Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I currently have a one year old corn in a 20 gallon long tank..I use aspen bedding and have a glass tank w/screen top..I use a uth for heat, and hides on both sides of tank. My question is..on the warm side I keep tank at around 85 degrees, but on the cool side, I keep it room temp, which here in NY is around 66 degrees this time of year. Snake is very very healthy, and loves to eat.. someone said that I need to boost the cold end up? is this true? snake doesnt seem to mind it, and in summer time, the cool end is more like 72 degrees. also, I am interested in getting a baby corn snake, I have another 20 gallon long tank with the exact same setup as above(i know 20 gallon is too big, but I have tons and tons of hides for when i get the baby, he shouldnt mind it, the whole tank will have lots of hides for him/her)anyways, if i get the young one, is the above temps too cold for the young one? or my current one? I do have a cardboard wrapped in alum foil covering the tank for today only, as i want to see if this raises the cool end alittle(raised it to around 69, so i may keep the cardboard on the top for now)

Yankeeslover, my suggestion to raise the cool end temps in your setup was to assist your problem with a non-feeding kingsnake. Based on the information you provided, this was simply one solution I saw to your problem for that particular animal. I have had young corn and kings feed great during the winter with room temps in the low 70s with NO supplemental heat whatsoever in or on the cages. I have had some that did not. Its as suggested, a bit of a quessing game. So, get the new corn and set it up like the current corn and king and see what happens. If it refuses to feed like the king, it could be temp related. If it feeds great like your current corn, then no problem with your set up for that particular snake.

so, as long as corn is feeding good, then no worry about cool end being to cold?

Pretty much IMO. As long as it is feeding and digesting properly, I see no problems for that PARTICULAR snake. The new corn may or may not have a problem with the same setup. You wont know til you try. I have two yearling transpecos ratsnakes that were night and day with feeding but were being kept identically. I had to make some adustments to the poor feeder that wasnt required for the good feeder to get her going. I had to give her a better ventilated box and a warmer heat source than they were being kept. This apparently helped her come around and begin feeding reliably. She still wont take a frozen fuzzy unless defrosted under a light or at room temperature while the other will take it defrosted in hot water. Different snake, different temperaments and requirements.

>>so, as long as corn is feeding good, then no worry about cool end being to cold?

as long as the corn is feeding well AND digesting properly.
Just to be safe you could cover half the screen top. This can help raise the temperature a couple of degrees which would probably be sufficient especially seeing as how the snakes is doing now.
For the new addition I would probably play it safe from the start and get the temps up a little.

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Corn snakes and rat snakes..No one can have just one.
"Resistance is futile"
Jimmy Johnson
(Draybar)
Draybars Snakes

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