How to Care for Corn Snakes
68Beautiful Corn Snake
What are corn snakes?
Corn snakes are relatively small snakes that are often considered good "starter" snakes for new snake owners. They are also known as red rat snakes.
Corn snakes are also one of the most popular reptiles for pets due to their very mild temperament and relative ease of care. Corn snakes come in a variety of different colors and patterns.
The wild population of corn snakes is native to the southern states of the USA. Many different varieties are named according to the area where original breeding stock was captured in the wild. Corn snakes can be quite intriguing and beautiful. They are also much faster than some of your other popular pet snakes like ball pythons, and baby corns can be skinnier and harder to hold on too for small children or inexperienced handlers.
Corn Snake Housing Needs
The basic needs of the corn snake include water, food, proper temperature, an enclosure to prevent escape, bedding material or substrate to provide shelter and a place for waste material, and proper lighting.
A typical setup includes a square reptile heat pad stuck to the outside bottom at one end to provide a warm end (about 82-88 degrees F) while the cool end ahousl stay in the range of 70 to 82 degrees.
It is important to have a tight fitting lid on the enclosure with all possible holes for escape plugged. A hatchling can escape through a hole no larger than the end of a straw. Snakes are very strong, they can pry open a lid if it is not tight and secure.
The right snake enclosure depends on the age and size. An adult, a 20 or 25 gallon glass reptile terrarium with a tight fitting screen lid makes an ideal home for the snake. For a hatchling up to about 30 inch juvenile, a 7 inch by 12 inch reptile enclosure sold at Walmart works very good.
Enclosures need a heat source as previously described. Under tank heaters are strongly recommended, it is also better if they can be regulated.
Heat lamps may also be used, but are generally not required with corn snakes, as they are with some other types of reptiles. Be careful with any heating system to make sure that the enclosure does not get too hot and that the snake has a cool place so that it can thermo-regulate.
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Comments
Fantastic hub!
I caught a rat snake when I was younger (didn't know it was actually a corn snake). Friends from the neighborhood told me about a huge snake across the street, so I went over to investigate. They seemed to look at me to catch it. Why, I have no idea, but maybe it was the apparent brain damage they thought I suffered from, and that I might just do anything. They still talk about it to this day for some reason.
Anyways, I just reached down and grabbed it. No big deal. I ended up letting this one go eventually, since I knew I couldn't take care of it. My poor mother hated snakes, and for her to tolerate these things I kept bringing home makes her automatically eligble for sainthood.
My neighbor, in a panic, recently asked me to capture a snake lurking in his house. He also must've thought I suffered from brain damage. When I found the snake, it turned out to be a black racer, and these things are pretty fiesty. It wasn't the least bit accomodating or friendly, and it did not want me to disturb him. I ended up using a towel to catch him (otherwise I'm sure my hands would have been full of tiny holes where he would've bitten me). My neighbor seemed disappointed since I didn't seem to have any intentions of killing it. He asked, "So what are you going to do with it?" "Put it in my yard." "Well, he'll just come back here." "Well, I'll just put it on the far end of my property then." I didn't think the snake would cross my yard and then cross the street just to get back into the guy's bedroom. How were they making it into his house in the first place? I didn't understand it. Why didn't they try to make it into my house where they would've been welcomed? I feel rejected. <grin>
Thanks for the link to www.snakefanatics.com! Great resource for everything snake related.
Feeding Your Corn Snake
Your snake should be fed captive bred rodents only, because wild prey can transfer parasites to your snake. The general rule is to feed your snake a mouse that is the same size around as the snake is.
Too big a food item can cause the snake to regurgitate the undigested portion of it's meal after a couple days or so. This is dangerous and can be deadly for your snake. Prevent regurgitation by feeding the proper size food item and making sure the "warm" side of your snakes' enclosure is at the proper temperature.
Adults, however, should be fed 10-14 days is. It's recommended that you feed frozen/thawed rodents. If you choose to feed live rodents, it's recommended that the mouse be stunned or pre-killed to make sure your snake isn't hurt while eating.
Other Resources fro Corn Snakes
www.snakefanatics.com is a great community forum to interact with other snake lovers. You can learn how to sex your snakes, breed, buy, sell, etc.
There are also other Internet snake forums you can search for. It is important to know proper care of your corn snake, and to understand no animal, not even a snake is a novelty. They all are responsibilities that should be taken seriously!
smallbizhelp says:
2 years ago
great article. i was looking at getting a ball pythong as a first snake for my son.
Any thoughts? I am also checking out www.snakefanatics.com they have a lot of info as well.