Hatchling Corn Starter Kit
 

Hi there
Still in the research stages at the moment more looking evermore likely that I will soon purchase a corn.
Have been looking at equipment and on Coast - Coast exotics website they have a starter kit containing the following:

Exo-terra Small Faunarium

Habimat 6x11 Heat mat

Habistat Matstat

Water bowl

Hide

T-rex Bio-clean disinfectant

Corn snake book

Coast to Coast Exotics Corn snake Care sheet

Is there any additional equipment that would be usefull in addition to the above ?
Should I not have 2 hides, one at each temp ?
Could I make the Faunarium more attractive by adding bark or branches or should I stick with just the basics ?

Thanks.

just stick with the basics at first its easier to maintain, the more you add the more you have to clean

but you def should have 2 hides, one in the warm end & one at the cold so the snake can choose where to go :D

Make sure everythings upgradable when you get it, as when they outgrow the tank you want to be able to use as much as possible in the new viv, all looks ok, maybe the heat mat will need upgrading when you move up

Are you getting the snake from there too?


Ive just noticed they stock wild caught and captive farmed boas and pythons as well as some geckos and dragons:(

How much are they looking to charge you for that lot? Rememeber that them calling it a starter kit normally adds on at least a fiver.

If you shop smart then you could save yourself some money especially as they will grow out of it.

Here's a pic of one of mine, the only thing I've changed is the substrate for kitchen towel as it's easier to clean. When they get older I'll go back to it.

http://img467.imageshack.us/img467/5...1276mr2.th.jpg

They are asking £65.00 for the lot but I will shop around for sure.
I have just discovered a pet store in my home town ( Swindon ) that I didn't know existed. They stock alot of Reptile equipment inc the faunariums quoted in the starter kit, frozen food etc. Unfortunately they don't stock snakes themselves ( a few lizards and some great little tortoises ) but I will probably get the snake from a breeder anyway. Cornmorph who posts on here maybe !
Anyway thanks for the info at least I know the contents of the starter kit are ok so I can now compare prices and see if I can get cheaper.

One final question for now. The corn will out grow the faunariums, at what age / size will I need to transfer the snake into its full size adult viv ? And finally how many different sized faunariums can I expect to buy untill the corn goes into a 3ft viv for example ?

Thanks again.

my hatchlings are in a 24inchx15inchx12inch viv(which is bigger than the large terra Faunarium). always started them in this size, just have to make sure the sliding glass is plugged(i use card) to stop really young ones getting through. That cost £59retail but could have got it cheaper if i wasn't so lazy, obviously then you have to add the other bits on(heat mat/mat stat etc) then it matches all my other vivs and when they out grow it ive got another viv to fill :D plus it has the advantage of not having the snake open on all sides with clear sides so they feel more secure :D


Maybe thats just my way of doing it, not preaching or nothing :wink: but i always see these things as temporary housing or quarantine housing

http://www.exo-terra.com/EN/products/faunarium_i.html

http://img273.imageshack.us/img273/1059/pb130003li5.jpg

this is my basic corn hatchling set up(minus some hides, cause i was feeding)

You can always do it cheaper than by getting a 'starter kit'.

You don't have to use a faunarium - for a hatchling corn a lunchbox-type container with some vent holes drilled/melted around the sides would be fine - one about 12"-15" long to start with. Then just use larger containers as it grows, until it's ready for a full size viv after around 18months, give or take a few months.

I wouldn't bother with the tiny heat mats either - if you plan to use a mat in the future for the main viv then get a larger (11x11 or 17x11) one now, that you can use later on.
The plastic container (or faunarium) doesn't have to cover the whole mat - just position it so that one end of the container sits over part of the mat.

For a water bowl just use a ceramic hamster food bowl or even a ramekin dish. Kitchen roll for substrate and cardboard tubes (cut lengthways) as hides.

For a thermostat, this is the cheapest mat stat I know of, does exactly the same job as the habistat one, except it's cheaper:
http://www.camzoo.co.uk/pd-1167048544.htm?categoryId=12

small faunarium is quite small! i use a medium at the moment for my snow whos a few months old. And it's, in my opinion getting too big for it. So i'd go for a medium faunarium if you could!

Hey,

If you buy your whole viv set up now that you would like to keep the snake in as an adult then you could buy a small plastic (12 - 15 ") container then place that into the large viv which has the right size heat pad for that viv. Then position the small plastic container half onto the heat pad.

This way you get to get everything in on shot and not wasting time by getting 3 - 4 different viv's.

Here is a picture of my set up at the moment. It has my young corn in a small plastic container about 13" long and about 6 - 7" wide, my semi adult corn shares the large viv. I wouldn’t recommend putting another snake in the viv though as it may cause stress (just temporary until I move). Both snakes are feeding very well so I know they are ok. :)

http://i86.photobucket.com/albums/k1...Vivsetup-1.jpg

For hides I use the cardboard roles left over from a toilet role, I cut them in half and they make great hides :D That’s for the younger corns.

Wait for the snake to get as thick as your pinkie before you put her/him into the larger viv.

Have fun selecting your corn, there are tons of morphs. :D


Sorry if i repeated somethings of other peoples advice ( Didnt read all of the topic)

Matt.