Quote Originally Posted by joannarea

SatanicIntention, I used bark, then went to the aspen, I wanted something more burrowing, but at the same time Chocolate started wheezing, and we went to the vet with a RI. I don't know if the aspen contributed, maybe irritation, but I didn't risk it and went back to the bark. Still not happy with it, I have newspaper at this time. Suggestions?? I use the digital, humidity/temp gage everyone suggested, accu-rite. I had a lot of trouble when they were in the AC, so I moved them into a non-ac room. The thermostate is under the hide and maintains about 83 to 85 degrees, and humidity is 55% and fluxes up alittle according to the days weather. A sunny room, but they are not in the sunlight directly, have moom light at night. I use a bulb heat. When on it heats the hide area about 10 degrees, and the BP always flees to the other side of the aquairum. I thought about putting the heat source over the water end, but afraid he won't go drink. I see him drink often, so he does that good, often.

The corn, it won't even put up with a heat source, put it on and he goes where it isn't and thats usually under the papers, behind his water bowl, anywhere else. I gave it a large stick with platic leaves, and got spanish moss, cleaned and nuked it to kill bugs, and draped it over the stick, he stays there the most, but put a light on it and he goes under the papers!! He has a 29 gallon tank, as big but not as tall as the BP's tank.

Joannarea
My BP got a mild RI and the best I can tell is that it was from cold spots in the cage. I always recommend that people measure several spots around the cage. You might be surprised. My BP's tank has two UTH's and an overhead red heat lamp. Everything stays on 24/7 and any amount of outdoor light coming in is small. If your snake got RI I would strongly recommend making sure everything is warm enough. I have a big UTH on the warm side, a small UTH on the cool side, and the low-wattage IR lamp is also over the cool side. I have them all connected to the same rheostat and I get good stable temps.

When he got the RI, the pet store guy recommended switching to this recycled paper stuff to minimize irritation from dust. I used to use sphagnum/fir but I haven't switched back since. The recycled paper is nice for my BP because it kind of mats down and is very absorbent. However, I've noticed that even with high humidities his sheds haven't been as good. I guess its because the more natural substrate was rougher and, therefore, better at helping him get the shed off.

I have a very young corn snake and he is like yours. The care sheets recommend pretty high temps for corns but I swear he doesn't like heat at all. He seems to prefer something only slightly above room temp.