Temperature and humidity

[Iseitaku]

I recently upgraded the temp gauge and hygrometer to an electronic device. for the longest time with my old non electronic gauge it read the temp at 70f and 50%. When I installed the electronic ones they red humidity at 25% and 33% and the temperature in the hot end at 21-22 degrees c.

For temperatures that i took with a laser thermometer gun they all consistently read about 15 degrees less than the the recommended temp range according to this. https://www.zillarules.com/care-sheets/corn-snake

As for humidity I misted and accidentally over misted so I am gonna let it dry out a bit. for bedding I have aspen shavings and possibly plan on mixing in some cypress and possibly some moss to retain humidity after the 48hrs since they were just fed.

I have not seen much of an issue with them at all just a small piece of stuck shed I soaked Red to get off. my concern is will the consistant 15 degrees f lower be an issue? Also will mixing cypress and some moss help retain moisture in the future?

[dangernoodles]

Analog thermometers and humidity gauges tend to read inaccurately and get stuck on a certain temp/humidity, so props to you for upgrading. Regular misting will help the raise the humidity as well as cypress mulch and sphagnum moss, since aspen does not retain much moisture. Just make sure to buy cypress mulch marketed for reptiles. Snakes are much hardier than most expect, so 15 degrees lower f should not be TOO much of an issue- however you should do everything you can to raise it. Just my two cents.

[craigafrechette]

What species of snake is in the enclosure?

And yeah, unfortunately those analog thermometers and hygrometers are junk. They're wildly inaccurate. So basically forget whatever they were reading and start fresh with your temp gun.

As for humidity, depending on the species, you may want to ditch the aspen all together. It doesn't hold humidity well at all, and it's dusty and messy.

[dangernoodles]

What species of snake is in the enclosure?


From what I can tell its a corn snake, since the guide they linked was a corn snake care guide.

[craigafrechette]

From what I can tell its a corn snake, since the guide they linked was a corn snake care guide.

Ha! Good call!! I just looked and saw colubrid forum. I didn't think to check the link. I don't trust most of the care sheets floating around the interweb either. Many are outdated and/or inaccurate.

[dangernoodles]

Also in previous posts they mentioned ¨Red¨ as being one of their corn snakes.

[dangernoodles]

Yeah, care sheets can be sorta.. eh. I try to get multiple opinions and sort of make my own care guide from multiple sources, of course it can change at any time. I have seen and heard aspen is good for corn snakes, what do you think?

[Iseitaku]

Yes corn snakes, thought that was obvious. Humidity had time to settle down to 30% and 34% after misting. I'll probably after the 48hrs at least for sure mix in cypress bedding to retain humidity. for now I cannot handle them.

[dangernoodles]

Yeah- From what i have heard you should keep their humidity at atleast 40 percent- so I am sure you will be fine.

[Iseitaku]

update: I am changing the substrate right now to a mix of aspen and ecoearth (almost 50/50) heat mat reads at 90 degrees without any substrate above it for Ruby's tank.

[dangernoodles]

Nice! Keep us updated.

[Iseitaku]

substrate humidity is at around 50-60%. 70% is even acceptable in short periods so with them in there they can as I see it be in there while it airs out with the basking lamps drying the tank and substrate out. They seem to be exploring the tanks and enjoying the change. as for the other heat mat its at 100 degrees F without substrate. Those were the previous heat mats they had so most likely if they need heat they can burrow towards the heat mat I would think. Cool side still remains somewhat the same but I need to wait to check the temp after the substrate has aired out a bit.