General beginner questions about my first corn snake!

[LRRoberts0122]

Hi everyone! I used to be really afraid of snakes, but I've been watching a series about them and it's really gotten me to change my mind. So I went ahead and got my first corn snake the other day.

She isn't here yet, and will be arriving in the mail this Wednesday morning. I'm very excited!

Now, I have some questions on what her ideal temperature / humidity should be in her enclosure. I currently have a 20G for her set up. I'll be able to build a very amazing, custom enclosure for her in a year, but hopefully this will do for the time being.

A little about her, she will be a year old when I get her. I'm not sure what to expect, if she'll still be kind of small, or not. I think she'll be in the medium range as far as the size of corn snakes go. But onto my questions!

I live in Florida, so it's naturally very humid here. Without any water in her tank whatsoever, the humidity gauge has consistently been at about 75% and the temperature is at approximately 77 - 80 degrees Fahrenheit (on the cool side of the tank). Will this be okay for her? I have a little heat mat on the right side of her tank. It feels warm to the touch, but I'm not sure if it's enough. I have a heat lamp, and I'm using that to see if I can get the warmth to go up a little on the warmer side of the tank (approximately 85, hopefully), but I read that heat lamps can hurt your pet, and I certainly don't want that, but I'm not sure how else to raise the temperature. I also don't know if 77-80 degrees is warm enough for her. I assume it's a bit warmer with the heat mat, but I'm also worried that once I add the substrate, it won't be as effective. I'm scared she'll be cold.

Someone please help. She'll be really scared after going through transport, and I want her to feel right at home. Thank you in advance for your help!

~ Lindsay

[Kera]

Well first, what kind of thermometer do you have? If you have the analog stick on ones, they aren't very good, as it's getting the air temperature and the ground, where she will be sitting.

[LRRoberts0122]

Yeah, it's an analog stick on. What do you recommend?

Here's what I'm using if it will let me link:

[nazanova]

I'm pretty new to snakes too and I also have a baby/juvenile Corn who's about 3 months old now. I usually keep my tank around 25-28c (77-79F) on the hot side (sometimes 30 which isn't a problem) and about 22-25c (72-77F) on the cool side, you do not need a heat lamp, a heat mat will do just fine and I strongly advise you get a thermostat to keep temperatures regulated and to keep your tank from getting too hot and the snake being burnt. Now with humidity colubrids such as Corns don't have to be worried about, give them an appropriate sized water dish and they will be fine. What Kera said is right the dial temperature gauges aren't too accurate but they're sufficient enough, if you want to be almost pin point accurate I'd advise maybe investing in a temp gun. Considering that my Corn is only about 3 months old and already a foot I'd imagine your snake will be roughly 3 feet long so I hope you have a large enough enclosure for her. I know your main question was about heat but I just thought I'd be thorough lol I hope you have lots of fun with your girl!

[sharthun]

Grab a cheap infrared temp gun. Very accurate and super easy to spot check. A thermostat is a necessity for heat regulation and safety. For a good inexpensive thermostat I recommend hydrofarm.:

Digital Heat Mat Temperature Controller by Hydrofarm - Essential Hardware

[nazanova]

Originally Posted by sharthun

Grab a cheap infrared temp gun. Very accurate and super easy to spot check. A thermostat is a necessity for heat regulation and safety. For a good inexpensive thermostat I recommend hydrofarm.:

Digital Heat Mat Temperature Controller by Hydrofarm - Essential Hardware

I second this. Thermostats are probably the most important tools of the whole set up apart from the actual heat source itself. I use a Habistat on/off thermostat but a pulse one is better.

[LRRoberts0122]

Thanks nazanova, for the thorough response, and as a newbie, I really appreciate any help and guidance you can offer. I just worry about her, as I have problems with my maternal instinct kicking in. "Gotta' protect the babies." Hehe. When I think about it, though, I'm not worried at all. Corn snakes are everywhere in Florida, they're a native species, so I honestly don't need to do much but give her water (I don't think), clean the cage, and feed her. But I just worry to death about her, because I want her to have everything she needs. I'm not gonna' use the heat lamp, as I believe she'll do fine without it. Here's a picture for fun! When she gets here Wednesday morning, I'll upload plenty of new pictures!

[nazanova]

Originally Posted by LRRoberts0122

Thanks nazanova, for the thorough response, and as a newbie, I really appreciate any help and guidance you can offer. I just worry about her, as I have problems with my maternal instinct kicking in. "Gotta' protect the babies." Hehe. When I think about it, though, I'm not worried at all. Corn snakes are everywhere in Florida, they're a native species, so I honestly don't need to do much but give her water (I don't think), clean the cage, and feed her. But I just worry to death about her, because I want her to have everything she needs. I'm not gonna' use the heat lamp, as I believe she'll do fine without it. Here's a picture for fun! When she gets here Wednesday morning, I'll upload plenty of new pictures!

Oh she is gorgeous! Yeah Corns are arguably the best beginner snake and like you said, all you need to do is feed her, change her water and clean out her tank once a month! I totally get what you mean about being protective. I was like that too when I first got mine but after a while I realised they survive in much worse conditions in the wild and are a lot hardier then we think they are, just because they're much smaller then us doesn't mean anything haha.

[Kera]

If you want to go cheap, go with this one though mine is yellow with a white probe lol. I have one just like it for both of my snakes, both read accurately and are only 12$ I believe. Super easy to use, though the suction cups aren't very good. I just set it on the ground. Once you get that, the temps will most likely be higher then your 77-80 degree reading.

[Kera]

She's very pretty! Yeah, I don't think you'll need the lamp.

[franks]

Beautiful little guy you got. Congrats and welcome to our forum! Nazanova is keeping his hot side too cool in my opinion. I really think you should achieve a hot spot of at least 85. I offer an option of 90 to my colubrids. Under tank heaters are fine, but I would suggest using only a heat lamp to lower your humidity. If that reading is accurate I think that it is a little too high for a constant 24/7 humidity. The heat lamp will burn some of that up.

[nazanova]

Originally Posted by franks

Beautiful little guy you got. Congrats and welcome to our forum! Nazanova is keeping his hot side too cool in my opinion. I really think you should achieve a hot spot of at least 85. I offer an option of 90 to my colubrids. Under tank heaters are fine, but I would suggest using only a heat lamp to lower your humidity. If that reading is accurate I think that it is a little too high for a constant 24/7 humidity. The heat lamp will burn some of that up.

Yeah going higher is fine, mine are a little low compared to others but it's whatever temps you feel your snake will be comfortable in. As long as you don't go too low or high everything will be fine, colubrids are very easy to maintain and don't require a lot of fuss.

[nazanova]

With the whole handling issue, when it comes to Corns I wouldn't worry. They may have a threat posture and rattle their tail but trust me they are so harmless it's unreal, 9.5/10 they will never bite and if they do you'll be thinking "is that it" . I used to make a big fuss about handling my Corn like id leave my hand in the tank so he knows I'm not food yada yada but now I just dive straight in and pick him up carefully, at first he makes a bit of a fuss but when he's in my hands he's like putty. Also I thought I'd throw in the idea of maybe feeding your Corn in a feeding box? I know a lot of people say there's no difference between feeding in it's enclosure and in a feeding box, it's all a myth etc but in MY opinion it does make a difference and it's something I will always practice, but it's whatever you feel comfortable with doing.

[LRRoberts0122]

Originally Posted by nazanova

With the whole handling issue, when it comes to Corns I wouldn't worry. They may have a threat posture and rattle their tail but trust me they are so harmless it's unreal, 9.5/10 they will never bite and if they do you'll be thinking "is that it" . I used to make a big fuss about handling my Corn like id leave my hand in the tank so he knows I'm not food yada yada but now I just dive straight in and pick him up carefully, at first he makes a bit of a fuss but when he's in my hands he's like putty. Also I thought I'd throw in the idea of maybe feeding your Corn in a feeding box? I know a lot of people say there's no difference between feeding in it's enclosure and in a feeding box, it's all a myth etc but in MY opinion it does make a difference and it's something I will always practice, but it's whatever you feel comfortable with doing.

I agree with the feeding in a box, and I plan on going to wally world and getting a good sized plastic bin for her to feed in. I'm going to start on some frozen mice, but if she's big enough, I'll put her on some live stuff for her second feeding. I've read that it makes them happy when they can "hunt" for their food.

That being said, I'm not worried about being bit at all. It's not going to hurt plain and simple, and I get that. I just don't want to stress her out. I expect to get bit, and it doesn't bother me. My dog bites me all the time playing tug with his toy, and man he draws blood.

But while I was in class, I read and article that said just go for it if she's being defensive, because we don't want to enforce that behavior and I agree. I have a little sister, and I'd like to show her they're harmless, but at the same time, I can't have it being defensive. I got her tank all setup. Getting her in the morning!

[nazanova]

Originally Posted by LRRoberts0122

I agree with the feeding in a box, and I plan on going to wally world and getting a good sized plastic bin for her to feed in. I'm going to start on some frozen mice, but if she's big enough, I'll put her on some live stuff for her second feeding. I've read that it makes them happy when they can "hunt" for their food.

That being said, I'm not worried about being bit at all. It's not going to hurt plain and simple, and I get that. I just don't want to stress her out. I expect to get bit, and it doesn't bother me. My dog bites me all the time playing tug with his toy, and man he draws blood.

But while I was in class, I read and article that said just go for it if she's being defensive, because we don't want to enforce that behavior and I agree. I have a little sister, and I'd like to show her they're harmless, but at the same time, I can't have it being defensive. I got her tank all setup. Getting her in the morning!

Corns are so harmless even if it went on the defensive I can almost guarantee it won't bite. Just tail rattling and postures that's it, expect it a lot with babies but as they get older they won't even care if you stroke them like the others have said please don't feed live, Corns don't need live food and will never not eat a f/t.