| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| Zincubus |
Posted - 28/07/2010 : 22:16:20
Hey guys , just got my first corn snake !!
It's only about 9" or 10" long and is black/grey .
I beautiful anerythristic . he's already used to handling which is a bonus .
My only question , at this stage is , I bought 2 of those twisty, dark brown vines for £19.99 but just wondering if I should have bought the special lamp unit that fixes on top of the viv for £30 instead ??
Are the vines of any interest or use to the litle snake at this age ??
Would it better to take them back and get a lamp instead and then get vines in a few months or so , if at all ??
I don't really like the look of them to be honest but if snakey will enjoy climbing around them I will keep them .
Just seems like I made a bad choice :( |
| 12 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| eeji |
Posted - 29/07/2010 : 21:53:27
your existing mat will plug straight into your stat - one thing though, totally ignore any temperature readings if its an analogue stat, they are usually wrong. Always take the readings from the digital thermometer. |
| Zincubus |
Posted - 29/07/2010 : 20:58:11
Thanks guys , I will be getting a two reading thermostat on my next trip to the shop !!
Will I have to buy a new heat mat or will the existing one connect to the new thermostat ?? |
| LittleMick |
Posted - 29/07/2010 : 19:38:19
I wouldn't exactly make a sculpture out of those vines but the animals do love 'em.
My snakey has yet to test his though, maybe at the end of August.
Please please take heed of the above advice with regards to your heat mat, I havetied your methos with the back of th ehand thing and it makes no difference, for reasons stated above. With regards to your themostat, im myopinion I would go for the habistst, I have 3 brands and this one seems the most accurate AND it is the only one out of the 3 that has both a power light AND a heat light.
The analogue thermometers are poop, you can't get it to read from eaxctly the same spot as the stat probe, so invest in the digital one, preferably 2, one for the warm end and one for the cool end, and laggy band the thermom probe to the stat probe at the warm end on top of the heat mat.
They only say the Exo Terra heat mats are for glass becaue Exo Terra make them and most of their terrariums are glass or plastic, but you can put them in wooden vivs as well.
To be honest as well, although the size of that terrarium is ok for an immediate housing, you will soon find he will out grow it. Just to give you an idea of growth rate, my snake was about 13" when I bought him last November, he is now 27.9". My setup is actually the setup in the link DB gave you above. Another 3" and he will be going in his new bigger home. So he grew approx 14" in 7-8 months. Just confirm, your set up is the 30 x 30 x 45cm glass terrarium, so your snake should be in ther until it is 24" long. If you don't already know a good size guide for your snakes home as it grows is the length + width/depth of the enclosure should equal the length of the snake. That's why I got the exo terra faunarium setup, really cheap and good for a few months before upgrading.
Hope this helps |
| eeji |
Posted - 29/07/2010 : 18:03:57
quote:
Originally posted by Zincubus
No chance of it cracking the glass is only just warmed up .I can barely tell the difference between the temp on the mat and the temp at the back of the tank .
yes there is, and theres every chance of burning your snake or causing it neurological damage. A thermostat is absolutely essential to keep the correct temperatures.
Putting your hand on the mat and thinking 'meh that will do' is useless because your body temperature is higher than the corn needs anyway so even if it feels ok it can still be too warm for it.
I may get shot by the mods for linking to another forum, but please have a read of this, then scroll down to see what can happen when using unregulated heat sources: http://iansvivarium.com/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=865 |
| Zincubus |
Posted - 29/07/2010 : 17:02:03
quote:
Originally posted by HannahB
you really should get a thermostat for it - especially with the glass viv - if it gets too hot the glass can crack and snakey could escape or get some nasty injuries which no one wants 
if you get loads of toilet roll tubes and other cardboard boxes and pack it out then your little guy should love his new home
Thanks
No chance of it cracking the glass is only just warmed up .I can barely tell the difference between the temp on the mat and the temp at the back of the tank . |
| Zincubus |
Posted - 29/07/2010 : 17:00:32
I've only got one of those round stick on thermometers , it's three inches off the bottom of hte tank , near the back in the cold area , the pad is at the front corner of the tank. |
| Nazzle |
Posted - 29/07/2010 : 12:14:50
IS the digital temp reading in the warm end or the cool end? I don't really do F, but I think that's only a shade over 20 degrees? Good for the cool side but could do with being warmer in the warm end. Where have you placed your thermometer probe? Mine are elastic banded to the stat probes then weighed down directly over the centre of the heat mat. Under viv heat mats are meant to warm the substrate not the ambient temperature, so it's the temperature on the floor you're after.
I've got http://www.888reptiles.co.uk/productdetails.php?ProductID=1830&ProductGroupID=931 and http://www.888reptiles.co.uk/productdetails.php?ProductID=1832&ProductGroupID=932, far prefer the second, definately worth the extra pennies, if you shop around you should be able to get them cheaper too. In my limited experience you need to get your temps spot on now so you don't end up having a mare with feeding/regurge. |
| HannahB |
Posted - 29/07/2010 : 11:52:29
you really should get a thermostat for it - especially with the glass viv - if it gets too hot the glass can crack and snakey could escape or get some nasty injuries which no one wants
if you get loads of toilet roll tubes and other cardboard boxes and pack it out then your little guy should love his new home |
| Zincubus |
Posted - 29/07/2010 : 00:09:51
It came as a starter kit for a bigger snake but I thought it would save me buying another one in six months or so .
Its a Exo Terra set up - 12 by 12 and 18 inches high.
The little snake is about 8 inches and fairly slim as you probably realise.
THe shop said it was eating 2 pinkies , once a week . |
| Zincubus |
Posted - 29/07/2010 : 00:04:36
Its a Exo Terra Heat Wave Rainforest heat pad . Just for glass vivariums I understand. It sticks on the outside of the tank on the base . It's covered with an inch of beech chip substrate .
Just put my hand through the substrate onto the bottom of the tank over the pad and it was just nice and warm ,NOT hot ,at all ,so no chance of burning .
Just got a digital type thermostat reeading 70 degrees . |
| DannyBrown91 |
Posted - 28/07/2010 : 22:19:52
All mine have got the vines and seem to enjoy them. What is your set up like? Viv size, temperatures all the good stuff.
Edit: i just seen your second reply, you need a thermostat to control the heatmat, and with the heatmat you won't need a light.
Are you monitoring the temperatures with a digi thermometer? My advice would be to turn off the heatmat untill you have bought and installed a thermostat otherwise they can get dangerously hot and may burn your snake.
Have a little look through this thread,it shows you how to set up a hatchling corn snake http://www.thecornsnake.co.uk/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=9878 |
| Zincubus |
Posted - 28/07/2010 : 22:19:39
Also I couldn't see any way of adjusting the heat mat so presuambly it's just a preset temp and snakey decides wether stay in the warmer bit of the cooler section .
Correct ?? |
