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New snake help

T

Techsan17

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Hey guys,

I got a new corn snake about 5 days ago. I fed him three days later because he hadn’t eaten recently and he went into one of his hides and never really moved or came out for 2 days. I felt him after 2 days and he was cool to the touch and never really moved. Once I set him down he went into the corner and back into his hide. Should I be concerned or is this normal after eating and adjusting to a new place?

The hot end of the tank is at 81 degrees which I know is a bit cool. I’m trying to get my UTH set up but currently have an incandescent bulb set up. Once I set up the UTH should I stop using the lamp? Should I use a uvb bulb? Will these changes make him a bit more active?

Sorry for all the questions, I’m just a nervous wreck This first go around
 
I'm sure that one of the cornsnake people will be better able to advise you on temps, but as general snake advice, yes they often go inactive for a few days while they digest a meal, and get more active once hungry again.

Look forward to a nice smelly poop in a few more days....:ack2: Hope this helps a bit with the (understandable) nerves!
 
Do you have a thermostat to regulate your UTH? Unregulated they can overheat and burn a snake.
 
Techsan17 said:
Hey guys,

I got a new corn snake about 5 days ago. I fed him three days later because he hadn’t eaten recently and he went into one of his hides and never really moved or came out for 2 days. I felt him after 2 days and he was cool to the touch and never really moved. Once I set him down he went into the corner and back into his hide. Should I be concerned or is this normal after eating and adjusting to a new place?

The hot end of the tank is at 81 degrees which I know is a bit cool. I’m trying to get my UTH set up but currently have an incandescent bulb set up. Once I set up the UTH should I stop using the lamp? Should I use a uvb bulb? Will these changes make him a bit more active?

Sorry for all the questions, I’m just a nervous wreck This first go around
Click to expand...

How is your snake doing? It's been a while since you posted, so I hope you're still around, but I wanted to suggest that you be careful not to overheat your corn snake. I keep corns & have for many years, also bred some: I use a controlled UTH under a portion of the tank, but most of their cage should be around 72*...what is a comfortable room temperature for most of us. They use the UTH as needed but they just don't require or even like the higher temperatures associated with other snakes like ball pythons & boas, and you can harm them with too much heat. I'd recommend that you do NOT use an overhead light for heat. (unless it's a huge cage, you'll overheat all of the air in the cage) Use only the dimmed/controlled UTH. No UVB bulbs either. If you measure the temperature in the cage over the UTH, you don't want it higher than 85*. If it's too hot, they might avoid it & then not have enough warmth to digest properly, or if it's too hot, they can be also injured, even fatally, if they do use it. Most UTH get way too hot & require control & monitoring.

New snakes are best left alone to settle in for at least a week before being fed, and allowed to feed a couple times (a week apart if young snakes) before you attempt to handle or interact with them. I'd also recommend that you offer several "hide boxes" in the cage: one over the UTH, & one on the cool side of the cage. This is because snakes often choose security over the proper temperature they need to digest if only given one hide box. And don't handle a snake at all for a couple days after they eat, or you might cause them to regurgitate, which is not helpful & sometimes seriously harmful to them. It's normal for them to lay low & hide, especially after eating, & much of the time anyway.

Corn snakes are excellent climbers- I like to diagonally wedge several clean branches in their cage...it's fun to watch them gracefully use them.
 
By the way, as far as your snake being "cool to the touch", remember that for a snake to feel warm to us, they'd need to meet or exceed our temperature (98.6* roughly) and that would be very unhealthy for any corn snake....so get used to him feeling "cool".

As an example, my house thermostat is set at 70* in the winter. I have a number of snakes, including 5 corn snakes. The corn snakes in particular spend most of their time in the unheated portions of their cages, even after they've eaten. Now & then I see them using the UTH hide box, but not often.
 
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