Starting From Scratch

[GregF]

At the urging of our 8 year old son, our family is starting the process of getting a corn snake. Our local pet store is getting in a group of hatchlings in about 10 days and we'll certainly be checking them out. They (the pet store, not the hatchlings) have suggested the things we'll need to get set up. I'd like to hear everyone's opinion. The prices seem pretty high to me. We're in a rural area (Sonora, CA) but if we can drive to a fairly large city (Modesto) in about an hour. Here's their list:

30 gal. Terra Tank, inc. lid - $123 or
30 gal glass tank, inc. lid - $110
Porcelain clamp light fixtures - $23 x2
Heat bulb, 100w - $?
UVB blub, 13w - $28 (unless albino)
Reptile calcium sand, 20-30 lbs - $1.25/lb
Water bowl - $8
Frozen pinkies - $1.75 ea.

We have a nice collection of driftwood that I understand we can bake in the oven to make safe for use. And our local drug store has an amazing assortment of plastic plants. What else do we need, aside from the snake of course.

Thanks in advance.

-Greg

 

[Monty06]

Hello and welcome to the snake world!

I think you have a good idea of what exactly you need to house your new family member although there is a few things you might want to consider. As for the light fixtures, snakes dont need extra light but they do work well for extra heat, I would only think you would need one of them though as opposed to getting two. 100 watt heat bulb is (in my own opinion) too high of a wattage as I have a 75 watter and it does the trick but im sure 50 watts would be fine aswell. Corn snakes don't require UVB lighting as reptiles like lizards do. For your substrate I would consider getting aspen shavings as they are natural looking and also safe for the snake and cheap aswell, I think when you buy a bag of shavings they measure it in quarts and I would assume a 10 quart bag would be plenty for your 30 gal tank. Also for your water bowl just make sure its big enough for the snake to get its body in so when it comes time to shed it can soak for a little to help soften the skin. I would also consider in getting a digital thermometer with a probe as you need to keep an eye on the right temps, the stick on thermometers are not worth getting as they are inaccurate the majority of the time.

Im sure theres a few more things to list but I know this is a great forum to come to with ALOT of knowledgeable people and its great to have something to fall back on.

 

[Maize411]

I don't mean to bring up a very popular conflict here...but I was told that heating lights were not really that good for corn snakes...thus I changed my own snake's heating to a UTH (Under Tank Heater) with a thermostat (Repti-Therm500R) to regulate the heat..so you might want to consider that instead of a heat light...also take into consideration that snakes benefit better with belly heat then they do with heat above them, also..corn snakes are nocturnal and like to hide when it's light out..so the light as a heat source might make your snake choose to hide a lot and you might not see him/her that often roaming in the tank, also I heard that lamp heating makes less humidity in the tank and humidity can become an important thing especially around shedding time (of course I am still somewhat of a novice to the whole snake thing, I think I've only been on this forum for about 2 1/2 months now) But I'm just stating what I was taught from this forum..Monty also provided some good information...the aspen bedding is a very good idea (I use it myself) another good one I've heard that works well is Repti-Bark bedding (this bedding is supposed to really help with the humidity since it really holds it well) The calcium sand is just not nessaccary since the snake gets enough calcium from the bones of it's pray. also don't forget to get 2 hides..one for the warm side and one for the cool side (decorations are optional but they can really make the tank look nicer and also help the snake feel more comfortable (my snake always hid most of the time so I bought some fake plant vines to cover the open area in the tank and now she always is about exploring..and as a last note...feel free to read the F&Q area of this forum...it answers a lot of questions for people starting out and should prove quite useful to you...by the way...welcome to the forum :0)

 

[plasticknives]

THe general consensus on this board seem to be that the proper setup looks something like this:

-Tank
30 gallons is great- but if you are getting a hatchling, make sure there are LOTS of appropriately sized hides, so as to reduce stress and avoid feeding problems


UTH (Under Tank Heater)
These are the only heating your corn needs, forget the lamps and bulbs.
Make sure that you also attach a

Rheostat or Thermostat to make sure that the UTH doesn't overheat. IF left unchecked, they can burn the snake- which equals vet bills! NOT a good idea. Search Rheostat/ Thermostat with the search function, some should pop up. I use a lamp dimmer, but it requires a lot of fine tuning and re-adjusting, a thermostat is probably better.

Proper Substrate
Aspen, Newspaper, Repti-Bark and Paper Towel are all good choices. Calci-sand is NOT a good idea for corns, and avoid pine or cedar shavings, because they have some sort of resperatory toxins in them?

Water Dish
It's a good idea to make it large enough so that the snake could soak in it if it wanted to.


Hides and Climbing Branches
As I said before, make sure they are appropriately sized- the snake should just barely fit, really. You can provide as many as you like, but one on the hot side, one on the coldside , and one in the middle is a good idea.


Make sure to also check out the FAQ posted in the husbandry section! THeres a lot of info already posted around this site that's sure to help you out.

Kels

 

[GregF]

Revised list

Thanks to everyone for the feedback. Here's my revised list:

20 gal reptile tank (30 x 12 x 13) w/lid - $65
UTP (10.5" x 11") w/dimmer - $35
Big chip aspen shavings - $4/bag
Digital Thermo-Hygrometer (Flukers) - $13
Crock bowl (5" shallow) - $4

My thinking in going for the 20 gal. tank is that a young snake won't get lost in it and it should be large enough for at least the first couple of years and maybe more. Do I have the size right UTP? This one would underlay about 1/3 the length of the tank.

All of these specs and prices come from East Bay Vivarium, in Berkeley, where we will be visiting next weekend. Has anyone had any experience with them?

Thanks again.

-Greg

 

[snakemom1961]

Your revised list looks much better then your original. Trust me when I say these members know thier stuff!

Alot of members will also tell you a 20gal long would be large enough for the life of your snake(I personally have my adult in a 55 gal), the UTH sounds like about the right size. I'd personally look around local area's for better prices. I've seen 20 gals at walmart for under 40 dollars. You don't have to go to a specialist store for most of your supplies. To be honest I think most specialty stores charge more because they can't buy in bulk. You also can get a thermostat at walmart for less. Just trying to help you be able to stretch your money. Hope this helps.

 

[GregF]

Thanks for the advice, Snakemom. Stretching money is going to be important if I don't want to go broke feeding and housing a $50 snake . I checked our local Walmart and they only had 10 and 29 gal. aquariums. The larger one was $94, so that's a non-starter. I did however find much better prices on all of the tank accessories at ReptileSupply.com. So, I placed an order with them for everything besides the tank, substrate and decorations. Here's what's coming:

ReptiTemp 500R - $19.99
Exo Terra Heatwave Desert Vivarium Heater - 10.5" x 11" - $15.12
ZooMed Digital Terrarium Thermometer - $4.49
Exo Terra Hygrometer - $3.84
Feeding Tongs - Stainless Steel - 10 inch - $4.50

With shipping, I'm in just under $60. For the tank itself, East Bay Viv still looks like the best choice. If I can find something locally before next weekend, so much the better.

Thanks to everyone for their helpful advice. Once we get all these preliminaries out of the way, it will be fun to actually focus on getting a snake!

-Greg