| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| bigiron |
Posted - 29/08/2011 : 09:52:35
Hi All,
We get our new Corn Snake in 2 weeks and am a little worried about the setup which is being provided.
"Fang" is a Butter Motley Corn Snake - about 3 years old approximately 90cm long.
The set up provided is a (Approximately 60x45x45cm) Exo Terra Vivarium with a Bark substrate, small hide and water basin. The concern I have is the heat, currently provided buy a lamp - (not sure if it is Thermostat controlled) I am concerned that A: this is unguarded and therefore if Fang climbs he could get burned. B: Also concerned that I was advised that this should be left on 24hrs which concerns me that the day/night routine will effect Fang ?
I can decline the offer for the Vivarium and buy else where. Thought of getting the Exo Terra vivarium with a light unit to light the unit during the day. Then use a heat mat for the temperature control with a thermostat ?
Am I doing the right thing, the current setup from the store is what I am being given it's only after I left the store that I questioned what I had been told about the vivarium.
I would appreciate any help anyone can give !!!
Thanks |
| 4 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| Sta~ple |
Posted - 29/08/2011 : 13:46:35
You just pop the hat mat inside, you may need to undo the plug and thread the cable through a hole then reattach.
You can use apsen or bark, so long as the bark is dry. People prefer aspen as it is easier for snakes to burrow and often cheaper.
You do not need a heatmat and a heat light, this can mess up the tempreture! Either is fine. The snake will get it's whole day and night routine so long as long as you open your curtains/blinds, no articfial light is needed. When I had heat lights they didn't mind them being on all the time, tehy knew day from night althugh my lights were red/blue or green! They just know when it's day and night by the rest of the light in the house if that makes sense. If you mean the light as being a light and none heat emmiting, it doesn't matter where you place it.
I would refuse the offer, exo terras are small and expenive, great for other species, not the greatest for cornsnakes! If you are worried about the massive sapce, you can always buy a RUB and keep him in that until he's ready for a bigger home. That wa when he gets a bigger home, you have a spare container to put him in for feeding, cleaning and moving/going to the vets, incase the unfortunate happens.
I have also heard some iffy things about exo teras and heatbulbs and melting. I don't know what items it was but it might be worth some research into this. |
| bigiron |
Posted - 29/08/2011 : 12:24:40
Hi KD thanks for the reply.
Really not sure what to do - Fang is about 80cm long right now and I am worried that in a bigger Viv he may be a little lost.
With the wooden Viv how does the heat mat fit inside ? and am I fine using the aspen or bark ? I assume I would place the light on the same side as the heat mat to simulate sunshine ?
I was under the impression that the snake need to have a Day / Night routine and so am a little confused that this has the light providing the heat ?
quote:
Originally posted by kdlang
Hi and welcome to the forum. Congrats on getting your snake, butter motleys are absolutely gorgeous, although I am biased as I have 2.
You are right to be concerned about the set-up. The bulb would definitely need a guard and a thermostat to make sure it doesnt get too hot. You could use a regular energy saving light bulb for light and a heatmat for heat if you still want to get the set-up from the store. To be honest, since you have a couple of weeks until you get your snake, you could probably pick up a vivarium and the equipment you want from online that will be cheaper than the store and you can set it up to what you want. I would also think about going straight for a 3ft viv as the one you are looking at would probably need to be upgraded within a year anyway.
Hope that helps and doesn't confuse you more
|
| kdlang |
Posted - 29/08/2011 : 10:12:58
Hi and welcome to the forum. Congrats on getting your snake, butter motleys are absolutely gorgeous, although I am biased as I have 2.
You are right to be concerned about the set-up. The bulb would definitely need a guard and a thermostat to make sure it doesnt get too hot. You could use a regular energy saving light bulb for light and a heatmat for heat if you still want to get the set-up from the store. To be honest, since you have a couple of weeks until you get your snake, you could probably pick up a vivarium and the equipment you want from online that will be cheaper than the store and you can set it up to what you want. I would also think about going straight for a 3ft viv as the one you are looking at would probably need to be upgraded within a year anyway.
Hope that helps and doesn't confuse you more |
| mkmattyk |
Posted - 29/08/2011 : 10:12:33
with that setup you need at least 2 hides, one for the warm side and one for the cold side, whatever you've got to warm it up it needs to have a mini-stat to control the temp, and a thermometer preferrably a digital one, as for the viv size as it grow it will need a bigger viv a 3ft wooden viv should be ok for the rest of its life, so a 60cm viv will do but if he grows any more youll need to get a bigger viv sooner rather than later |
|
|
