Corn snakes are usually found in the hot and humid regions of the wild area. Their natural cycle of life will allow them to cherish the heated and sunny weather. Though they are most active during the nighttime, they do not keep well in the dry or cold regions. So if you are keeping them as pets in your house, you must maintain the humidity level as well as the adequate temperature for their better health and longevity.
The natural daylight is sufficient for them but you cannot depend upon that only. Also, not everyone would like to keep their corn snake enclosure in the outer area where there will be heat and light. The scorching heat throughout the day is also not necessary for the corn snakes as they stay mostly in the burrows or holes to stay cool.
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Why the corn snakes require artificial temperature and humidity?
Corn snakes stay healthy when they get 12 hours of daylight in the whole day. This specific lighting can be arranged with artificial lighting only. The same rule applies to the humidity and temperature level.
As they are being kept as pets in some artificial environment that is not their place of origin, all the criteria should be made artificially sufficient for their healthy living. So you need to arrange for the source of temperature and humidity installed artificially in the terrarium.
Do corn snakes need UVB rays in their shelter?
UVB rays are part of natural sunlight and snakes do get benefitted from the spectrum of such rays. Though it was the popular belief that the snakes do not need UV light and they can stay healthy for a long time in the absence of it, now the researchers say that UV rays should be present for a certain time period of a day to keep the snakes’ health better.
This is not a part of their survival requirements, but the UV rays make them grow to be healthy and happy creatures. Especially when they are in captivity, there should be the source of UV rays and that should be adequately placed.
Can you keep more than one corn snake in the same cage?
Yes, it is possible to keep more than one snake in the same cage, just do not offer them food at the same time or in the same cage. At the time of feeding, separate them and offer them food in different places. Unless the dominant one will keep eating and the docile one will starve.
How much humidity is required in the shelters of corn snakes?
According to the pet owners and vets, the cage of a corn snake should have 40 to 50 percent of humidity. Due to the lack of humidity, the skin of corn snakes can get dried up or scaly which is not a healthy sign anyway.
But the owners also need to remember that, if the humidity level is too high, then also it can be suffocating for the snakes. In that case, there should be some ventilation points through which the humidity can be released and the level can be balanced.
What happens when the corn snakes are devoid of necessary heat?
There are certain kinds of illnesses that are faced by the corn snakes when the heat source in their shelter is not working properly. They suffer from the problem of breeding and mating. Their body does not produce the necessary hormones in absence of the adequate heat which hampers their breeding process.
How long can a corn snake survive without heat?
Heat is an important element in the life of a corn snake. They can survive maximum of two to three weeks without proper heat. So you need to be very specific about the heating source in their shelter and keep measuring it with the help of a good quality thermometer.
What should be the ideal temperature of the cage of a corn snake?
Reptiles like corn snakes are ectothermic. They have cold blood and they get the necessary heat for their physiological activities from the environment. Thus the source of heat should be present at the shelter from where they get this amount of heat.
Difference of temperature in various areas of the shelter:
There should be a proper heating gradient with different levels of temperatures in the shelter of corn snakes. The different areas of the cage provide the chance to move into the comfortable heat zone for the snake within the shelter.
The basking area of the shelter of corn snake should have the highest amount of temperature. So you need to arrange for 32 degree Celsius temperature at that point. This place is mostly loved by the corn snakes in the daytime. They usually spend a large amount of time resting on a basking stone under the heat source, which is usually placed directly at the top of the basking area.
The cool zone or the hideouts of the shelter should have the lowest temperature. It should not be more than 24 degrees Celsius.
The air of the shelter should be heated up to 27 degrees Celsius, which is enough to provide the snake adequate heat all the time. You can put the heating system off at nighttime as the corn snakes do not need much heat during that time.
Why a thermometer is needed in the shelter of corn snakes?
Without a good quality thermometer installed in the cage of the corn snake, you will not be able to gauge the amount of heat inside. You can put some of the most useful and efficient heating sources like ceramic heaters or bulbs inside the cage, but you cannot tell if the source is working properly unless you check the temperature by the thermometer.
In case the heating source is not working properly, you have to check the condition of the corn snake to know if anything is going wrong. This is not an ideal option as the deteriorated health of the corn snake is not much help and it will not worth the value of risk. So it is better to install a thermometer inside the shelter and be aware of the malfunctioning of the heating source if there is any.
Importance of night lamp for the corn snake shelter:
Some snake owners put the colored bulbs as the source of dimmed light in the cages of the corn snakes. However, this is not mandatory. You can opt-out as the corn snakes do not need light to see in the night. Most of the owners do that to maintain the day and night cycle, but the snakes do take rest when they feel tired and they follow their biological clock for that matter.
Why the corn snakes need humidity in their hideouts?
The need for humidity depends upon the material and type of habitat that you have arranged for the corn snake. Most of the users prefer to keep their corn snake in the glass hides which is an easily available option. In the case of such shelters, you should provide some humid or wet moss in the hideouts. This will keep the humidity level in check and also the snake will be having a healthier atmosphere.
What are the ways to provide humidity in the cage of a corn snake?
There are several ways to provide a good amount of humidity to the cage of a corn snake. From providing a good quality substrate to using a humidifier, the owners use various ways to make up for the natural humidity level in the artificial shelters.
Humidity retaining substrate:
There are various options for substrates that are dry in nature and they can very well retain the humidity in the cages of the corn snake. The ones like aspen and lignocel will be good in absorbing the moisture and do a good job on humidity retention.
Leaf litter:
When you want to provide something natural and without any chance of toxicity you can provide a thick layer of leaf litter to the cage floor of the corn snake. The leaf litter will be working as a nice burrowing sheet. The snake will stay happy as it will find homeliness in the layer of the leaves. Humidity retention will be done automatically by the layer of these leaves as well.
Frequent misting:
There are various methods of misting that can be used by the corn snake owners. If you do not use any artificial or mechanical gadget then simply you can make the items inside the terrarium wet, once or twice a day. The wetness will be added to the humidity level and thus it will make the environment humid.
Installing a fogger cum humidifier:
A lot of manufacturers sell fogger or humidifiers that are bought by pet owners. Most of the reptile owners get these foggers to install on the shelter of their pets. This is a common practice nowadays. The mechanism is pretty easy and anyone can operate them without much hassle.
Sometimes these humidifiers do not need to be operated manually; rather they come with an automatic on-off system. A timer is provided with this machine and you can fix the number of times you need to be active. Sometimes these ones also spray medicines that keep the growth of bacteria at a bay.
Adding humid hide:
This is a somehow unconventional yet useful idea of providing humidity to the cage of the corn snake. You can add a piece of wet sphagnum moss which, with time, will evaporate the water and keep the air inside the terrarium moist. Also, you can use a hide box with some moist moss in and around it.
Why do you need to use a hygrometer in the corn snake shelter?
Like the heat, an adequate level of humidity should also be maintained inside the corn snake shelter. Your snake will not be healthy if the humidity level increases or decreases than its usual level. So you need to arrange for the artificial humidification but along with that, you need to measure the amount of humidity present in the terrarium.
That is the need for a hygrometer. Many corn snake owners do not use this piece of the instrument but little do they know that the wrong amount of humidity is as harmful to their pets as lack of nutrition or heat. So we suggest installing a hygrometer inside the terrarium to measure the level of humidity. Not only that, you need to check it regularly, to know, if you need to increase the level of the humidifier or lessen it.
Do all the corn snake owners need to install a humidifier?
Keeping the correct humidity inside the terrarium is a mandatory criterion when you are keeping a pet like a corn snake. But only the people who live in the dry region need to attach a humidifier inside the terrarium to suffice the need for moisture in the interior.
When it comes to moderately humid areas, you can simply add a bowl of water inside the terrarium which will work both ways. Your pet corn snake can drink from the bowl, as well as the water evaporated from the bowl will keep the moisture content high inside the terrarium.
Where should you place the bowl of water into the terrarium?
There are certain rules and tricks which are not known to first-time snake owners. To help them we can suggest that, the bowl of clean and fresh water should be kept at the coolest corner of the terrarium. If you keep that bowl near the basking area, the heat emitted from the lamp will evaporate the water sooner than required. Also, it will not add a good amount of mist to the atmosphere.
As this bowl will act as the drinking bowl, you must keep the water changing daily. Though snakes do not have the habit of drinking from any bowl in general, you can keep it in case, it feels hot and tries to sip from the bowl.
Conclusion:
The name of this snake has been derived from the practice of European settlers, who first found this species around their corn cribs. They assumed these snakes to be devouring their corn stacks but later it was found that they are most fond of rodents. Corn snakes are an exotic variety of reptile which are non-venomous and quite a favorite pet for reptile lovers. This terrestrial species of snakes are mostly found in the US and Mexico.
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