Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I'd read a few places that snakes get almost all of their water from their prey, and i've enver seen aany of my others use the water bowl for drinking except on occasion.

My corn drinks like ALL of the time and i'm wondering if it means im shorting him someplace? he drinks mostly after eating, and after every time hes put back into his cage. I see him drinking other times as well, and every time his head is above the substrate when i mist he gets very interested in the water and sticks his tongue out a ton while I'm misting.

The humidity in his tank fluxuates, the lowest i've ever seen it was at aroun 55%, normally its around 70% before i mist, and gets up to 80 after i mist, and i mist a few times a day. pretty much any time i walk by the cage.

Dont really think this is important, but just incase someone asks, i keep him in a 20 long (or a 29 gallon... im unsure which, and i beleive they have the same bottom measurements) aspena bout 3 inches deeo, a big hide on the hot end and a smaller one on the cool end, he doesnt sue them much anyways, hes got tunnels under his waterbowl, lol. theres a big waterbowl in the middle. the hot end is 90-95 and the cool end is 80-82. Thats assuming those lil strips are accurate, which im not wholley sure of. The snake is an adult, and i feed him about once every 7 days, i try not to do it more often despite what looks to *me* like begging, lol.
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1.3 Dogs (max, tasha, kaya, screw)
1.0 Ghost Corn (Ghost Faced Killa)
1.0 Ball python
0.0.1 Boa Constrictor (Achilles)
0.0.2 Red Eared Sliders
0.0.4 insane tarantellas
2.1 ferrets (Otis, Milo, Monty)
1.0 Cat (Kitten)
0.0.1 Emperor Scorpion
0.0.1 Melleri Cham (Sir Arthur Chamleon Doyle)
0.0.1 Chinese Water Dragon
And an ever-changing fishie tank...

The only problem I can see is your temps ae pretty high. I would shoot for maximum of 84 on the warm side and down to 74 and the cooler end. It could be that he is overheating and trying to cool down by drinking.
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phflame

I agree your temps are just a little high but they could very well be even higher than that using those strips. Get a good thermometer or even better one of those cool temps guns ($25-35).Given that he's hiding under the water bowl, I'd say he was trying to cool off.
Is there a reason you're misting so much? Unless it has a problem with shedding or you live in a very dry climate you shouldn't need to do that at all. It could actually lead to more problems with mold/fungus growing in the substrate.

Cheryl

I mean the ones that stick on the aquarium glass to measure the temp in the middle of the tank (fish float, but snakes don't, lol!) Even if you put it near the bottom, you would be amazed at the temp differences over just a few inches. I would suggest getting an inexpensive wall thermometer or a probe type and checking the temps right where the snake actually rests or crawls. Check at different times of the day and in different seasons. If your old measurements are correct, consider lowering them several degrees Try mid or upper 80s on the hot side, but no more than about 90, and upper 70s or 80 or so on the cool side - it is not an exact science, so higher or lower temps often work. Observe your individual corn and you will notice whether he usually prefers it to be hotter, cooler, or in between.

I have about an 85 watt, i think its an 85, heat bulb about a half a foot from the tank. I mist so much because its been very dry here lately (no rain at all) and i figure if its making my throat hurt, its prolly hurting him too.

I also have those strips at the top of the cage, so its probably a little cooler down by him. the one on the heat end im rather sure is damaged, since when i was first trying to set a proper temp (before it had a snakie in it) i melted the lid just a little, rather close to the strip...

I do plan on looking into a temp gun next paycheck (well.. maybe in two paychecks... stupid broken cars!) since it sounds very handy. at three/four bucks a strip, those strips are getting up there anyways, lol.

thanks for the really fast input!
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1.3 Dogs (max, tasha, kaya, screw)
1.0 Ghost Corn (Ghost Faced Killa)
1.0 Ball python
0.0.1 Boa Constrictor (Achilles)
0.0.2 Red Eared Sliders
0.0.4 insane tarantellas
2.1 ferrets (Otis, Milo, Monty)
1.0 Cat (Kitten)
0.0.1 Emperor Scorpion
0.0.1 Melleri Cham (Sir Arthur Chamleon Doyle)
0.0.1 Chinese Water Dragon
And an ever-changing fishie tank...

85 watt heat bulb seems high. i agree with everyone...your temps sound high. i have 2 corns housed in 20 gallon long each with the UTH's and just a 40 watt incandecent light (on the same side).
i also suggest, if you don't already, is to have your light on a timer to give him a day/night cycle.

Timers arnt a concern, i have all my lights for my pets on one switch which i turn off and on myself.

I'll move the lamp away a bit for now, probably get a UTH when cash flow permits.
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1.3 Dogs (max, tasha, kaya, screw)
1.0 Ghost Corn (Ghost Faced Killa)
1.0 Ball python
0.0.1 Boa Constrictor (Achilles)
0.0.2 Red Eared Sliders
0.0.4 insane tarantellas
2.1 ferrets (Otis, Milo, Monty)
1.0 Cat (Kitten)
0.0.1 Emperor Scorpion
0.0.1 Melleri Cham (Sir Arthur Chamleon Doyle)
0.0.1 Chinese Water Dragon
And an ever-changing fishie tank...

You can get a heating pad at wal-mart for $10. I keep my guys in a 10 gallon and just the pad on low keeps the hot end 86 and cool end 73. You shouldn't need any overhead light for heat. Just to let you know I used a UTH and a 40 watt bulb and the strip said the temps were perfect. When I got a temp gun it read 105 on hot and 92 on the cool end. I wqs lucky I didn't cook my snakes.
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0.0.1 Amel Motley Corn (Cosmo '03)
0.1 Baird's Ratsnake (Sugaree '04)
1.0 White Oaks Grey Rat (Tennesse Jed '04)
1.1 Shepherd mix (Dylan 5yrs, Porter 8 months)

>>he drinks mostly after eating

well geeze. You try and swallow somethin the size of your tummy and tell me you dont want to wash it down with something! lol
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-Chris

The reason mainstream thought is thought of as a stream is because it's so shallow. -George Carlin

A fool doesn't learn. A smart man learns from his mistakes. A wise man learns from the mistakes of others. Which one are you?

My Website
Rat/Corn snake care sheet I wrote

Current snakes:
0.1 Licorice Stick Black Rat (Lola)
1.0 Black Rat (Frankie)
1.1 Texas Bairds (Jose and Rosa)
0.1 Blue Beauty (Brunhilde)
1.0 Green Tree Python (Caligula)... coming soon

I guess most of this has already been said...
Those temps are far too high for a corn snake.

"Evapotranspiration" : the loss of water from an object into the surrounding atmosphere. It increases exponentially with temperature increase. Each breath your corn snake exhales is carrying moisture out of his body - in the high temps in your cage - he's losing a tremendous amount of water just through breathing.

Corns don't need temps much above 80 even on the hot side. Think about where they are from, the majority of the year, even when not brumating - sees average temperatures in the 60's and low 70's.

Like the others said - get an under-tank heater. The good news is - your corn is probably not suffering from an illness.

Hope this helps! - Matt

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Matt from Minnesota
Cornsnake, Eastern Kingsnake, IL Bullsnake - all girls.
One Pair of cute Crested Geckos.

i use to raise corns a few years back, and yes this is normal, i had atleast 38 corns, and at all the times like after they eat or when i put them back in teh cage yes they wood drink, they just do that, the way ur keeping ur snake is fine, they just drink alot of water, i had a water bowl for them that was about 40 oz and my female ghost wood drink all of it at once sometimes, but she was big. dont worry, they just drink water ...... alot of water, its normal

I hardly ever see my corn drinking. My temps are lower than yours. I also thaw out his dinner(mice) in warm water, thus his dinner is wet, so maybe he gets enough water from his dinner.

I guess another variable to take into consideration is you may not know it if all your corns are drinking as much. Maybe some have more nocturnal behavior and you just don't see them drinking (unlessing you're reaching your conclusion by measuring water levels). I used to think my corn never used any of his climbing branches until a couple nights I woke up in the middle of the night and found him climbing all over them.
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Jesse Rothacker
Forgotten Friend Reptile Sanctuary
Find out how YOU can get involved in reptile rescue...
www.forgottenfriend.org

haha, im not even comparing him to other corns, just other snakes. i know they dont drink that much, because i typically am dumping out a full waterbowl, whereas this guys bowl gets emptier.
i like how his drinking seems to add even more to his personality anyways, just a random behavior i can see him doing, predict when hes going to do it, and cause him to do it myself. hes so cute lapping up droplets from the air when i mist too!
this guy has got the most personality of all my reptiles.
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1.3 Dogs (max, tasha, kaya, screw)
1.0 Ghost Corn (Ghost Faced Killa)
1.0 Ball python
0.0.1 Boa Constrictor (Achilles)
0.0.2 Red Eared Sliders
0.0.4 insane tarantellas
2.1 ferrets (Otis, Milo, Monty)
1.0 Cat (Kitten)
0.0.1 Emperor Scorpion
0.0.1 Melleri Cham (Sir Arthur Chamleon Doyle)
0.0.1 Chinese Water Dragon
And an ever-changing fishie tank...

I think the first step is for your corn snake to admit it has a drinking problem. Just a little humor.