Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hey,

This will be my first snake, I am looking at getting a, Corn or milk or kingsnake. I've been doing my reading and picking up stuff slow, not trying to rush anything. But I still have lots of questions, I've read that a 10g would be good for these snakes the first apx year.. I have a 14g Tall which I was going to start off with, but was thinking of picking up a 35g for more room, Will this be a waste? Also, Of those three snakes, which one is more likely to climb and be on branches?

I have a heating mat, and now just looking for a low watt light to add some lighting with out a lot of heat, I keep my apt at a good temp, so not worried about heating a lot.

Thanks for your help, anything else would be great,

Trevor

A cornsnake would climb the most. I have seen cornsnakes kept in large cages that spent a lot of time basking up in the branches. They make great display snakes so I don't think a 35 gallon would be a waste at all. However, I would not spend the money unless you are getting a great deal on a used one.

Regardless of what you do, a small heat pad and overhead bulb should handle all of your heating needs of your place is on the warm side of room temperature.
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Current snakes:

0.0.1 Gonyosoma oxycephala - Java locale (green)

1.2 Gonyosoma oxycephala - Jave local (green)

2.2 Gonyosoma janseni - Seleyar locale (all black)

1.2 Gonyosoma janseni - Celebes locale (Black & Tan)

Thanks Chris

Yes i'm getting a deal on the 35g, most likely free... I have the heating pad that is under the 14g, so figure it would be good for the 35g, as it would give a good area which could be the "warm" spot.

Also wondering, about sun light, other then maybe putting the temp up a bit while on the tank, is sun light bad? where i'm thinking of putting the tank would have about 35% of the tank in sun light for an hour or 2 a day, not direct sunlight, but some,

You're going to have to run that 35 empty for a while on some hot days to see how hot it gets in the sun. There are ways to block the heat if it's too much.
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Current snakes:

0.0.1 Gonyosoma oxycephala - Java locale (green)

1.2 Gonyosoma oxycephala - Jave local (green)

2.2 Gonyosoma janseni - Seleyar locale (all black)

1.2 Gonyosoma janseni - Celebes locale (Black & Tan)

I agree with Chris in that you're going to have to really monitor the temps in the cage if you want it anywhere where it'll get direct sunlight. However, in almost all cases it's not recommended to place a tank where it will get direct sunlight on it, even partial sun as glass tanks can overheat to fatal temperatures. If you want the snake to have something resembling natural sunlight I'd just invest in a 32 watt compact fluorescent bulb with a daylight color spectrum. You can get them at Home Depot now and they put out an amazing amount of light [100 watts equivalent] for only 32 watts of power and are very close to daylight in color temperature and color rendering index. However, if you're dead set on having natural sunlight, I'd buy a digital high-low thermometer and take readings for a few days in the tank to make sure you're not reaching fatal temperatures.
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Matt Campbell

"I only went out for a walk and finally concluded to stay out till sundown, for going out, I found, was really going in." John Muir