Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Okay I just recently bought my new hatchling corn snake this past friday. I bought a starter snake kit which the girl at the store said would be perfect for a baby corn. But the only heat souce it came with was a 75 wt heat light. But I'm worried about the temps and am afraid that they're too low. I was wondering if I should probably get a UTH to bring up the temps ?

I have to go get some thermo's in his cage so i can be sure but I havne't had anytime to go get them ... so do you guys think an UTH would be able to fix this problem ?

he's also spent a great deal of time in his hide but i'm wondering if this is due to the fact that I just recently bought him or maybe cause he's a baby or if it's the temp that is making him wanna stay in there. I've held him a couple of times and he was really calm and seemed to enjoy it... he wasn't scared at all.

thanks in advance! (sorry bout the long post)

What kind of tank came with it?10/20 gallon?What temps do you get under the light?You need a digital therm to get an exact temp reading.There cheap about 15 bucks at radio shack.If it came with a glass tank then I would preffer a uth.If the room you keep it in is 75 degrees during the day and drops down to 65 at night your also fine.Most of my corns dont even use the uth and with the above temps do just fine.75 watts seems a little on the high side for a small tank.Ive also found most starter packages consist of complete garbage they cant sell.
Your new corn will hide alot the first few weeks.Leave it alone for that amount of time and let it get settled in.Congrats and enjoy your snake...Paul

What type of snake is that??? Is it a normal??

Very Pretty!!!
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Katie
xxx
Thanks in advance

np

My immediate thought is that without a thermometer, you don't actually know whether you have a problem with temperatures. I think that'd be my first buy. The temp range should be from about 70 degrees at the cool end, to around 88 degrees at the warm end.

As a general note, I'd be inclined to switch from a bulb to an undertank heater (UTH) as these provide the belly heat that Corns need to digest properly.

Having said that, most new Corns will hide away for a while as they settle in. Could just be that he's doing that at the moment. I'd recommend that you have a minimum of two hides - one at the warm end and one at the cool end - so that your guy can be hidden all the time. Even better, you could give him some ground cover with plastic foliage, so that he can move from one hide to the other and feel secure. Corns are pretty much inactive during the day, so your best chance of catching him out & about, is during the evening (or dawn if you're that enthusiastic!).

Good luck and let us know how he settles in.

okay I went out and bought a UTH and a thermometer. I have everything set up and it still says the temp is between 75-80. And I'm still using the overhead light as well... I don't understand shouldn't it be a lot hotter in there ?? Any suggestions. And I also have a book covering half the cage to keep in the heat.. my room does get kinda cold but still....

i have 2 2 year old corns and just got a baby. i house my 2 year olds in 20 gallon long tanks with UTH and lights. i just have the lights on basically so i can see better in the tanks. i don't think they really need the lights. my amel makes use of her UTH side but my ghost doesn't. i never see him on the UTH side. it don't even look like he's been in his warm hide box at night even. I'm thinking of unpluging his. so with my new baby i just have her in a very simple set up. a 5 gallon tank set on a human heat pad, set on low. that is it. no lights. she is doing great. eats great and has shed once for me already since i've had her..about 4 weeks.
with their screen lids i cover at least half with seran wrap. suppose to help keep humidity up and heat in. i would use the seran wrap instead of a book. my baby is hiding all the time too. my 2 year olds hide alot when they were little also. in time the babies will come out more often.
all my corns are doing fine. eating and shedding as snakes do.