Heating corn snakes
Heating corn snakes
Corn snakes, like all reptiles are cold blooded. They use outside temperatures to control their own temperature, this means they need to be heated. Corn snakes don’t just have a set temperature which they are fine at, it varies with a number of factors (in particular they seem to prefer warmer temperatures while digesting). This means to successfully keep a corn snake (or any reptile for that matter) you must provide a temperature gradient so the snake can thermoregulate. Thermoregulation is exactly what it sounds like, the regulation of body temperatures. Luckily providing a temperature gradient is a lot easier than it sounds. All you need to do is provide the heat source in one end of the vivarium, that way the end with the heater becomes the warm end and the opposite end becomes the cool end.
My personal favorite heating method for corn snakes is the heat mat. They are cheap, long lasting and quite easy to control. To safely use a heat mat you need a thermostat. You cannot safely run a heat mat (or any other heat source for that matter) without a thermostat. Some books will tell you that a thermostat is not essential, it would be worth baring in mind that a lot of the authors are from America where the climate means external heat sources are rarely needed for corn snakes (remember, most of the corn snake strains in captivity would have originated from America). You just need a cheap on/off thermostat (about £22-30), they are long lasting and you probably won’t need a new one for a while (years). You need to place the heat mat underneath the warm end of the vivarium. It should cover no more than half of the floor space. In winter months you may need to supplement the heat with a bulb. I like to use blue bulbs as snakes supposedly can’t see blue light wavelengths very well. The light should be guarded (you can pick up mesh light guards from most good reptile stores) and be on a separate thermostat. Lights need dimming thermostats which tend to be more expensive (£40-55) but they are equally essential.
Corn snakes need the following temperatures:
Warm end: 86-88f (30-31c)
Cool end: 76-78f (24.5-25.5c)
I would like to add that I generally just aim to keep the warm end temperatures correct (86-88) and leave the cool end temperatures at room temperature. Its difficult to go below and you will often find yourself tearing your hair out trying to go a few degrees higher.
Achieving those temperatures is quite easy. Just position your heat mat under the cool end and put the thermostat probe where the snake will come into contact with it, lying on top of the substrate. Then use a thermometer to play about with the dial on the thermostat until you get 86-88f. The dials on thermostats are often slightly inaccurate so you will need a thermometer in there to get accurate temperature readings. You generally don’t need to worry about the cool end temperatures providing the warm end is warm enough. If you can’t achieve high warm enough temperatures in the warm end you should supplement them with a light as aforementioned.
Humidity
Corn snake humidity requirements
Corn snakes don’t have any special humidity requirements. They are generally quite happy at room humidity (in the UK that’s 40%). When they are shedding their skin it is worth increasing the humidity slightly to help them shed. To do this just mist lightly every other day from when they go milky/dull until they shed. Make sure you have adequate ventilation so condensation doesn’t build up.
-