u/Noukanel

I began crocheting two weeks ago and finally worked up to doing my first granny square (haven't blocked it yet) . How did I do?

This beauty is Ruby, my new cornsnake. She's almost 2 years old and her morph is Tessera bloodred stripe

This is Ruby; we got her about 3 weeks ago. According to our local reptile shop, she was born end of July 2024, so she's a couple months shy of 2 years old. I weighed her this week and she weighs only 119g, which is really small for her age according to the feeding charts I found on this sub. Does she seem to be in good condition? Is she too small for her age?

Also, they told us to feed her hoppers, but based on the same feeding guides, she'd be ready to move on to weaned mice? Third picture is just after she swallowed her hopper 2 days ago and we can see some stretching in her scales. Does that mean it's still the right size prey? Should we go up now or wait a bit?

Hey everyone! We're getting ready to bring home a juvenile corn snake (our very first reptile!) and I want to make sure the setup is correct before she arrives. The picture above is where we're at so far!

The setup: 

Tank: 36x18x13" 

UVB: Arcadia T5 2.5% on a 12h cycle 

Heat: DHP on a dimming thermostat 

Substrate: Reptisoil + Forest Bark mix + leaf litter 

Hides: hot side, cold side, and a mossy humid hide in the middle (hidden behind the log).

I'm probably overthinking some of this, but here are some questions I have regarding the lighting and temperature requirements:

My kids want to see her active before bedtime, so I'm planning a 6 AM to 6 PM light schedule. If the room stays bright after the tank lights go off, will that confuse her internal clock?

Also, does the nighttime temperature drop need to happen exactly when the lights go off, or is a slight stagger fine?

For probe placement: I currently have the thermostat probe tucked into the substrate under the hot hide. Is that the right spot, or should it be placed higher on the enclosure wall?

My thermostat has a 30-minute sunrise/sunset ramp-up by default. Leave it, make it shorter, or stretch it longer?

On hot side temps: I keep seeing 90°F recommended for basking, and I’m assuming that this should be the temperature on the basking surface. So, with that in mind, what should the ambient temperature on the hot side actually be? And once I have both targets, how do I program the thermostat to hit both the ambient and the surface temp goals at the same time? 

Last one: if I set the hot side to 72°F at night, is it okay if the cool side drops a few degrees lower, or is 72°F the floor for the whole enclosure? The room itself ranges from 64°F in winter to 75°F on summer evenings, and I'm worried the cold side might get too cold in the winter months. 

Thanks in advance, I really appreciate any help from people who've been through this before. We're still planning to add branches and some extra clutter before she arrives, so any general feedback on the setup is more than welcome!