Corn snake help

My son bought himself a corn snake today. We got a heat pad but the guy at the pet store said use a heat lamp. My first question is which should I use? My second question is if I need one. I read that the temp should be 21 degess Celsius to 29 degrees Celsius. Summer where I am is very hot, my house can get into the mid 30's. I'm wondering if giving him a heat source while it is so hot out would make him to hot. The thermometer in his cage already says 25 degess and he's only been here for an hour.

I wouldn't use heat mats, good lightning is enough. Be careful with the heat lamp. The snake should not be able to reach it. If they could lay on the lamps or creep inside a basking cage, they'll really "roast" themselves and get ugly, hurting burns (like this Boa). If temperatures in your house (and inside the terrarium of cause) got to 30 or more degrees, you'll not need an additional heat source. That's already enough for the snake.

ok thank you

I always use heat mats. Use a correct size for your enclosure, and make sure you have two temperature zones. I usually use 2 hides for my snakes, one in the cool side of the tank and one on the warm side. I use news paper for a substrate and i have a branch as my male likes to climb. My female prefers to stay on the ground. The beauty of the tank heating pad is that they do not get hot enough to burn your pet, unless they are malfunctioning. Even then, they usually fail turned off. I have never seen one fail turned on. Most burns come from lights being in the tank were the snake can wrap around it. There is a school of thought that hot rocks are good, And while I have never seen a hot rock go bad turned on either, I have bought into the urban legends and have opted not used them. Get an under tank heater and thermostat and you will be good to go. BTW, I have been keeping corn snake for 22 years. I don't breed them, I just keep them as pets. They are easy to care for and for the most part they are very gentle snakes.

Depending on the size of the cage determines what bulb I would recommend you. Most corn snakes do fine in a 20 long though. With that I would use a jungle floor mix or even cypress mulch with some Sphagnum moss mixed in. I don't like using aspen just because its very dusty and can sometimes cause problems for snakes. With the heat pad and heat lamp issue I would choose heat lamp everytime. If your snake decides to dig and bury and lay right on the glass where the pad is opposed to the substrate he could singe his belly and start causing problems. I would put a heat lamp on one side with a hide box/rock that way he has varied temperatures for a hotter side. One that is direct heat which they love and one with some shade but still a little warm. The other side put your water bowl. Big enough that he can soak in it if he wants. This side will also give him another option for a cooler side if he gets too hot. Even though it may get hot there I would still highly suggest a heat source. If you're concerned about the heat for him then just get a 60-75 Watt bulb and then a casket that has an adjustable knob that you can control the intensity of the bulb. Hope this helps out and if you have anymore questions or need advice just PM me.

daveo said:

I always use heat mats. Use a correct size for your enclosure, and make sure you have two temperature zones. I usually use 2 hides for my snakes, one in the cool side of the tank and one on the warm side. I use news paper for a substrate and i have a branch as my male likes to climb. My female prefers to stay on the ground. The beauty of the tank heating pad is that they do not get hot enough to burn your pet, unless they are malfunctioning. Even then, they usually fail turned off. I have never seen one fail turned on. Most burns come from lights being in the tank were the snake can wrap around it. There is a school of thought that hot rocks are good, And while I have never seen a hot rock go bad turned on either, I have bought into the urban legends and have opted not used them. Get an under tank heater and thermostat and you will be good to go. BTW, I have been keeping corn snake for 22 years. I don't breed them, I just keep them as pets. They are easy to care for and for the most part they are very gentle snakes.

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I find that a lot of what i heard about the corn snake is untrue. I was told not to get one for my son cause they are so active and won't sit with him. He bought just over a week ago and from the day her got her she wraps around his hand and sits with him. She also likes to tickle his nose with her tongue. He is also really good with her, at 5 yrs old i thought id have to spend more time teaching him to handle her but he does really good. They seem to have bonded almost instantly.

Corn snakes are very gentle and docile snakes. They aren't so much fast as they are jerky which could freak some people out if they are not use to snakes. They will just make fast movements to look around as opposed to like a ball python who would slowly move. Milk snakes are pretty fast though. Those are ones that are hard to keep still.