Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Erm Iv put a lamp over his tank with a 60w bulb in, is this to much?!

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Im not Having much look with this, I think iv shocked him with that bulb hes went under the paper towels now, so iv changed back to the heatmat, temps are 71F cool, 77F hot. is he going to be ok!

Cheers Anthony.

Hi, I think you need to have the light at one end so the snake can move away if it gets too warm. Watch the plastic top they can melt if the bulb is too close.

Well, my corns have a hot spot of about 85, and a cool side of about 75, so I don't think your tank is too hot...but it does look mighty damn small!! It's hard to tell how big the tank is by the picture, but I wouldn't house even a baby corn in anything less then a 10 gallon, and mine (which are about half grown) are about to move into a temperary 40 gallon before I go even bigger! I would worry more about having a more varied temperature range with different places they can go so they get to choose their own temperatures then that it's too hot in general.

-Spangles

your going to put a juevenil into a 40 gal tank? Wow. I keep juvies in juvie racks, with shoe boxes at 12X5 inch. Right now my juvies are approx 40 grams each. I've been thinking in 4 or 5 more months they will need larger boxes.

I am probably keeping them a bit cramped. I suspect you are giving them much more room than needed. Maybe "Harker" should try for a happy medium. That tank he is using looks like a "Critter keeper", probably approx 14X6 inch. I'd call it good until the snake is at least 60-80 grams (what~ about a 1 to 1 1/2 foot?) I see Spangels would move much larger (My 600 gram female is good in a 20 gal long) so maybe somewhere in between. Don't go to large too quick, will interupt feeding behaviour.

Good luck!

Yes, I know I'm a bit extreem in the size of my tank...but I have three of them together right now (no I don't want to start that topic again, I know the risks) and they are all about 2 feet long now, so I guess they might qualify as young adults... I still believe that bigger is better though, and I know my snakes love it!!!

-Spangles

Oh yeah, I would recommend using the light, or possibly both the light and the mat if you have a big enough tank to still have a cool spot. My snakes have an infrared lamp thats on 24/7 and a spot lamp that gets turned on in the day on the hot side of their tank...and I believe it's a normal corn thing for them to hide under their substrate, I know mine like to dig and burry themselves, and I believe corns do that in the wild also.

-Spangles

Yeh i know its small, im getting a new tank around new years time... looking at a 10 gallon cabinet with red bulbs plus white bulb and heat mat, Having red on constant with white during the day the white bulb goes of at night and the heat mat kicks in and so on! pictures will be up when finished!

Cheers Anthony

I wouldn't spend to much $$$ on a 10 gallon, stand and all those lights. Your corn will out grow it. Save you money for when they'll need at least a 20 gallon long. I just have a UTH on my corns with incandencent lights for day. Their on timers and go off at night to give them a natural day/night cycle. The lights help provide heat too. Mine are doing just fine with that. I use a red light on my Python because they like it a bit warmer at night. This is just my opinion..:0)

When I have baby corns in critter keepers or shoe boxes I simply put one end (not more than half the container and usually 1/4 or 1/3 the length...(so they can lay on the heat if need be) on a heat pad or tape. UTH heat the corn without the danger of melting the container or cooking the snake. A light bulb has a surface temp in the 300-400 degrees and can simply roast anything, especially if it makes contact. And the wattage used is so much less.....8 watts on a small or medium pad. No bulbs to blow or lights to balance. Works for me.
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Sonya

not
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Jeremy J. Anderson


1.2 Crested Geckos
2.4 Corns (motley, lavender, snow, amel, ghost, "normal"-)
1.4 Boa constrictor imperator (adult male anyone?)
1.1 Boa constrictor occidentalis
1.1 Whitewater albino Rosy Boas
1.0 Lonely Ball Python
2.0 Dumb darn dogs (1 Newfoundland, and 1 Border Collie Mix
1.0 Russian Black Hamster
1.5 Rats (career breeders)
1.0 Manling
0.1 Girlfriend
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Just because you're not paranoid doesn't mean they're not out to get you.