Reptile & Amphibian Forums

what do most on here use if they dont have a big collection. for those not following me, I currently have a corn and a desert king, each in there own 20 gallon long tank. next week im getting two az mt kings,both under two and pretty small.. I was gonna house both of them in seperate 10 gallon tanks. But i keep seeing and hearing everyone on here using racks. I dont really want to get a rack system because im not sure that will benifit me for two snakes. So I was either gonna just get two 10 gallon glass, or a single cheap rubbermaid or sterlite and bungie it shut. are there any advantages to using the rubbermaids over the glass? I do hear and understand that glass does not hold the heat as good, but with these being pyros, they actually prefer it alittle colder on the cold side,unless im wrong. if i get a single rubbermaid, can i also just use a uth right directly on that rubbermaid or do i chance melting it? i would use a dimmer...space is a concern, but i do have enough room to add two more 10 gallon tanks, but thats about it... last question is. i would imagine that with glass it would be easier to see the snakes move around, but i imagine w/a pyro it wouldnt matter much as i hear they stay in hiding most of the time anyways, whereas my corn is always out and about, so as far as seeing them that doesnt really effect me. I do like the rack system at target that Todd reccommend to me and its only like 30bucks and comes w/7 containers, but i dont have the 1st clue how to heat those, not sure what heat tape or similer is...can someone explain how to use heattape or cable or whatever it is that is used on a small sterilite rack? and please, details, as i have never seen a setup like this..thanks

Keep with tanks and set them up nice and naturally,that will always look beter then rack systems.Unless you are a large scale breeder with hundreds if not thousands of snakes there is no reason to go for a rack system. The point of this hobby is to keep snakes the best way possible not see how many you can fit in one room.
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"We don't inherate the earth from our parents, we borrow it from our children"

Lets start with the needs of the snakes, be it pyros or desert kings or whatever temperate-zone colubrid. They need access to heat, and they need access to cool, with most of the cage cool.

They also need a moderate humidity most of the time so they don't lose too much moisture from evaporation through skin and breathing.

If you can do the above in a cage, then material doesn't much matter. However, I believe that a large plastic container allows all of the above conditions easier than a glass tank. For one, a 6x8 heat pad (like the ZooMed 10gal heat pad) on one end will allow plenty of room for the snake to get away from the heat in a 32 qt box vs a 10 gal tank. Secondly, the closed box with some air holes in the sides allows for easier maintenance of a moderate humidity.

You do not need to mess with heat tape. You can use any ready-made heat pad sized appropriately.

Plastic boxes are light in weight, which is nice for you if and when you need to clean out the entire cage.

Use a lamp dimmer (at least) to maintain the heaters at a safe level. Stores sell a plug-in dimmer, as does the Bean Farm. No wiring necessary other than plug in dimmer to outlet, plug in heater to dimmer. Heat pads are resistive much like light bulbs, only without the annoying inductance. So dimmers are perfect for heat pads. You can plug everything into an ON/OFF thermostat. All herp-supply places sell the $40-$50 ON/OFF thermostat. You can use a single T-stat for all heaters. Plug all dimmers into the T-stat, plug T-stat into outlet, plug heaters into dimmers. You can plug all of your heat pads (since you have relatively few) into a single dimmer.

If a heat pad is melting plastic, then that heat pad is way too hot for any snake. It is funny how people always ask about the plastic. Worry about the snake. If the heater is 120 deg the plastic is OK but not the snake necessarily. So keep the heater at a safe level for the snake.

IMO, a larger floor area cage with low height is better than a smaller cage with ample height. Kings like low-height. So do corns really. In nature they are hiding most of the time by far. IMO glass tanks have too much height for the given floor space.

You do not need a rack. Some boxes are sold with latches. All you have to do is get two binder clips to hold the part of the lid that is the most prone to being lifted up.

I house a large Nelson's milk in a Sterilite cage that measures about 30 x 14 x 6 high. Perfect floor space, real easy to service, easily heated on one end with a common herp heat pad. The only mod I make is to put some felt pads under the box corners to lift it up a bit over the heater.
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Mark

I think corns if they have the ability to climb which they should will always use it.

We have corns in the area (Florida) and granted I don't know what they are doing 24/7 lol but I have seen even large corns very high up on tree's and on barn rafters .

While kings the few times I have seen them has been under something .

If corns have the room and they should they will use it. IMO most are kept in tiny enclosures for a snake which if given the choice will climb,etc.

Point taken on the corns.
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Mark

I kept an adult corn and adult black rat in the same semi-arboreal cage for a while. The black rat would be up high hanging out every afternoon. The corn stayed down bottom. I'm sure in the wild they climb, but none of mine have ever had much desire to. I guess mine just knew that food would come down to them. Maybe they were to lazy to climb for no reason

I am no expert living in Florida and simply seeing corns and rats here and there certainly does not make me an expert.

I could be wrong but it just seems the corns in the area move which is why I see them even in tree's esp right before night while the kings whether scarlet or rarely seen Florida kings.
If you find one under a piece of wood . You will find it over and over under the same wood .

Its like they aren't to active at all. Maybe they are territorial ?

I actually saw a small corn 1 ft or so a yr ago right in downtown built up Miami traveling /swimming through a canal . Certainly looked unusual in that cement place.

I have heard that corns seem to not be as predominately subterranean as kings and milks but are not apt to spend time in trees as much as say blackratsnakes. They seem to fill a niche inbetween and be able to take advantage of the other extremes when they need to.

They will hunt in trees if food is there, as they certainly can climb.

Im sure their preferences will vary with locality too. I know corns in Florida will be found in trees. Don't know if it is because they are foraging there or actually taking refuge.

Like the other poster's experience, I kept a baby corn and a baby blackrat in a 10 gal tank with branches. I heated from above with a CHE, and a put a small heat pad below just to see what the snakes would choose (I was experimenting with the heaters). What I didn't expect was a noticeable difference in basking preference between the two. The ratsnake was most often up on a branch near the CHE, and the corn was most often hidden in the substrate or under objects near the heat pad. Of course there were times when the ratsnake hid in the substrate or under objects, but not nearly to the extent as the cornsnake. There were times when the corn was on the branch, but not up there basking nearly as much as the ratsnake. The ratsnake was eager to feed on the branch, the corn was more apt to eat on the ground.
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Mark

Now that I've said to use a plastic box, of course I will negate all of that with this post:

This is something I toyed with last year, really cool idea for a glass tank. I took it apart because the king grew out of the cage. Anyway, here it is:

1. I got a 10 gal tank

2. I made an "L" shaped PVC pipe - a length of 1" dia PVC pipe, a PVC elbow, and a PVC cap for the end of the pipe.

3. I laid the long part of the pipe against the back length of the tank, elbow sticking up vertically a few inches. I used Velcro to keep the elbow against the tank back wall straight up.

4. I filled the tank with coir fiber(Eco-Earth) up to about 1/4 inch below the lip of the elbow.

5. Slid a heat pad under the tank beneath a portion of the pipe length.

6. Added a hide on top of the soil as well.

The above setup worked really well for a young milksnake. The soil maintained humidity, the snake loved the PVC pipe under the soil. Fun setup. Took more effort to clean obviously, as in removing the pipe occasionally.
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Mark