Natural Habitat

Commonly found around agricultural fields, in deserted buildings, forest openings, grasslands. They enjoy a dry climate. They like to hide and will not often be seen out in nature. Corn snakes prefer being on the ground but can climb trees, cliff and other surfaces.

Description

How did the corn snake get its name?
Farmers often found corn snakes in their corn fields. The snakes were eating the rodents who were feeding on the corn. There is also a story that the orange, cream and black checkered belly reminds people of corn.

What do they look like?
Hatchling corn snakes range in size from 9 - 14 inches (22-35 cm)in length. Adult Corn snakes are relatively small with an average length of 3 - 5 feet (1.4 meters). Males tend to achieve a larger size than females.

The general appearance of a corn snake is a slender snake with black bordered, irregular red/rust dorsal (tail) blotches. Background color can range from brilliant orange to silvery gray. The belly is white with a black checkerboard pattern. In captivity Corn snakes come in many color morphs with over 100 possible morph combinations.

The body scales are smooth to weakly keeled (they have a mild ridge down the center of their scales), therefore slightly rough to touch and not as shiny as an unkeeled snake. The sub-caudal (the enlarged plates on the underside of the tail) are divided (paired).

Do they bite?
These snakes are easy to care for or handle and do not easily bite. These snakes do not get large and are easy to tame. They are also relatively docile. If they do feel threatened they will vibrate their tales (like rattlesnakes do). A snake ready to strike will flatten its head.

How long do they live?
In the wild, corn snakes have an average life span of about 20 years, but when kept in captivity, these snakes are known to live up to 23 years.

Behaviour
Corns are most active at night or in the hours of dawn and dusk. They are primarily ground dwellers.

Diet

In the wild young hatchlings prefer lizards and tree frogs while adults eat primarily rodents, mostly mice and rats, birds and bats. They are proficient climbers and may scale trees in search of birds and bats although they prefer to be on ground level. Corn snakes are known to eat small lizards as their first meals. Some individuals retain these dietary tendencies well into adulthood.

As snakes are carnivores it is the pet owner’s responsibility to provide prey. In captivity snakes usually eat store bought frozen mice. Hatchlings will eat either "Pinkies" which are newborn mice without fur or "Fuzzies" which are slightly large mice with fur sprouting. The mice should not be larger in diameter than the snake being fed. You will know you are on the right track when your snake has a slightly protruding belly after eating. You can feed your juvenile snake 2x a week and the adult once a week or once every 10 days.

Feeding

Feeding methods

Simply drop the food in the snake’s cage: it is helpful to place the food on a "plate" in the cage, as this will keep your cage clean. Just place the food and move away, leave the snake to it.
Use a pair of tongs to offer the food: In the wild snakes strike at their prey so you can simulate this by moving the tongs back and forth in front of the snake or you can "run" the food around the cage with the tongs.
Put the snake into a separate container for feeding purposes: some snake keepers do this in order to negate a 'feeding response" in the snake every time you open the cage. This is a personal choice. Of course when you open the cage there is an initial period upon opening the cage door when the snake doesn’t know whether its food time or handling time. So you have to use caution during this time. This is where a snake hook comes in handy. Once you get the hook under your pet snake and gently begin to lift it, the animal will know it’s handling time — and not feeding time.

If you ever get to see your snake eating it's a real treat, quite a thing to see. The teeth of snakes cannot chew and break up a carcass so they swallow the prey whole. The jaws unhinge and the mouse is slowly devoured Their strong jaw and throat muscles work the food down the oesophagus and if you watch closely you'll see the shape of the mouse undulating down the body being pushed by the snakes muscles into the stomach, where digestion begins. The time it takes for a snake to digest its prey depends on the temperature of the cage. The warmer the quicker digestion.

Leave your snake alone for at least 48 hours after feeding it. Handling a snake too soon after a meal may cause regurgitation. Also ensure the snake is not shedding as they will not eat when they are shedding. Make sure the snake’s environment is set up properly (check cage temperatures, and make sure the snake has places to hide inside the cage). Snakes frequently regurgitate their meals when the cage is either too hot or too cold.

It is not necessary to supplement snake meals with vitamin powders or similar products. Snakes get all the vitamins and minerals they need from their meals, without the need to add anything.

If your snake refuses a meal, leave it alone for a week and then offer another meal.

If regurgitation is recurring after correcting the environmental and feeding causes, check with a vet.

Water

Your snake will need water for drinking and soaking itself so keep clean water in the enclosure and ensure that it's at room temperature. A heavy dish several inches in diameter makes a good water source. You may find you snake soaking in the dish, particularly before a shed. Snakes often defecate in their water, in which case it should be immediately cleaned.