this will be my first corn . i will be placing him in a 40 gal tank.
what temps will i need.?heat pad? light bulb?
bedding?
hides? two hides correct me if im wrong
1 water bowl
and any other information

1st a heat pad covering half the tank wii work fine...the temp should be between 87 warm side 80 to 82 cool side...you can use asben,wood chippings and many more [never use SAND]..but seen as its a baby corn i would use news paper or kitchen rolls will be fine i suggest thses until she[or he]gets older its cheaper to have news paper and kitcken towel than to go and buy a £3 bag of wood chippings....with the hides id suggest 3 hides 1 on hot side 1 cool side and a moist hide to help the snake shed...if you havent got a moist hide use 2 water balls 1 cool side and 1 warm side for the snake to bath in.....what type of corn is it and do you have any pics

first of all a 40g is a bit big for a hatchling it can stress the snake out living in a large tank. start with a 10-20g and move him up to his 40g when he out grows his small tank as for the temp and thing take a look at the care sheet on this site

http://www.anapsid.org/corn.html

hope this helps

Gaz

40gal is big. 10 gals are recommended for hatchlings. they get stressed out in big open spaces. what you can do, is if all you have is the 40 gal, you can buy a sterilite tub about the size of a shoebox and put the hatchling in there with two small hides and a water bowl and put that inside the 40 gal until he gets a bit bigger. or make a divider to section off part of the tank. i'd recommend using papertowels as a substrate so you can monitor his waste and watch for regurges and not lose him!
if you do decide to use wood chips as a substrate, use aspen or coconut bark. many types of wood are toxic to snakes, like cedar, pine, and possibly fir.
also, corns dont bathe. if you do see your corn snake soaking himself in his water bowl this is usually a sign of mites or other parasite. they do, however, DRINK water. so provide a water bowl and change the water everyday to keep it clean.

i currently have a 10 galln and was sugesting on getting a 40 gal but im guessing that the 10 is good.
i have a heat pad on one side (dont know if i should use a light aswell 50 watt) i have 2 hides , 1 water bowl and i will be using aspen and also a thermomator.

What kind of thermometer? Stick-on, analog, or digital?

sticky 1

so would a 10 be the best descion and if so how long woudl i be able to place him in there ?

Those are amazingly inaccurate. Soemtimes 10 degrees off. Get a digital thermometer to tell you the correct temps.

A 10 gal would house a hatchling until it is about 20 inches, then you can move up.

As a side note - 80-82 for the cool side is kinda warm, should be more like 75-78. Also, as FLBlue noted, if you use wood shavings make sure you use the proper kind - most recommend aspen because it's safe for snakes and corns can easily burrow under it. As far as the hides, you need at least 2 - one on warm side, one on cool side - and a 3rd hide would be nice to have in the middle. A moist hide isn't typically necessary - I'd only recommend using it during shedding times if for some reason you can't get the humidity up. Usually one decent size water dish is sufficient to maintain acceptable humidity - or you can do what most others do - mist the tank a couple times a day when you think your snake is gonna shed. Of course, when your snake is not shedding, the humidity doesn't need to be nearly as high. And if you DO have to use a moist hide, ONLY put it in there during shedding times. Leaving it in the tank all the time may instigate respiratory problems if your snake likes to chill in there more than he should, plus moist hides can easily be a breeding ground for bacteria. For more info on temps, humidity, and other basic info on corn care, searching within this forum can give you tons of info & opinions. Just make sure you read a LOT of opinions and only follow advice that is clearly accurate or from an experienced/educated person.