Housing corn snakes
Housing corn snakes
Corn snakes are easily pleased when it comes to housing; this doesn’t mean you should cut corners however.
Housing for corn snakes can be provided in many forms, from plastic storage tubs to elaborate plastic mould vivariums. For hatchlings I like to use plastic faunariums (available from any good pet store, or online) whereas for adults you can’t beat a well built wooden vivarium (a guide to building one can be found on the DIY section of this website).
The size of the vivarium should be matched to the size of the corn snake. Hatchlings and juveniles will be happiest in a smaller vivarium (18x12x12inches) whereas larger corn snakes (large juveniles to adults) should be kept in something more like 30x15x15in. Adults shouldn’t be kept in anything less than 36x18x18in. You need to gradually increase the size of the vivarium as corn snakes are especially prone to becoming agrophobic.
For substrate there are a number of options. The safest and cheapest is newspaper or kitchen roll. There is no risk of impaction (gut blockage from substrate being ingested, more on that later) when using news paper or kitchen roll. The only problem with this is it doesn’t look very natural (then again, if you’ve got bright orange plant pot saucers as hides, what’s the problem?).
If you are looking for a more natural substrate then you can use aspen shavings or bark chips. If using bark chips avoid cedar or anything with a strong piney smell. The resins that give this smell are supposedly dangerous for snakes so they are best avoided.
If you choose to use anything other than newspaper/kitchen roll for your substrate it is essential that you feed your snake away from its substrate. If you do feed on top of the substrate there is a risk that the snake will ingest some of it and become impacted. If you choose to use natural substrate then you should get a plastic DIY storage tub to feed your snake in, they are very useful and almost like they were built for that job.
Decor is very important, yet very simple. So long as you get it right you shouldn’t have any problems. You need to provide a hide in both the warm end and the cool end of the vivarium (more about warm ends and cool ends in the heating section). Your corn snake will hide in whichever hide it chooses dependant on how warm it wants to be. The only other piece of décor which is required is a water bowl. It should be large enough for the corn snake to soak it in (it is quite rare for corn snakes to soak in their water bowls but they have been know to do it from time to time, especially around shedding). Those bits of décor are the essentials, if you wish you can add climbing structures for your corn snake to climb on (I have found they particularly like cork bark leant against the side or mopani wood to climb around).
Those are the basics to housing your corn snake covered. When adding decor of your choice use common sense. Avoid things with a particularly potent smell, avoid sharp edges, things which may be harboring parasites, etc.
Cleaning your corn snake
Keeping your corn snakes vivarium clean is essential if you want a healthy snake, luckily it is very easy.
All you need to do is spot check for faecal matter (poo) once a week (a corn snake will poo as often as you feed it so it will it will poo once a week). You should remove the faecal matter as soon as you find it, as well as the surrounding substrate which should be replaced. You should clean any décor which the matter is on in hot water (no soap unless its special reptile safe stuff).
You only need to do a complete vivarium clean once a month if you are stringent with you “poo collecting”. To do this, remove all of the décor and wash it in hot water. You can use special reptile disinfectants if you wish. You should remove all of the substrate and replace it with fresh substrate. You can wipe down the sides of the vivarium too if you wish. If you want to make the glass sparkle you can use water with a bit of vinegar in it, it will sparkle and the vinegar will act as a mild bacteria killer.
Next page (heating and humidity requirements)
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