A question about Corn snakes & their homes

[emwilly90]

Hi everyone

I have recently become interested in owning a corn snake and have been learning a lot about them over the past few days from reading bits online.
I have not owned a snake before, so I want to make sure I have all the correct information before I purchase one.

I know that baby corns stay in "faunariums" and I am just wondering how long would this be for and when would I need to start considering moving the baby corn into a vivarium?

My second question is how large of a vivarium would you keep an adult corn in? From a quick look online, I found this (https://www.reptiles.swelluk.com/vivexotic-viva-terrestrial-vivarium-small-beech/) one, would this be acceptable?

Just looking for any sort of info anyone can give me, I'm sure I will have a lot more questions in the near future!

[afsgr88]

As far as I know, baby corn snakes can do just fine in a Vivarium, as long as you provide the necessary hiding places. For an adult corn snake, I believe the mininum size should be around 20-gallon.

I never owned a corn snake though, so I think other people can advise you better :)

[Andy_G]

You'll find there are a lot of opinions on enclosure size...so here's mine.

It may be true that a small snake can do well in a large cage/vivarium with lots of hides/cover, but be aware that it will be harder to control temperatures and humidity, it will sometimes be hard for you to find waste matter, it will be difficult for the snake to find food, and it will be all that much more for you to clean. Consider all of this, especially with it being your first snake. I'm sure others will chime in about this as well.

I applaud you for doing the proper research befoe your purchase. Ask as many questions as you need to here, we are here to help.

That vivarium you posted looks great for juveniles, but would be a bit small for an adult.

[EL Ziggy]

Welcome and best wishes Em. I agree that the vivarium you linked to looks great. If you had a few hides in there you could keep a corn snake in there for a couple of years easily. I've started several hatchlings in adult sized enclosures and never had any issues. I know other keepers have said their young snakes do better in smaller enclosures but I haven't noticed any differences in my experiences.

[emwilly90]

Thank you for your replies!

It's good to know that I could keep a baby corn snake in the vivarium I linked for a couple of years as it gives me an idea of size - I was concerned I'd have to keep upgrading the tank as the corn grew up!
I had read on a different forum that if you kept a baby snake in a place too big, it would maybe not thrive and would panic, but from what you guys say it's all about having enough places for the baby to hide so it doesn't feel threatened?

I also saw this (https://www.reptiles.swelluk.com/swell-cornsnake-starter-kit-bronze/) starter kit that says in the description you could keep a baby in here for up to a year, is this correct?

Thanks for all your help guys!

[Kathryntheclean]

Make sure you look for mites before you buy! Those boogers are hard to get rid of. If you get one that does have mites, though, listen to the seasoned snake owners on how to rid your snake of the pests. These guys know their business!

[Andy_G]

Thank you for your replies!

It's good to know that I could keep a baby corn snake in the vivarium I linked for a couple of years as it gives me an idea of size - I was concerned I'd have to keep upgrading the tank as the corn grew up!
I had read on a different forum that if you kept a baby snake in a place too big, it would maybe not thrive and would panic, but from what you guys say it's all about having enough places for the baby to hide so it doesn't feel threatened?

I also saw this (https://www.reptiles.swelluk.com/swell-cornsnake-starter-kit-bronze/) starter kit that says in the description you could keep a baby in here for up to a year, is this correct?

Thanks for all your help guys!

I'm all for giving "appropriately" sized enclosures (in other words, I am not a huge fan of giving a baby snake a really big cage...it's given me issues in the past)...but you'll see lots of opinions on that even on this forum, but we all like to use our heads here instead of sticking our heels in for the most part :). I would say that if you decide to use a very large space in relation to the snake, and even if given a lot of hides...if they don't thrive, try to put them in something smaller. The starter kit looks ok, but the stick on thermometers are useless, always better to use digital.

[emwilly90]

I think what I might do is buy the above vivarium and everything to go in it separately (on your recommendations) and see how the snake gets on, as it would be great to keep it in the same viv for a couple years if they like it.

Another thing I can't make my mind up on is whether to have a bulb or mat as a heat source? What would you guys recommend is best?

[Andy_G]

For a corn snake, mats work well, but either would do the job.

[akane]

You can put a young corn snake into most any type of setup you can maintain healthy conditions. They just need the right heat, humidity, hiding places, and ability to find food and water. Since they aren't too picky it's not a very difficult snake to do that with. It also applies to enclosure size but yes, there are a few more difficulties providing everything they need on a scale equal to the snake when in an area that is bigger. Other things will depend on the details of the setup you are going for. One of my bioactive tanks I go through a lot of wasted f/t pinkies or fuzzies because the snake can hide away and may take days to check for food. I always put the food in the same spot and if he gets too hungry he will hang out under a nearby cave waiting to ambush anything that appears. I've taken to using live because the snake is also nocturnal so it won't be rotten the next day and the pinkies usually don't seem overly distressed sitting warm under the heat lamp for the night. They are still healthy enough they could be put back in a litter if they are from my rodents and grow normally. I don't have smell and waste the next morning that way. You cannot do it with older rodents because they can attack and injure your snake. Snakes do tend to pick one safe area and/or one hunting area so you don't really have to worry about the rest of the enclosure if you set it up right. Unlike lizards you don't usually have to hunt for them after they establish the area in the first day or 2 even in a large enclosure. That's not to say it won't happen with some and if they have to seek out the cool from warm areas over a large area you will have them covering more ground to get comfortable. Then you'll have more potential places they might stop in the process that you have to check. Different species and individuals have different activity levels and boldness. My dekay's brown snake is always moving everywhere but he hunts insects constantly instead of waiting for a large rodent meal and then sitting around digesting it until it's necessary to hunt again. The rosy boas are very laid back and even my new tiny one can be found in different areas instead of one hiding place all the time but often fairly out in the open so she's still not hard to find. If I can't find her a flashlight usually shows she's crammed into a certain log with some cracks running through the middle. It's more the convenience from already having small setups I can start them in that makes me choose not to setup their adult enclosure right away. The number of snakes and time you have to put into caring for them also impacts how well you can keep them healthy when things are more complicated.

[sockSnek]

I've been buying two cages for my snakes: one for when they're little and one that will be their permanent adult home. If you plan on upgrading once, it doesn't matter how long they spend in the smaller viv since you're going to buy two anyway.

One rule of thumb people use to decide if a vivarium is big enough is that the length+width of the viv should be at least the length of the snake. A corn snake will get to 5+ feet, so the size of the one in that starter kit is not a bad choice. A year seems like a fair estimate. I'm always kind of skeptical of starter kits though. If the stuff in it isn't great, you'll end up replacing a lot of it, and the kit there isn't cheap enough that I'd go for it anyway.

As for viv size for an adult, my corn snake is about 3.5 ft and I have her in something this size (http://www.tetra-fish.com/Fauna/Products/reptile-terrarium-cages-enclosures/40-gallon-reptohabitat-reptile-turtle-tank.aspx). Some care sheets say the minimum is 20 gallons, but I wouldn't want her in anything smaller now and she's still growing.

[Skipper7]

May I reccomend using plastic tote bins? They aren't visually appealing to us, but the snake really won't care lol. This would make upgrading cage size along with the snake relatively cheap. You could also save money for a bigger adult display cage.

[EL Ziggy]

May I reccomend using plastic tote bins? They aren't visually appealing to us, but the snake really won't care lol. This would make upgrading cage size along with the snake relatively cheap. You could also save money for a bigger adult display cage.

I think tubs are great especially for terrestrial snakes. They're lightweight, inexpensive and easy to clean. And it's pretty easy to maintain temps and humidity. The only drawback for me is that I enjoy watching my snakes too much. :)

[emwilly90]

Thank you everyone! I will keep all of your suggestions in mind! :)

[emwilly90]

I have found a faunarium which is the one from the corn snake starter kit I linked but just the housing, I could maybe buy this to start with and buy all of my own items to go inside separately (to make sure I don't use anything rubbish from the starter kit!), keep the snake here for approx. 12 months and then upgrade to the larger, permanent housing? What do you guys think?

[EL Ziggy]

That's a great way to start EM. The only issue is you're very likely to get a case of empty cage syndrome. Empty cages almost always lead to new critters. :)

[emwilly90]

A question on heating now...

I've been trying to decide between bulbs and mats but I've just come across ceramic heaters which look good. How do you guys feel about ceramic heaters? What sort of wattage would I need to get for a 2ft-ish vivarium housing a baby corn?

Also, is the temperature the same for a baby corn and an adult corn or does the temperature differ with age?

Thanks everyone

[Kathryntheclean]

I got a bulb (one for day-one for night) and a heat mat. If you do those, you have to get a thermostat though, to regulate the temperature. They say a mat can burn a snake if not regulated and our mat is really good at heating up. Our hot side is at 83, cool side is about 72. Our baby corn really seems to like it. Most often, he stays on the heated side near the mat, or he'll climb his "tree" and bask under the lamp. That's just what I've done. Others will have different suggestions. I've never used a ceramic heat emitter. Wattage-60. Seems to work. It's a short 10 gallon tank, which will be upgraded to a 20 gallon as soon as we get rid of those darn mites!