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Tank size opinions?

I

incandescent

New to Snakes
At the moment, I have each of my three 7-month-olds in a shoe-box sized Omni Box. They seem to be doing alright in it, but I wanted to get a range of opinions on what size snake needs what size viv.

From what I understood from the breeder, they'll be okay in this size for another few months (>1 year old), then switch to ten gallon tanks (>2 years), then live comfortably in a 20 gallon long from that point on. Does that fit with your opinion? Am I wildly off on my estimates of snake lengths at different ages? What do you recommend to newbies?
 
A 20 gallon long should be good for an adult. If you're going to purchase 10 gallons, and then 20 gallons, I would personally just go straight to the 20 gallon.
 
I usually find good deals on tanks on craigslist. You can keep the snakes in bigger sterelite containers until you get a tank set up for them. Then you can use the container as a feeding tub when the snake moves into it's new home. That's what I do :D
 
A one year old might be a bit too big for anything shoe box sized. In my own case, I got my corn as a hatchling and put it in a 20G Long tank and he's lived in it for a year and he's been doing just fine.
 
incandescent said:
They seem to be doing alright in it, but I wanted to get a range of opinions on what size snake needs what size viv.
Click to expand...

Hello incandescent,

as I found out in previous discussions here, the german way concerning viv size is the upper range and not always comprehensible. I know, the american way is different and I respect that. I don't want to start a discussion on that, but maybe it's interesting to know.

In Germany, the Ministry for Environment had given this recommendation for housing corn snakes.
The viv should have a length - depth - height that accords 1x - 0.5x - 1x the body length of the snake. (I hope my description is nearly understandable) So for a corn of 1.20 meters, a viv of 120 - 60 -120 cm is considered species-appropriate.
These values are a suggestion, created out of observation of animal behavior. It's no law, but most of the corn snake keepers take it seriously.

Greetings,
marike
 
The suggestion given by marike is a pretty good one, but I think the floor space is more important than the height, especially for a non-arboreal species such as a corn snake. That and....most standard tanks are not made that way, since fish also need surface area, not height.
 
Hello Sweetseraph,

most corn snakes I heard of so far love to climb. And all breeders I talked to so far recommend to provide as many climbing possibilties (branches, structural back wall) as appropriate for a viv.
And all corn snakes I've seen and especially mine, make vigorous use of everything climable. ...and I love watching it ;)

Maybe you'd like to take a look at some german vivs. The web site is german, of course, but pictures are pictures.
http://kornnatter.de/Gallery-cat-2.html

Greetings,
marike
 
I'm considering a 48 inch long tank, but a little concerned over it only being 12" wide. I have a long, slender corn. 5 feet long but slender. I wonder if it wants to stretch out. Right now the tank is only 30 inches.
 
marike, those are some very nice tanks. :) And, yes, corn snakes do like to climb sometimes.

But I was more concerned with what's commonly available and affordable for most people. I don't know about what's commonly available in Germany, but in Canada (and probably US), we tend to use tanks intended for fish. The measurements of those tanks are usually big on floor space, but not on height because fish do better with more surface area, not height. Some examples: a 20 g long: 30" L x 12" D x 13" H; a 33 g: 36" L x 12" D x 18" H; a 55 g: 48" L x 13" D x 20" H. So given that this is what's commonly available and what we have to work with, we usually start with a good floor area and height may not be emphasized. The 20 g long is what is commonly recommended as the minimum for a full grown corn.

Even the reptile tanks I've seen are not always big on height. And the ones that are don't necessarily have enough floor space for a corn. Even some of the ones I saw at your link I think gave too much emphasis on height with not enough floor space. I think the floor space should be given priority and if you can also provide lots of height as well, all the better.

In the end, the bigger, the better! :)
 
I'm guessing on exact sizes, but the "shoebox" containers they're in seem to be around 14"L x 8"D x 5"H. The snakes are all right around 14"-16". (I don't own a tape measure, so I'm using standard 8.5"x11" notebook paper as a ruler right now. My numbers might be a little off.) I had been thinking about getting a taller box for Kismet, since she seems to be a climber, but the other two haven't yet left the ground level.

@Marike: Thanks for the formula! It's good to have a solid numerical idea for how big they should be. So by Germany's standards, they're already too big for these containers. Wow 0.o They seem so tiny in there. Is that echoed by opinions elsewhere in the world?

I'm a little bit low on money right now, so I can't upgrade to anything larger for a month or two (dog vet bills = expensive). Should mine be okay in containers of that size for the time? I can get pictures if anyone wants a visual.

I do have one 10-gallon tank that isn't being used right now, but when I put Trinket and Pierce in there (temporarily cohabitating while I was trying to find other containers), they seemed really nervous about the large-ness of it. It was also previously used for rodents. I've washed it pretty thoroughly since then, but I wasn't sure if the smell would aggravate them...

I also have what are currently my yarn drawers (stackable clear tubs), which are a fair bit bigger than the shoe-box size. I'd say probably 16"L x 6"H x 12"D. I only have two of those, though, and I don't know how I'd attach an UTH to it without making one of the drawers stick open slightly, which means a corn might be able to squeeze out.

Actually, now that I think about it, I have three huge storage bins that I used for moving. They're not clear, so I'd have to open the container every time I wanted to look at/play with them, and I'd have to contrive some sort of lid that would let light in (boxes are opaque blue plastic), but that's a doable option once they outgrow the current containers.
 
They were probably nervous about cohabiting. I think how you have them now is fine for another month or two (or even longer), especially if heat or escape will be an issue if you move them. Moving them will be a little stressful, so no use doing it several times if you plan to upgrade soon anyways.
 
Sweetseraph said:
I don't know about what's commonly available in Germany...
Click to expand...

If you know, where to look, you can find vivs in the right size for adults in Germany. Many snake owners build there wood vivs themselves, which is much less expensive and makes a lot of fun, if you are not all fingers and thumbs.


incandescent said:
@Marike: Thanks for the formula! It's good to have a solid numerical idea for how big they should be. So by Germany's standards, they're already too big for these containers. Wow 0.o They seem so tiny in there. Is that echoed by opinions elsewhere in the world?
Click to expand...

I don't know about that. But I see that the space and the possibility to move in one direction without hitting a wall immediately are appreciated.
And I agree with Sweetseraph. If you're planning a bigger viv soon, moving the snake now to a slightly bigger home isn't necessary.
 
20 gal long tanks are perfect for corns. My over-sized 4 month old is doing just fine with lots of bedding (2-3 inches worth of aspen), two popsicle-stick hides I made, three suction cup plants, and 1 fake normal plant.

marike said:
Hello Sweetseraph,

most corn snakes I heard of so far love to climb. And all breeders I talked to so far recommend to provide as many climbing possibilties (branches, structural back wall) as appropriate for a viv.
And all corn snakes I've seen and especially mine, make vigorous use of everything climable. ...and I love watching it ;)

Maybe you'd like to take a look at some german vivs. The web site is german, of course, but pictures are pictures.
http://kornnatter.de/Gallery-cat-2.html

Greetings,
marike
Click to expand...

My corn does not 'love to climb'. She occasionally does when she is hungry, trying to escape, or when I have rearranged the viv, but she does not climb just because she can.
 
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