Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi Forum.
I have had snakes for years, although I currently keep mostly boids. I have recently become fascinated with corn snakes, and my first corns are scheduled to arrive this week!

The enclosure I have ordered for them is a formica covered wood. The manufacturer supplies lights in each cage for heat. I am not thrilled with using lights for a heat source. What do you all think of heat tape or UTH mats on the formica covered wood?

Also, what is the ideal size hide box for an adult corn?

I understand that they do nat have the humidity requirements of a python. Should I be concerned with misting? Only during shed? Or not at all?

I have ordered Kathy Love's Corn Snake Manual. I am trying to get everything set up here to be ready for them before they arrive.

Any other info about corns and their care or personalities will be appreciated. Thanks!

So what about replacing the bulbs with ceramic heat emitters? Would they do OK with diffused natural sunlight?

the ceramic would work fine. also, you could always use a people heating pad under the bottom. They don't get too hot, just enough if they're set on medium i think. I use UTH's but my tanks are glass, so i'm not sure about formica covered wood.

My snakes have always only had the window or house lights. They seem to be doing fine. They are crepuscular (i think that's the word for it) anyway, comming out at sunset and just before sunrise. So they don't need special lighting like some herps.
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Dianne
AKA IcedGoddess
0.1 Snow (Ruby)
1.0 Anery A (Breaden)
0.1 Amel (Edana)
0.0.7 Normal het-snow (no names yet)
1.1 Bloodred (Vlad the Impailer and Natasha)
0.1 Anery Stripe (Morticia)
1.0 Candy Cane (Kane)

1.3 Cats (Alexys{f}, Mikki{f}, Timothy{m}, Seven{f})
0.1 Child
1.0 Boyfriend
IcedGoddess Creations
Castle Serpents

I use ceramic heat emitters in all my cages. Just make sure that they have enough humidity (between 40-60%) because the heat emitter will keep the cage dry. I keep a moist hide box in all of my cages in case they need the extra moisture. Actually in almost every case, without a moist hide box available during their sheds, they have had problems.

Just to let you know how quickly the heat emitters dry out a cage...One of my snakes tipped his water bowl over. I didn't worry about changing the papertowel substrate because I knew that in about an hour the cage would already be dry. But then again I'm using aquariums with screen tops. If your cages are less ventilated, they will hold more humidity.

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alstiver@hotmail.com

Currently own:
1.0 '01 Hypo snow cornsnake (Tesla Coil)
0.1 '02 Ghost (pastel) cornsnake (Banshee)
1.1 '02 Bloodred cornsnakes (Desi and Luci Too)
0.0.3 Goldfish (Kabuki, Isamu, and Yuki)
1.0 '99 American Eskimo x ? mutt (Rusty)

Soon to be added:
1.0 '04 Type II Anery Nicaraguan boa
0.1 '04 Hypo Nicaraguan boa

Thanks for your replies. I can't begin to tell you how excited I am to meet these new snakes!
And, yes, I am well aquainted with grumpy snakes. In fact, I love my snakes that bite! They are my best eaters.

One of things contributing to the popularity of corns is their ease of maintenance. They require no misting or special lighting. If you provide an adequately sized cage and free access to fresh water as well as temps roughly in the 75-85ºF range, your corns should do well. Heat tape or "under-tank" heaters would not work effectively through wood because it so too good an insulator. A light bulb or ceramic emitter should do the job. Make sure the temps do not get too high with these setups. This more likely to happen in a wooden cage (good insulator). As far as personality goes, corns are very tractable. Babies and juveniles can be a little nippy, but you should be familiar with grumpy youngsters having kept boids.

Best of luck,
WK