Corn Snake without heating

[doronxl7]

Hey guys,
I'm Doron from Israel.


My girlfriend heard that I wanted to bring corn snake to my apartment so she surprised me with a baby albino corn snake.
I just ordered 2 days ago heating mat from Ebay and its suppose to arrive in 2-3 weeks.
The room temperature is around 68F to 70F at midday, I don't know how much at night but cooler.


How long can the baby snake survive without the heating? Or there any way to keep him warm until the heating mat arrives?

 

[Buggster]

Personally I think it's extremely irresponsible of you (and your girlfriend) to have bought the snake without any supplies.
I usually have my setups running for a week or so BEFORE I purchase the snake so I know I'm getting the right temps and everything is working well.

Baby snakes are extremely delicate- it's recommended that they have a CONSTANT heat spot of 30-33 (around 90 Fahrenheit I believe) day and night. I highly doubt your snake will survive (and if he does, he will not be in good condition, will not eat and may possibly develop serious issues, such as an upper respiratory infection).

Either give the snake back to the breeder so it can be cared for properly, or go out to the shops and buy a heat mat now.

 

[Toska]

My first snake was a hatchie and a surprise present as well.

Luckily I had had a couple of blue tongues for over a decade at the time so I had some basic stuff like water bowls, hides and a suitable plastic tub for her to go into immediately while I scrubbed and disinfected a larger one I had in storage.
And perhaps even luckier is was April so still relatively warm here.

Despite that, and having next to nothing in my bank account at the time I went out the next day and got a heat mat, thermostat and food. Keeping my little girl healthy was more important than the bank balance.

You need appropriate heating ASAP or as Buggster suggested give it back until you can get it sorted.

 

[vampstorso]

Do you have access to a halogen globe you can use as a heat light in the mean time?
Or a spotlight for the same purpose?

Is it in a clickclack type set up or a large enclosure?

If a smaller enclosure perhaps you could sit part of it over a household appliance that normally gives off low hear just from normal operation, though be sure not too limit the air supply to the appliance causing it to overheat.

 

[pythoninfinite]

Personally I think it's extremely irresponsible of you (and your girlfriend) to have bought the snake without any supplies.
I usually have my setups running for a week or so BEFORE I purchase the snake so I know I'm getting the right temps and everything is working well.

Baby snakes are extremely delicate- it's recommended that they have a CONSTANT heat spot of 30-33 (around 90 Fahrenheit I believe) day and night. I highly doubt your snake will survive (and if he does, he will not be in good condition, will not eat and may possibly develop serious issues, such as an upper respiratory infection).

Either give the snake back to the breeder so it can be cared for properly, or go out to the shops and buy a heat mat now.

Sorry Buggster, I think you need to get over yourself, and quit the lecturing. Most snakes will be fine without heat for two or three weeks as long as they are left undisturbed and out of drafts. Corn snakes are very tough indeed, which is why they are a threat in environments other than their endemic homes. The OP requested info, not a smarty-pants precious response aimed more at letting the OP know how good you are. There are many ways of providing satisfactory warmth temporarily for a new animal, for a couple of weeks.

Jamie

 

[Buggster]

So you're saying it's fine to buy an animal without having the means to care for ignoring first, and that it's wrong of me to (OMG) actually properly care for an animal that I bring into my house?

Wild snakes can move around- they can go sun themselves on a road or slip under someone's house. A baby captive snake has NO WAY of moving around to find an ideal temp within a small enclosure.

How many times have I heard you, and others, saying that plently of problems (feeding, aggression, health issues, shedding issues) are down to incorrect husbandary, such as the temperatures within the enclosure?

You did not give an answer at all, however instead chose to lecture me on giving advice to the asker- I gave an example of what I (and MANY responsible pet owners) do when bringing a new animal home.

 

[CrazyNut]

Hey guys,
I'm Doron from Israel.


My girlfriend heard that I wanted to bring corn snake to my apartment so she surprised me with a baby albino corn snake.
I just ordered 2 days ago heating mat from Ebay and its suppose to arrive in 2-3 weeks.
The room temperature is around 68F to 70F at midday, I don't know how much at night but cooler.


How long can the baby snake survive without the heating? Or there any way to keep him warm until the heating mat arrives?

Ummm how about go to a pet store and buy a heat matt or globe? Or see if the place your gf boughtbit will loan or sell you one.

 

[vampstorso]

You know, what's done is done, and no amount of "you shouldve done this or that" changes it. Nor does it help the snake.
If you actually want to help the guys animal then offer a solution.

You're otherwise just punishing someone for trying to rectify the situation and ignoring the snake in the process.

 

[GBWhite]

Hi Doronx17,

Hopefully this link will help you out.

https://www.cornsnake.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=56&Itemid=67&lang=en

Cheers,

George.

 

[CrazyNut]

You know, what's done is done, and no amount of "you shouldve done this or that" changes it. Nor does it help the snake.
If you actually want to help the guys animal then offer a solution.

You're otherwise just punishing someone for trying to rectify the situation and ignoring the snake in the process.

I just did

 

[Pauls_Pythons]

Keyboard warriors are at it again I see.
As Jamie said, this little snake will be fine in the short term just don't feed it till it's set up correctly.

If you can look at giving a decent temp for a few hours a day as suggested by others it will help stave off any potential risk.
You are a lucky man to have a GF who will go out on a limb and buy you a new snake. While she might not have been fully versed on the care required how many of us would appreciate a partner who would buy us a new critter on a whim? Don't allow any bad feelings from our keyboard warriors to deter her behaviour.

 

[doronxl7]

Personally I think it's extremely irresponsible of you (and your girlfriend) to have bought the snake without any supplies.
I usually have my setups running for a week or so BEFORE I purchase the snake so I know I'm getting the right temps and everything is working well.

Baby snakes are extremely delicate- it's recommended that they have a CONSTANT heat spot of 30-33 (around 90 Fahrenheit I believe) day and night. I highly doubt your snake will survive (and if he does, he will not be in good condition, will not eat and may possibly develop serious issues, such as an upper respiratory infection).

Either give the snake back to the breeder so it can be cared for properly, or go out to the shops and buy a heat mat now.

That why I haven't buy myself the snake a week ago, so I can read and learn + buy the required equipment.

Do you have access to a halogen globe you can use as a heat light in the mean time?
Or a spotlight for the same purpose?

Is it in a clickclack type set up or a large enclosure?

If a smaller enclosure perhaps you could sit part of it over a household appliance that normally gives off low hear just from normal operation, though be sure not too limit the air supply to the appliance causing it to overheat.

I can bring halogen globe and use it, it will warm the snake temporary?
I have a large aquarium tank (220 liter) the I want to convert it from a fish tank to terrarium and right now the baby snake (2 months old) in a smaller plastic aquarium untill the snake grow a little bit (and I need to convert the tank first).
Should I put the plastic aquarium on the windowsill for now? I tried to put the plastic on a smaller fish tank with 28C water temp, It didn't impact on the temp as I thought

Keyboard warriors are at it again I see.
As Jamie said, this little snake will be fine in the short term just don't feed it till it's set up correctly.

If you can look at giving a decent temp for a few hours a day as suggested by others it will help stave off any potential risk.
You are a lucky man to have a GF who will go out on a limb and buy you a new snake. While she might not have been fully versed on the care required how many of us would appreciate a partner who would buy us a new critter on a whim? Don't allow any bad feelings from our keyboard warriors to deter her behaviour.

Thank, also just like you said I thought myself that she will freak out when I tell her that I want to bring snake to my room, she told me that she really like snakes but just can't feed them herself so..


Thanks for the other comments also

 

[Wallo]

Personally I think it's extremely irresponsible of you (and your girlfriend) to have bought the snake without any supplies.
I usually have my setups running for a week or so BEFORE I purchase the snake so I know I'm getting the right temps and everything is working well.

Baby snakes are extremely delicate- it's recommended that they have a CONSTANT heat spot of 30-33 (around 90 Fahrenheit I believe) day and night. I highly doubt your snake will survive (and if he does, he will not be in good condition, will not eat and may possibly develop serious issues, such as an upper respiratory infection).

Either give the snake back to the breeder so it can be cared for properly, or go out to the shops and buy a heat mat now.

Refer to your post " Vomitting up Water" - I dont think you have the authoritar to tell anyone how to look after their snakes at all

 

[Nero Egernia]

Personally I think it's extremely irresponsible of you (and your girlfriend) to have bought the snake without any supplies.
I usually have my setups running for a week or so BEFORE I purchase the snake so I know I'm getting the right temps and everything is working well.


Baby snakes are extremely delicate- it's recommended that they have a CONSTANT heat spot of 30-33 (around 90 Fahrenheit I believe) day and night. I highly doubt your snake will survive (and if he does, he will not be in good condition, will not eat and may possibly develop serious issues, such as an upper respiratory infection).


Either give the snake back to the breeder so it can be cared for properly, or go out to the shops and buy a heat mat now.

Well, shoot. :facepalm: I must be irresponsible because I have my enclosures typically set up a day before, or even a couple of hours before acquiring a new addition. While having your enclosure prepared in a week's advance before bringing your new reptile home is commendable, it's not absolutely necessary, nor is it going to result with doom and gloom if you don't. As what has been said before, reptiles aren't quite as delicate as you make them out to be. No reptile in the wild is going to have a constant hot spot, or even one that's going to be the exact ideal temperature. Sure, in the wild they have the freedom to seek out what's best for them, but even then they may not be able to find it, especially if the weather and season doesn't permit it. The reptile's not going to simply keel over if it's a cold drizzly day (or perhaps more than a week!) and it can't find a hot spot of exactly 33°C, it's going to find a secure hiding place and go into shut down mode until conditions are better again.

I'm not sure how everyone else does it but temperatures with my critters is not 100% constant. If it's a really cold day and the ambient temperature's in it's single digits the hot spot may be in the mid to high 30s. If it's a hot day the hot spot may be much higher, maybe in the high 40s or high 50s, depending on what enclosures caters to which species. So long as there's a decent heat gradient, they should be fine in selecting what they feel is best.

You are a lucky man to have a GF who will go out on a limb and buy you a new snake. While she might not have been fully versed on the care required how many of us would appreciate a partner who would buy us a new critter on a whim? Don't allow any bad feelings from our keyboard warriors to deter her behaviour.

I wish I had a partner, or even a friend or family member that would bring home reptiles for me. But at least one of them got me an enclosure, so it was close enough, I suppose.

On that note, doronxl7, any pictures of your new snake?

 

[Wally]

Whilst it's always preferable that you are as prepared as is humanely possible before your critter makes it's way to it's new home, obviously there are times where that is not possible.

I'd like to think forums such as this are a place to come and seek advice when circumstances are less than perfect.

 

[Wokka]

What a ***** session! i saw mention of window sills. Dont do that as you cant regulate heat and will quite likely cook the snake. Any light globe will generally produce heat except LED., so find and old reading lamp.

 

[BastFenstalker]

In an absolute emergency, and I have done this when my ceramic globe fitting s&%# itself, hot water bottles wrapped in towels will keep a reptile warm. Just make sure the reptile can move on and off it to regulate its own heat.

Sent from my SM-G930F using Tapatalk

 

[pythoninfinite]

In an absolute emergency, and I have done this when my ceramic globe fitting s&%# itself, hot water bottles wrapped in towels will keep a reptile warm. Just make sure the reptile can move on and off it to regulate its own heat.

Sent from my SM-G930F using Tapatalk

There is rarely, if ever, an emergency related to lack of heat for a couple of weeks, except where it may be extremely cold, or the animals are highly tropical, such as GTPs, but even then a few days without heat would not be an "emergency." As I pointed out previously, Corn Snakes are tough and survive in a wide range of foreign habitats. A couple of weeks without heat won't hurt it in the least if it is healthy to begin with. As Warwick suggests however, placing it in a window, behind glass, is inviting the possibility of overheating - a far more dangerous prospect in the short-term.

Jamie