy them but all they do for the most part is burrow and thats boring because if im not constantly holding the animal i would atleast like to see it. I love my bearded dragon for this reason, he never hides, hes one bad a$$ lizard :crazy02:
 
xchris said:
thats the thing though, i dont want her to burrow unless she has to because i would like to see my snake, its the same reason why people dont buy sand boas and sandfish skinks, etc. i mean yea some people buy them but all they do for the most part is burrow and thats boring because if im not constantly holding the animal i would atleast like to see it. I love my bearded dragon for this reason, he never hides, hes one bad a$$ lizard :crazy02:
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But Chris, a dragon isn't made to burrow... a cornsnake is. It's their nature to be more secretive. There is only one of mine that I don't see often and that's Daire. Personally as much as I would love to see him more, for me it would be selfish to take away his need to hide/burrow. Just my opinion :shrugs:
 
Love newspaper myself. It's so much easier, and you get used to the look of it.
I hate having to empty reptibark, aspen, etc, into a trash bag every time I want to scrub the tank, cuz if you miss it spills all over your carpet. What a haasle.
 
Paths54 said:
Love newspaper myself. It's so much easier, and you get used to the look of it.
I hate having to empty reptibark, aspen, etc, into a trash bag every time I want to scrub the tank, cuz if you miss it spills all over your carpet. What a haasle.
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I've never cared for the way newspaper covered my hands with ink, so definitely don't want it covering my snakes. Again, it's not something natural and I prefer to stay as "natural" as I can in an unnatural world. Just me.
 
Weebonilass said:
But Chris, a dragon isn't made to burrow... a cornsnake is. It's their nature to be more secretive. There is only one of mine that I don't see often and that's Daire. Personally as much as I would love to see him more, for me it would be selfish to take away his need to hide/burrow. Just my opinion :shrugs:
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o i know, trust me i know a dragon doesnt burrow lol, i wasnt arguing that, im just saying if i can get away with seeing by corn snake and having it be happy then thats what im gonna do... if not having aspen bedding to burrow in is going to harm her in some way then i'll go out and get it but right now she doesnt seem stressed, she eats like a champ, i just fed her yesterday and the pinkie (F/T) was in there for all of 2 seconds and she nabbed it, she can burrow in the moss in her hide if she wants to.

If she stops eating or something i'll try different bedding to see if shes not feeling secure enough but since everything has been fine (eating,shedding,etc.) im just gonna keep doing what im doing unless the aspen is essential thats all :spinner:
 
xchris said:
o i know, trust me i know a dragon doesnt burrow lol, i wasnt arguing that, im just saying if i can get away with seeing by corn snake and having it be happy then thats what im gonna do... if not having aspen bedding to burrow in is going to harm her in some way then i'll go out and get it but right now she doesnt seem stressed, she eats like a champ, i just fed her yesterday and the pinkie (F/T) was in there for all of 2 seconds and she nabbed it, she can burrow in the moss in her hide if she wants to.

If she stops eating or something i'll try different bedding to see if shes not feeling secure enough but since everything has been fine (eating,shedding,etc.) im just gonna keep doing what im doing unless the aspen is essential thats all :spinner:
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What you're doing sounds fine. However, like Susie said, I'd remove the moss from the hides and only reintroduce it during shedding periods. Too much humidity can be detrimental, in the form of things such as scale rot.
 
only problem is without the moss i have a 0% humidity, its quite dry right now, in the summer i'll have a problem with everything being too humid lol. So should i really take it out or should i only take it out when i see that shes been in her hide excessively? Most of the time shes in that friggin plant/vine/thing lol
 
I find it very hard to believe that there is literally 0% humidity, especially in a place like maryland. What exactly are you using to measure the humidity? If it's one of those little plastic dials they're really not accurate.
 
Corny Noob said:
I find it very hard to believe that there is literally 0% humidity, especially in a place like maryland. What exactly are you using to measure the humidity? If it's one of those little plastic dials they're really not accurate.
Click to expand...


I would agree :) Even in Arizona there was some humidity. Not normally enough, but there was some :)
 
Weebonilass said:
I would agree :) Even in Arizona there was some humidity. Not normally enough, but there was some :)
Click to expand...

Im using two flukers Digital thermometers that measure both the temp and the humidity and just to be safe i have another Thermometer on there with a probe because everyone raves about the probe but it reads the same as the flukers.
 
xchris said:
Im using two flukers Digital thermometers that measure both the temp and the humidity and just to be safe i have another Thermometer on there with a probe because everyone raves about the probe but it reads the same as the flukers.
Click to expand...


Again, in Arizona, which is a heck of alot drier than Maryland, the tanks would get up to at least 20%, most of the time 30%, so I have no idea what you are doing that you are sucking all the humidity out of the air. I didn't think it was possible to have 0% humidity.
 
i dont know either lol, the gauge reads "--%" and its not broken because the side with the water dish reads 22% and when i moisten the moss on both sides its between 30% and 40%
 
The only time I've seen my digital hygrometer go to "--%" is in the incubator, when I first get it running and that is when the humidity goes over 99%!

I'm wondering if you have a broken hygrometer (humidity gauge) :shrugs:
 
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