First Corn Snake

CharlieSlithers · 02-12-17, 08:28 AM

New to the site, and to the "hobby". Hoping to learn more and more every day.

I've been doing some reading for my first corn snake... or any snake, for that matter. Just have a couple questions that I can't seem to find the answer to.

First... I've been reading "20 gallon tank" is an appropriate size for a corn snake. But, while I have the ability to get larger (maybe a 55 gallon), I read one place that said you should stick to a 20 gallon and not larger, cause too large will stress the snake out. So... does it matter? Am I ok if I just keep the corn in a 20?

Second... where I plan on putting the tank is in a room where my 13-year-old has his drum set, and tends to practice often... few times a week. You think that's ok for the snake, or will that stress out the poor fella?

Cyclops · 02-13-17, 09:21 AM

20 gallon size is not appropriate for a corn snake. they get 4-5 feet long and they need at least a 30 gallon tank. You can keep one in a 55 gallon and it will do fine. As for keeping it in the room with the drums, I do not know. but I have a fish tank in my living room with drums and they do not seem to care.

Skipper7 · 02-13-17, 09:33 AM

I, too, am new to the hobby. Form what I've read, corn snakes arent always as "lazy" as people make them out to be. One lady I talked to said she has hers in a 40gal and that the snake would gladly use a larger tank if she had one.

TRD · 02-13-17, 09:44 AM

Baby snakes are naturally afraid of large spaces. Sub-adults/adults don't really seem to care that much and prefer room to move about. When I had a baby snake and put it in a large space I would not see the snake ever, giving it a confined space build a lot more confidence in her.

akane · 02-13-17, 04:47 PM

You need to really have a lot of hiding places for a large cage relative to the size of snake and most run systems they clean and sterilize regularly so it becomes a lot of work and the young snakes often pick one area to stay in leaving you to maintain a bunch of mostly unused tank. My new baby corn in a 10gallon I haven't gotten around to doing much with spends 90% of his time under the paper under the rock cave. It's more commonly suggested to start small so they don't have big open spaces that they won't use anyway. At 3-4' they can make use of a 40 or 55gallon but I'd pay attention to activity level to see if it's worth it unless you have the tank, the space, and it's convenient to just use that. My rosy boa is 3' and thicker than most corn snakes but doesn't use a 20gallon long very efficiently. Rosy boa are one of the slowest moving snakes and very lazy so larger is mostly pointless. All she does is go from cramming between the stone house and the glass on the warm side or the cool side. 55 tanks are so narrow for the increase in size that if I'm not using something I have on hand I prefer 40gallon breeder tanks and they are $15 cheaper new during a $1/g petco sale anyway.

Usually I do bioactive which uses active soil and insects for breaking down waste and cleaning most of the tank so I just do the tons of hiding places and put most straight in the tank I want them to be in as adults. Then just expand the size of the hiding places and remove some as they grow. The corn snake is probably going in a 46gallon bow that someone replaced the back glass and it can't hold water so I picked it up cheap.

**EL Ziggy** · 02-13-17, 09:28 PM

Welcome and best wishes Charlie. I think a 20g tank might be just a tad small for an adult corn. If you're definitely going to use a tank I'd go with a 40g breeder. Some keepers like to start their hatchlings in smaller enclosures and upgrade them as the snake grows. I started all my colubrids in their adult enclosures. As long as they have lots of hides and floor covering most will be just fine. I don't think I'd keep my snake in the drummers room. They don't have external ears but I'm not sure if the vibrations would stress them out.

CharlieSlithers · 02-19-17, 11:17 PM

Picked up the 20 long... going to use that for now. As the snake grows, I will probably move to either a 40 breeder or, if I can convince the wife, an AP T8. My real problem now is, not sure yet if I definitely want to start with a corn, or go bp. I think I am now more geared to bp.