Aspen is arguably the most popular form of corn snake bedding. These wooden shavings are light and fluffy, making them easy to transport back from the pet store and comfortable for your snake.
In some instances I have found that some corn snakes prefer to conceal themselves beneath the surface rather than using the carefully-chosen hide that they have been provided with.
This fluffiness also means that it is quite absorbent; spilled water or faeces quickly dry up, allowing effective spot-cleaning without the need to replace all the bedding as frequently.
Corn cob granules, as the name suggests, are made from grinding up the dried centres of sweetcorn cobs. This creates a natural, renewable bedding with the appearance of small, yellowish granules. Corn cob is another ideal bedding for creating a more natural-looking cage, where the granules can be moved around by your snake. Arguably less attractive than aspen, and less likely to be used for burrowing due to its weight, corn cob granules tend to be used rather less for burrowing.
The downside to corn cob granules is that they can quickly rot when they get damp; so you need to be on constant watch for any moisture in the cage, or the resultant mould, so that such areas can be quickly cleaned. I have found that the area around the waterbowl is particularly prone to this issue, as a bathing corn snake gets out of the water and creates drips in the surrounding substrate.
Newspaper is of course cheap and plentiful, helping to keep your budget under control. It can also make cleaning out your corn snake a whole lot easier, as one can simply roll up the entire newspaper covering into a ball, then dispose of it in one go before replacing the newspaper. Despite these benefits, newspaper does offer a number of potential weaknesses as a bedding substrate. Firstly, newspaper has very low absorbency levels, and therefore can quickly become damp.
If you corn snake pills water from their bowl, this can quickly wick across the newspaper, creating a damp substrate. In general dampness is to be avoided with corn snakes, as it can result in skin conditions. A second issue, of course, is that corn snakes are unable to burrow in newspaper, though they may try to conceal themselves beneath a loose flap of paper.
Added to this, of course, is looks just plain horrible too. Lastly we come to the substrate which I myself use in the majority of cases. While beech chippings are heavier than aspen, it is my personal opinion that beech is more attractive and just as practical.
Beech chippings allow your corn snake to dig around if it wants though not as easily as with aspen and seems to give the most natural appearance of all the various options. It stays clean and in good condition for long periods of time, making it good value for money.
Beech chippings are reasonably absorbent too, helping to keep your corn snake cage smelling clean and fresh, and making spot-cleaning quite a simple affair. Whilst corn snakes are quite active snakes, like most of their kin they like to hide away from time-to-time.
The provision of at least one hide is therefore important to help your corn snake feel comfortable in their enclosure. One of the better ideas, if you corn snake enclosure is large enough, is to provide two different hides — one at the cool end and one at the warm end of the cage. In this way, your snake can choose the area to hide in that suits them best.
A huge range of different hides are available for reptile keepers and I have covered many of them in this article. Here are some of the better options available to you…. Possibly the cheapest and easiest hide for corn snakes is a cardboard box of some kind.
Cereal boxes, for example, tend to make ideal hides for larger specimens. Boxes are of course a free product of most kitchens, saving you spending any unnecessary money. They do, however, become soiled quite quickly so may need to be replaced on a regular basis. For tiny hatchling corn snakes the cardboard tube from a toilet roll or kitchen roll can be easily used.
Simply place this on its side in the cage and your baby corn snake will soon start to make use of it. Such tubes, of course, are really only suitable for smaller snakes, and have the same clinical, artificial appearance of cereal boxes.
Now we start to move onto the types of hide that I personally prefer. Personally speaking I like to design reptile cages that not only meet all the physical requirements of my pets, but that also look great too. These resin caves come in a huge range of different sizes, suitable for anything from a hatchling corn snake up to a fully-grown adult. They also come in a wide range of designs, to suit your personal tastes.
Most have a smooth inner surface that can easily be wiped or scrubbed clean, making them very hygienic. But make sure that the corn snakes should not lie directly on these heat rocks because this can burn them or injure them. Another heat source that you can use is the under cage heater that you can place under the tank and the heater can get directly attached to the bottom surface of the tank in which you will keep your corn snake. Also do not place these heaters on the plastic or the wooden tanks because there are chances that they can burn or even melt.
Now you can provide a UV source for the corn snake so that they can survive inside the captivity. For this, you can use a good quality substrate that absorbs a high amount of moisture. You can also add extra accessories like shelters, climbing obstacles, swimming areas, etc.
These accessories can be added depending upon how extra comfortable and also make the tank more liveable and comfortable for them. The accessories that you will add to their tank make sure that they are safe and do not hurt the corn snake in any way so that they enjoy their stay in captivity. The appearance or the stuff that is kept inside the tank of the corn snake should be inspired from their natural habitat so that they do not have any sort of problem in staying inside the captivity.
By following all the above steps, you will notice that everything is done and it is time to place your corn snake inside the tank and make sure that everything inside the tank is in favor of the corn snake and nothing will harm the corn snake or it will have any negative impact on them.
Remember do not overdo things while making a tank for the corn snake, just keep it simple and comfortable for your corn snake, by providing them with all the basic things that you need and the tank should be a transparent one so that you are able to see what the corn snake is doing inside it and even they are able to see you.
Conclusion: The tank is the habitat for the corn snake inside the captivity so it is your duty to provide the corn snake with the best of everything so that they can live comfortably indie the tank and also they are able to get a healthy lifestyle and only then they will be able to stay happy within the captivity.
Anna Stevenson Dr. Related Posts. Corn snake. September 2, Leopard and house geckos are among the best choices for reptile pets, especially for beginners. IMO you should find a snake that you like and purchase an enclosure for it, not the other way around. Absolutely not. They need to be able to spread out in order to digest their food properly. However, a large cage is probably fine for an adult snake as long as they have enough places to seek shelter.
What are some options for this size? Kenyan sand boas, western hognose, rosy boas can easily live their lives in a 20 gallon. Corn snakes and eat snakes can live a few years in a 20 gallon which is enough time to obtain an upgrade, and small males can usually live comfortably in a This is going off what some of the top breeders use to recommend back in the day, and tanks are kinda old school.
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