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Corn Snakes

Family: ColubridaeElaphe guttataPhoto © Animal-World: Courtesy David Brough

   Some of the most beautiful snakes are Corn Snakes!

   An excellent pet for the advanced beginner, the colorful Corn Snake will tame down in a short time. They become very docile, even tempered, and tolerant of frequent handling. Corn Snakes are very hardy and easy to maintain.

For more Information on keeping Snakes see:
Guide to a Happy, Healthy Herptile

Geographic Distribution Elaphe guttata Data provided by GBIF.org Scientific Classification Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Reptilia Order: Squamata Family: Colubridae

Distribution:    Corn Snakes are found in North America. Specifically they are found in the southern and southeastern parts of the United States.

Description:   The Corn Snake will grow to a good size, between three and five feet. They can reach up six feet in the wild. They are a heavier bodied snake than the garter snake or the kingsnake, though their length is about the same. Their natural color is dark red blotches outlined in black on a deep orange background, with a black and white checkerboard pattern on the belly. Their scales are lightly keeled.

Feeding:   They are a constrictor and their diet consists of mice and other rodents, chicks, and lizards. Feed once or twice a week, depending on the size of the food and the size of the snake. As you get to know your snake, you'll learn what its feeding needs are. Fresh water in a shallow dish should always be available.

Environment:    They do not eat other snakes, and so they can be housed alone or in groups with other snakes of similar size and habits.
   You can set up their terrarium as either a woodland type, a desert type, or a combination of the two and you provide moderate humidity. See the terrarium types described under Basic Reptile and Amphibian Care for more information.
   This snake needs a hiding place and a small water dish. It also likes to climb, so a vertical or semi-vertical tree limb with some plant vining is great.

Temperature and Lighting requirements:    They do well at 75° to 85° F in the daytime, and 65° to 72° F at night. Full spectrum lighting is important for your snakes well being and its long-term maintenance. You can use a substrate heating device for basic heating. For additional heat, you can add a full spectrum incandescent daytime bulb and a blacklight bulb or red incandescent bulb for nighttime heating. Be sure you use a thermometer so you don't let the terrarium become overheated!
   For more detailed information see the Basic Reptile and Amphibian Care: Housing.

Breeding/Reproduction:
   These snakes, if not babies, need to be probe sexed for positive sex identification, and they are egg layers. They breed readily in captivity and are reproduced in many color variations.

Availability:   The naturally colored Corn Snake as well at the many colored varieties of corn snake are generally available as pets due successful captive breeding.

Author: Clarice Brough, CRS

Lastest Comments on Corn Snake View all 25 comments on Corn Snake Add Your Comment

Jessica - 2011-10-26 Hey ya'll!! I need some advice, my husband is getting me 2 corns (male & female). I have wanted one from the time I handled a snake.. They are in the same tank (50g) and I have done my home work, and they have bred before. I know that it's a lot of responsibility maintaining the female before/during/after breeding and then you have the little ones to tend to.. Honestly since they will be my first snakes I don't plan on breeding them any time soon to avoid any injuries.. I will only have the one 50g tank to keep them in and I was wondering if I could separate them until the mating seasons over then put them back together or just separate them all together? Maybe get a comfy clear tub for one until I can get another tank. Also, I know that the female will lay her eggs fertilized or not and I was wanting to know if I should just treat her as if she's pregnant and just make a her a nesting box.. I plan on breeding them but I just want to get used to them and have some experience under my belt before hand :) Click For Replies (2) Charlie Roche - 2011-10-27 Breeding corn snakes is quite competitive and there are many out there who do this. If you think you are going to make money breeding, you might clearly be very dissapointed and wind up with the two adults and about 25 - 30 babies. You might want to just keep the two for sometime and wait and make the breeding decision later. However, I did find breeding and it pretty much tells a person what to do. Jessica - 2011-10-28 When I do plan on breeding them I'm only breeding them once, someone is already interested in the babies.. I don't plan on breeding every year, that's just too much for me. Reply

Simon - 2011-03-31 I got my corn snake last summer & I noticed something very interesting about her, she has a black & white checkerboard all along her entire belly, this was something I had not seen before so I read up on it & found out that the checker belly is more common in wild corn snakes in the Florida area. Click For Replies (2) Charlie Roche - 2011-04-01 I think that is definitely true. The kids and I went to get into the car to go to school and there was about an enormous snake laying in front of the car. This was iin Florida. After screaming my head off, a fella who was working there came over and just picked it up and said he would take it home. It had a checkered sorta criss cross belly. Pretty but not exactly what I expected to see in front of the car. courtney - 2011-09-28 How can you tell how old is an albino corn snake? Reply

Aubrey - 2010-07-01 Hi, I REALLY want a corn snake, but I can't seem to get over a tiny fear. I am afraid that it will bite me... would it? I mean, my brother has one, and it seems so nice. But I'm afraid that if I get one, it will be mean and bite me. Has anyone ever had this fear? Will a corn snake bite me, and if it does, will it hurt? Click For Replies (2) Anonymous - 2010-12-17 Corn snakes are considered to be one of the most docile snakes you can own, it all depends on how you raise them though. I have owned 2 for 3 years and never been bitten. A key thing to remember though is to feed them in a different tank that what you normally keep them in, this is so they don't associate their tank with food. JC - 2011-02-08 No reason to be scared. I've only been bitten three times and that wuz when it was a hatchling and I wuz actually the one who provoked it.... Reply

S Smith - 2007-06-21 Actually, corn snakes will eat other corn snakes, though there are many other reasons for not housing them together. They are solitary animals, and the presence of other corn snakes will stress them out, and may lead to eating problems. If you happen to get a male and a female in the same tank, they will mate and make lots of little snakes that you may not know what to do with. If they mate while they are still fairly small, the female could have egg binding problems and could die. Don't house corn snakes together. And unlike other reptiles, corn snakes don't need full-spectrum lighting. A little filtered light from the window is all they need. Click For Replies (3) Francesco - 2010-05-14 Yes that's perfectly correct I have had my corn snake for about 7 years and he has never required a light of any kind except for the window his tank sits next to, he is a fully grown male and very happy. Mike - 2010-12-17 Not entirely true, I've had 2 corn snakes for 3 years and they have always been in the same tank. I have a male and a female but if you actually want to breed them, it's kind of a drawn out process that isn't likely going to happen unless you provide the proper conditions. As for the light, that's mostly true, it all depends on where you live. I've Never had issues with my snakes wanting to hurt each other, they were from the same clutch of eggs, so they are very close to each other in size. Call me Jane - 2011-01-28 I've been told that cannibalism is rare in corn snakes, especially adults. Mine often seek out the company of their cage-mates as they are housed together in a large tank and will cram together in the same hide box rather than use the multiple (and identical) hides provided. They are healthy and eat like piglets so don't think I would say they are particularly stressed. Snakes in the wild often den together and don't seem terribly perturbed by their neighbors. None of my corn-snake owning acquaintances have ever had any trouble with co-habitating corns - aside from the obvious potential for promiscuous breeding so I would think that empiric evidence supports co-habitation. Reply

Anonymous - 2010-11-27 I have 2 corn snakes, one is almost 1 year old and the other turned 2 today and I've been hearing you can and you can't have them together so I'm really confused. Reply

tammy - 2010-11-20 I would like to know if I could use my salt water light for my bearded dragon? It has a day bulb and night in one. Reply

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