1ft corn in 55g tank?

[asnakenamed-oly]

I have a little snow corn named Olympia, estimated about a foot or so long and about 3-4 months old, who is starting to rub her nose on the glass of her 2.5 gallon tank. I have a 55 gallon that I originally intended to put her in, but I was told to hold off putting her in it because she was too small. I was told that I wouldn't be able to heat it correctly and that she would be intimidated by the open space. I'm currently keeping the 2.5g inside the the 55g, simply for lack of space, and I sometimes let her explore the 55, so she's pretty familiar with what's going on in the larger enclosure. So my question is, would it be okay for me to go ahead and put her in the 55?

[Starbuck]

yes. Just make sure there is lots of cover so she can get from cool to warm, and from hide to hide, without feeling exposed.

Also double-triple check that it is escape proof!

I can't imagine that you could get ANY sort of heat gradient in a 2.5 gallon tank anyways....

[Mikoh4792]

You could keep a baby cornsnake in a house sized enclosure, just like wild baby corns live outside in nature. The reason why they thrive outside is because there are leaves, rocks, logs, burrows....etc to hide in. Whatever enclosure you keep it in just provide hides and cover. It needs to feel secure.

[TheFrogman]

You could keep a baby cornsnake in a house sized enclosure, just like wild baby corns live outside in nature. The reason why they thrive outside is because there are leaves, rocks, logs, burrows....etc to hide in. Whatever enclosure you keep it in just provide hides and cover. It needs to feel secure.

I agree totally, Just make sure he has plenty of hides. Id put some Sphag Moss in the corners, my guys love to hide in it.

[bigsnakegirl785]

As everyone has said, she'll do fine; I've successfully kept a 3.5ft bp in a 6ft enclosure so I know it can be done. :) Extra hides, plants, logs, add whatever you can to make her feel secure.

[knox]

It's SO refreshing to see people finally realizing this! Thank you, guys! I have been saying this for years - it doesn't matter the size of the enclosure. What matters is temperature and ground cover (over simplification, but you obviously get the point).

It's like the old saying - I have a large snake collection that I keep in the woods behind my house. Their enclosure is pretty large and they do just fine.

[Mikoh4792]

It's SO refreshing to see people finally realizing this! Thank you, guys! I have been saying this for years - it doesn't matter the size of the enclosure. What matters is temperature and ground cover (over simplification, but you obviously get the point).

It's like the old saying - I have a large snake collection that I keep in the woods behind my house. Their enclosure is pretty large and they do just fine.

Exactly. I have a feeling the people who started the myth that snakes do better in smaller enclosures just didn't provide enough hiding options in bigger enclosures...that's where they run into problems. Even though the outside is huge animals have so many places to take cover.

If an enclosure is small enough to act as a hide itself, the enclosure is too small. You need hides within an enclosure, the enclosure itself shouldn't be the hide.

[sharthun]

I totally agree. Moving from smaller to larger enclosures as the reptile grows is stressful to both keeper and reptiles. Just get the enclosure you want in the beginning that are large enough for an adult and provide sufficient hides and temperature gradients and enjoy! IMO.:)

[Alexa]

I actually kept my corn in a 55 when I first got the little worm :D. As long as you don't mind panicking once or twice because you can't find him anywhere in there, you'll be fine. One time mine somehow ended up in the very bottom of a plant pot...

I think a big part of the fun of snakes is watching their behavior, and where they choose to hide when given many options is part of that.

Ended up moving across country and left the big aquarium behind, so my guy is in a 40gal now. I don't think he misses it too much, though.

[CosmicOwl]

Though I usually think snakes should be kept in larger enclosures, this seems a bit excessive. I have adult corn snake in a 40 gallon tank and he seems fine. Keeping a baby corn snake in a 55 gallon tank will come with a lot of issues that may out weight the positives. You'll have to be more aware of heating, you'll have to provide many more hides and you may have trouble finding the snake.

You can easily go to Walmart and buy a 15-20 gallon pastic tub that will provide you snake with plenty of room. It will also be a lot easier to maintain, and allow you to keep track of the snake.

[poison123]

Through in lots of leaf litter and some bark and this will solve your open space problem. The snake will have plenty of places to hide in the enclosure.

[Mikoh4792]

Though I usually think snakes should be kept in larger enclosures, this seems a bit excessive. I have adult corn snake in a 40 gallon tank and he seems fine. Keeping a baby corn snake in a 55 gallon tank will come with a lot of issues that may out weight the positives. You'll have to be more aware of heating, you'll have to provide many more hides and you may have trouble finding the snake.

You can easily go to Walmart and buy a 15-20 gallon pastic tub that will provide you snake with plenty of room. It will also be a lot easier to maintain, and allow you to keep track of the snake.

You just heat it as you would with an adult cornsnake.

More hides is an obvious given.... that's what we've been saying the whole time.

Finding the snake is no issue if you are willing to spend a minute looking under the hides.


It comes down to how much effort are you willing to put in for each snake. If you have a few snakes and give each of them huge enclosures it wouldn't be a problem. However for a large scale breeder you can't spend a minute looking for each animal during feeding time. In that case you would need to cut down on enclosure size.

[CosmicOwl]

You just heat it as you would with an adult cornsnake.

More hides is an obvious given.... that's what we've been saying the whole time.

Finding the snake is no issue if you are willing to spend a minute looking under the hides.


It comes down to how much effort are you willing to put in for each snake. If you have a few snakes and give each of them huge enclosures it wouldn't be a problem. However for a large scale breeder you can't spend a minute looking for each animal during feeding time. In that case you would need to cut down on enclosure size.

My point was just that I'm not sure a baby corn snake benefits from an enclosure that large. Plenty of the moderately sized tubs give a small snake plenty of room without making it more difficult on you.

[Mikoh4792]

My point was just that I'm not sure a baby corn snake benefits from an enclosure that large. Plenty of the moderately sized tubs give a small snake plenty of room without making it more difficult on you.

And with this I agree. My point was that you can keep a baby corn in a big enclosure without problems.

[CosmicOwl]

And with this I agree. My point was that you can keep a baby corn in a big enclosure without problems.

I think it's more important that the snake is given objects to interact with. If your snake likes to climb, then fill the space with perches. If they like to burrow, give them lots of substrate.

I have my baby grey rat snake in a 15 gallon(roughly) tub, and he has two branches, a fake vine and a cardboard tube suspended on a wire. He uses them a lot, along with burrowing in the shredded paper bedding. The great thing about the tubs is that they can be easily modified. You can melt holes in them and run wires or strings across the tub to give the snake plenty climbing area. In my new bloodred corn snake's tub, I've used suction cups to hold up some strings and fake vines for her to climb on.

There are a lot of possibilities that people don't consider.

[Mikoh4792]

I think it's more important that the snake is given objects to interact with. If your snake likes to climb, then fill the space with perches. If they like to burrow, give them lots of substrate.

I have my baby grey rat snake in a 15 gallon(roughly) tub, and he has two branches, a fake vine and a cardboard tube suspended on a wire. He uses them a lot, along with burrowing in the shredded paper bedding. The great thing about the tubs is that they can be easily modified. You can melt holes in them and run wires or strings across the tub to give the snake plenty climbing area. In my new bloodred corn snake's tub, I've used suction cups to hold up some strings and fake vines for her to climb on.

There are a lot of possibilities that people don't consider.

No one is arguing this. The original point is that you can't go too big. A big enclosure will only stress out a snake if you don't provide cover for it.

[CosmicOwl]

No one is arguing this. The original point is that you can't go too big. A big enclosure will only stress out a snake if you don't provide cover for it.

I was just adding to my original point. I think some people worry about the size of the enclosure, when they can add more useable space to an environment.

[Mikoh4792]

I was just adding to my original point. I think some people worry about the size of the enclosure, when they can add more useable space to an environment.

I agree. Using shelves or branches/vines as you mentioned will double the floor space(or even more depending on how tall the enclosure is)