I’m planning to get a corn snake. I already have a 36x18x18 terrarium. What will snake need, ie hide size, water dish size, proper lighting and what to cover the floor with. I’m sure many have asked but Google makes things confusing
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Welcome! You’ll get different answers from different people.
I’d get a sturdy screen top if the tank doesn’t have one, and secure it with wide lid clips on all sides.
I’d use aspen for substrate. Fill the tank 3-4 inches.
I’d get an Arcadia ceramic fixture dome to house a 50W Arcadia Deep Heat Projector bulb, and a dimming thermostat to regulate it. Alternately, you could get a 20W reptile specific heat mat and standard reptile/germination thermostat to regulate it. You’d want to shim/raise the tank slightly over the mat. You don’t want the full weight of the tank on it. You can even do a combo of lamp and mat. I wouldn’t go too crazy with the warm side since most largely ignore the heat after they get to subadult size.
Lighting can be standard household LED. 60W equivalent is fine.
A water bowl big enough for the snake to soak in should be provided. Snug hides should be provided on the cool and warm sides. Lots of ground cover is good. Climbing stuff is good. A humid hide is important.
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@surman Just so ya know, we charge a picture tax for advice/information around here! 
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There are a lot of super great corn people here including Dean, who answered your post first. You for sure came to the right place for advice/info/support!
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THERMOSTAT!!! Sorry its in such big letters but PLEASE get him/her a thermostat, its something so many people neglect to get thermostat. and please don’t confuse it with a thermometer because they are different, cuz thermostats CONTROL heat temp, and thermometers TELL you what temp it is.
also get something for it to climb, because corn snakes do climb, they are semi-arboreal.
And also MORE hide, as many hides as posable is best because then the snake will feel more comfortable because it will feel that if a predator were to come it could immediately get away and hide, which will conclude in him/her probably coming out more.
and there are always more things you’ll need but hopefully everyone will give you a longer list as to most of everything you need. good luck with your corn snake, the first is always the most exiting.
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and also a list of everything that comes of the top of my head that I would buy if I were getting a corn snake.
enclosure as long as the snake is long (or if you never want to upgrade get an enclosure that is as long as it will get),
screen lid with clamp,
heat mat or heat tape,
thermostat,
thermometer and hygrometer,
reptisoil or ecoearth or aspen shavings,
cave hide,
cork bark to use as hide and some more cork to decorate the enclosure,
a few other hides,
tupperware and spagnum moss to turn into a humid hide,
water bowl big enough for it to fit in,
a few branches for him/her to climb,
a LOT of leafage from a thrift store or amazon,
misting bottle,
feeding tongs,
frozen mice,
a t-shirt that says something about how I own a snake,
a snake hook,
and then blow the rest of my money on cork bark.
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Welcome to the community and soon to the wonderful world of corns, @surman ! I’ve got a question. What age is the corn snake you’re planning to get? I’m adding because a few housing recommendations will be tweaked depending upon that.
The number one thing is that your enclosure must be completely escape-proof. Obvious, I know, but it’s tough to understand how easy it is for a youngster to escape. An easy rule of lthumb is that if you can put more than 1/4" or 1/2 cm of sharpened pencil into a gap, assume a hatchling can fit through there. Obviously this scales up as the snake grows, but bigger snakes will sometimes put a lot of physical strength into shifting lids. They’re essentially solid muscle.
Nature is a big place, and many babies do just fine in a big home with plenty of cover and plenty to do. If your baby is accustomed to handling and humans, and/or is a bolder sort, a large enclosure is fine. If it’s skittish, you might have a hard time catching it in a large space. It can be challenging to locate the little one’s waste for spot cleaning. You won’t need more than 1.5-2" depth of aspen for a baby.
You asked about hide size. Again, depends on the snake size, but they enjoy having choices. If you get a youngster, check over anything you give it for possible spaces it can get into from which you can’t extract it if needed.
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Probably 6 month from here
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Should heating pad be touching the glass or slightly away from it. If so, how far away, what size riser
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@caryl knows what she is talking about! Last week I was cleaning tubs and rearranging things. Two of my baby corns (little stinkers) each found their way out of a temporary enclosure I put them in so I could clean their enclosures. I stopped for lunch and went back to finish cleaning and voilà they were GONE! After a frantic search I found one of them on the floor trying to climb a wall and then finally the other one in my closet with his head just barely peeking out from under a blanket on the floor. God was with me that day because my husband hates finding loose snakes in the house. And what would I have told Caryl because these guys came from her! .
So yes be extremely vigilant. Secure every crack, nook and cranny because these guys can squeeze out of spaces you can’t even see with the naked eye!!! 
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It should touch the glass. I don’t like the adhesive ones, so I just put a dish towel under the mat to raise it a bit because of the shimming I mentioned.
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Glad you found your wanderers quickly, @caron ! It’s astonishing how really, really good they are at finding an opening we didn’t realize was there.
Ooh, me either. The adhesive they use is one really sticky substance. Once it’s stuck, it’s usually stuck. I usually put some non-flammable insulation under them. I’ve also used ceramic tile to get the heat up in contact with the glass, with the thermostat probe between there.
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I was going to text you about their escapades but time has been flying lately! 
Here is the closest one of them was hiding in. Its little head was barely sticking out from under the blanket next to the tub container on the right! So you see how amazing it was that I saw the little stinky butt!
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Geez, what a great eye you’ve got! Lucky little beggar to have been found despite himself. 
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I know right? I was looking along the walls and I had already opened the closet doors once. I was just about to give up dreading my husband finding a loose snake! Not particularly pleasant to hear the $!%#$@!
For some reason ( you and I know why) I slid those doors open again and caught a little tiny head movement out of the corner of my eye! I immediately scooped him up and did some praising!
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