General beginner questions about my first corn snake!

[NewSAHSnakeMom]

An over the tank heat source will burn off the humidity. As much as some swear by under tank heaters I had to eventually switch to full over tank heat because unless I didn't want any water at all for my snake to drink I couldn't use an under tank heater without my humidity being raised horribly high. Here in the SW I've learned to do things a bit different (sorry guys) but my temperature stays great and its the only way tokeep my humidity below 70% . The spare humidity gage that sits in my living room stays at 73% with you being in Florida I'm guessing yours is worse!

[franks]

Heat lamp.

[nazanova]

Originally Posted by LRRoberts0122

How could I control this? As I said, I live in Florida. That's just the way the atmosphere is over here. What do I do?

I'm from such a cooler region then Florida (London) so I wouldn't know the difference and what could be done but like the others have said maybe a heat lamp will keep the humidity low? I'm sure someone who knows more will help

[franks]

The higher wattage heat bulb the more humidity you will burn off. You can put your heat lamp on a thermostat to control your temps. You really need to be offering more heat than the suggested 78-80. Heat is very important for reptiles and need to he an option the snake can exercise. We often refer to a term "thermoregulation." It is the practice of allowing your snake to control his own body temps. Heat is the battery for a snake. It also helps them control harmful parasites and fight infection.
nazanova- I would recommend implementing a heat source. If your snake starts getting sick he is not going to be able to fight the infection. The heat will also make digesting easier and healthier. There is a reason corn snakes are found out basking around here.

[EL Ziggy]

Welcome to the forum and congrats on your new corn LR. I live in GA and it's pretty humid here as well. The ambient humidity stays around 40-50% in my place. I use a UTH for all of my colubrids and keep their warm side between 86-90 but I have to set the thermostat at 92-98 to get the desired surface temps. I also use a low wattage infrared bulb for night viewing and to raise my ambient temps during the winter. I have my bulb on a dimmer so it doesn't get too hot. Best wishes and please share pictures when he arrives

[nazanova]

Originally Posted by franks

The higher wattage heat bulb the more humidity you will burn off. You can put your heat lamp on a thermostat to control your temps. You really need to be offering more heat than the suggested 78-80. Heat is very important for reptiles and need to he an option the snake can exercise. We often refer to a term "thermoregulation." It is the practice of allowing your snake to control his own body temps. Heat is the battery for a snake. It also helps them control harmful parasites and fight infection.
nazanova- I would recommend implementing a heat source. If your snake starts getting sick he is not going to be able to fight the infection. The heat will also make digesting easier and healthier. There is a reason corn snakes are found out basking around here.

Yeah see I told you someone who knew more would come along lol . I just realised your comment towards me Frank and I'm abit lost as to why you were talking to me about a heat source? Explain? Lol

[LRRoberts0122]

Alright. I don't have a thermostat for the heat lamp but I'll monitor it very carefully. Yikes, humidity is up to 80%! I hope she'll be okay with just the heat lamp. I'll leave it on while I'm at class today to see if it affects the humidity much.

And of course, here comes the obvious question about "biting" ~ She's a year old, and was with a breeder, so I doubt she's very accustomed to being handled. I'm not sure how this is going to go. I was going to let her be for the first 3 - 4 days, as I want to feed her on Sunday, since I know I'll always be available on Sundays. Get her on a guaranteed regimen. Now, if I try to handle her a bit, and she gives me the "S" pose and starts rattling, my best guess is that she's scared, and isn't very trusting of me yet.

I'm a bit nervous about being bit, as I've never been bitten by a snake before, but I'm not worried. I know it won't hurt, and I've got a cat and a dog that have done some damage before. For example, bath time with the cat after it messed itself during a moving trip... Got it's claw so far up my skin, it was scratching against muscle or nerve, and was causing my arm to spasm, lol. The worst part was, it tried pulling its paw back, and the claw was stuck under my skin, and ended up ripping through everything, because it just pulled and pulled until my skin ripped, instead of holding still so I could slide it back out through the puncture. Ouch! So I've been through worse. My question I guess, is more or less if I should continue to pick her up. I know I'm going to get bit at that point, which is fine. But I want her to know that I'm not going to hurt her, and that I'm okay. So, if she gets defensive, should I follow through, allow her to bite me, and give her some time to relax and realize I'm okay?

On the other side of this, I'm wondering if it's better for her to back away at that point. I also don't want her to think the "S" pose is effective, because then she'll just do it more often. In other words, I don't want her to think that it scares me.

Thanks again for all the advice!

~ Liz

[franks]

Hey man, I know absolutely nothing that has not been taught to me by an experienced keeper, or through trial and error by my snakes.

My comment to you was encouraging you to raise your temps. I said the words "implement a heat source" because the temps that you listed are pretty close to ambient temps. What you listed as a hot side I keep as my ambient (and cool side) temps more or less. In the most basic of enclosures only two temperatures matter- your ambient (which is going to be your cool side as well) and your hot spot. The point is to allow your snake to warm himself up past the ambient temps whenever he wants. This is why it is important to either have it constantly available, or to have it available at the very least for a light cycle. (12 hrs). There are reasons other than digestion that your snake will seek heat. In more complex setups you can offer multiple temperature gradients. I believe this increases the activity of most snakes. Any set up where I incorporated different t heat gradients my snakes used most of them throughout the day. Even "lazy" ball pythons would come out mid day to change hides.

Sorry- that was a very long winded way of simply saying that your temps are too low and you should offer more heat.

[nazanova]

Originally Posted by franks

Hey man, I know absolutely nothing that has not been taught to me by an experienced keeper, or through trial and error by my snakes.

My comment to you was encouraging you to raise your temps. I said the words "implement a heat source" because the temps that you listed are pretty close to ambient temps. What you listed as a hot side I keep as my ambient (and cool side) temps more or less. In the most basic of enclosures only two temperatures matter- your ambient (which is going to be your cool side as well) and your hot spot. The point is to allow your snake to warm himself up past the ambient temps whenever he wants. This is why it is important to either have it constantly available, or to have it available at the very least for a light cycle. (12 hrs). There are reasons other than digestion that your snake will seek heat. In more complex setups you can offer multiple temperature gradients. I believe this increases the activity of most snakes. Any set up where I incorporated different t heat gradients my snakes used most of them throughout the day. Even "lazy" ball pythons would come out mid day to change hides.

Sorry- that was a very long winded way of simply saying that your temps are too low and you should offer more heat.

Ohhhhhhhhh ok I get you now lol. Sorry if I came off defensive I was genuinely confused haha but ok I'll make my temps higher on the thermostat.

[LRRoberts0122]

Originally Posted by LRRoberts0122

Alright. I don't have a thermostat for the heat lamp but I'll monitor it very carefully. Yikes, humidity is up to 80%! I hope she'll be okay with just the heat lamp. I'll leave it on while I'm at class today to see if it affects the humidity much.

And of course, here comes the obvious question about "biting" ~ She's a year old, and was with a breeder, so I doubt she's very accustomed to being handled. I'm not sure how this is going to go. I was going to let her be for the first 3 - 4 days, as I want to feed her on Sunday, since I know I'll always be available on Sundays. Get her on a guaranteed regimen. Now, if I try to handle her a bit, and she gives me the "S" pose and starts rattling, my best guess is that she's scared, and isn't very trusting of me yet.

I'm a bit nervous about being bit, as I've never been bitten by a snake before, but I'm not worried. I know it won't hurt, and I've got a cat and a dog that have done some damage before. For example, bath time with the cat after it messed itself during a moving trip... Got it's claw so far up my skin, it was scratching against muscle or nerve, and was causing my arm to spasm, lol. The worst part was, it tried pulling its paw back, and the claw was stuck under my skin, and ended up ripping through everything, because it just pulled and pulled until my skin ripped, instead of holding still so I could slide it back out through the puncture. Ouch! So I've been through worse. My question I guess, is more or less if I should continue to pick her up. I know I'm going to get bit at that point, which is fine. But I want her to know that I'm not going to hurt her, and that I'm okay. So, if she gets defensive, should I follow through, allow her to bite me, and give her some time to relax and realize I'm okay?

On the other side of this, I'm wondering if it's better for her to back away at that point. I also don't want her to think the "S" pose is effective, because then she'll just do it more often. In other words, I don't want her to think that it scares me.

Thanks again for all the advice!

~ Liz

Just wanted to bump this and bring it up so it doesn't get overlooked. ^^ Thank you! Also, as an added update, I went home during lunch after leaving my heat lamp over the cage. The humidity with the heat lamp has dropped to 70%, but that still is really high. I'm not sure what else to do. It's a 75 watt bulb, and the wire on top of the cage is pretty warm to the touch. I think she'd be fine, as it's not overly hot. But I'm really worried about getting a higher wattage bulb as I know those can seriously injure your animals. Does anyone else having any other ideas on what I can do? She'll be here tomorrow. 12 hours to go! I'm SO EXCITED!

[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!

[franks]

Frozen thawed is easier and much safer for the snake- I would stick with F/T and not feed live.

[SnoopySnake]

Originally Posted by franks

Frozen thawed is easier and much safer for the snake- I would stick with F/T and not feed live.

I would agree with Franks.^

[LRRoberts0122]

Alright, well thank you very much for the feedback.