Care Sheet for *Snakes in GeneralAverage Rating Given To This Care Sheet Is 4.50 (1=lowest, 5=highest) Last Updated: 07/24/2004 |
Main Category: | Snakes |
Sub Category: | *Snakes in General |
Care Sheet Submitted By: | The_Snake_Guy |
Years Experience: | 10 to 15 Years |
Species: | Corn snakes |
Other Species or Phases this Care Sheet May Cover: | In the wild, Corn Snakes tend to be quite secretive and appear to be active mostly at night. During daylight hours they may be found hiding under loose tree bark and beneath logs, rocks, and other debris. Corn Snakes prefer habitats such as overgrown fields, forest openings, and abandoned or seldom used buildings where their favorite food of mice and other small rodents is abundant. Like other rat snakes, Corn Snakes are excellent climbers and often climb high in trees looking for nestling birds and other prey. Corn Snakes overpower their prey by first biting to obtain a firm grip, and then quickly wrapping one or more coils of their body around the victim, squeezing tightly until it suffocates. The Corn Snake then swallows its food whole, usually beginning with the head of the animal. Like most other snakes, Corn Snakes do not usually eat every day and may often go for days or weeks between feedings. |
Sexing and Characteristics: | A experiacned person can tell male to female from the size of the tail. males are longer and slender, while females are shorter and stubbyer |
Mostly Active During: | Both |
Substrate and Water Needs: | With corn snakes, there are a couple of different substrates that can be used like forest floor, eco-earth, and depending on the snake repti-sand. The snakes will often burrow under the chips or carpet/turf; so don’t be surprised if they are not always in view. Be sure to remove soiled substrate as soon as possible; urine-soaked material becomes a breeding ground for bacteria and fungus. If you use this type of substrate you will have to place your snake in a secure area to feed it; you do not want it to ingest any chips. |
Lighting and UVB: | They don’t need any speacil lighting, just a place to bask and a cool side, see temps & humidity |
Temperatures and Humidity: | An incandescent light bulb in a reflector shield may be set just outside the tank to heat up a basking area; appliance timers can be set to turn the light on and off at set times during the day. Reset the hours of operation to adjust for seasonal fluctuations in ambient air temperature.To maintain health, corn snakes must be kept at 75-85 F, the higher temperature being necessary to digest its food. Temperatures can fall to the lower range at night. To easily monitor temperature, inexpensive aquarium self-stick thermometers can be purchased and applied about an inch above the bottom of the tank on the warm side. Try to keep your terrarium around 50% - 60% humidity. |
Heating and Equipment: | Hot rocks should never be used; they fluctuate too much, and too many reptiles suffer severe ventral (stomach) burns. the best is to use an areial light. |
Caging Provided: | Corn snakes must be housed in at least a 20-gallon tank. The tank must have a secure top. A determined snake can push against screen or glass until it finds an opening big enough for its head; where its head goes, so goes its body. Some snakes will constantly rub their nose against the screened top of the tank in an effort to find a way out. The resulting abrasions should be treated with an antiseptic and antibiotic ointment. The furnishings in the enclosure should then be evaluated to provide a more natural environment.
Provide a Hiding Place
A hide box of some sort should be provided, and an interesting branch for climbing and resting. Branches collected from the wild will need to be debugged by soaking first in chlorine/water solution, then rinsed thoroughly, soaked in clean water, then left to dry in the sun. No special lighting is required.
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Diet: | Carnivorous |
Description of Diet: | An active snake will happily eat every 5 days or so. They will eat, and should only be fed, killed prey. A snake that is not hungry when live prey is introduced into the enclosure often finds itself becoming the meal, especially if the prey is a rat.
Start hatchlings off with pinkie mice. As your snake grows, gradually increase the prey size by offering fuzzies, then small adult mice, or rat pinkies. A full-grown Corn or Rat can eat a medium to large mouse; large Rat snakes can eat small rats. If you feed too much at one feeding session, or feed a prey item that is too large, your snake may regurgitate it.
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Supplements, Nutrition and Usage: | They really don’t need any. |
Maintenance: | Many people believe that a reptile will not grow any larger that its tank. THIS IS NOT TRUE! The reptile keeps growing and will become miserable, and probably ill, if the proper tank size is not provided. The only way to "stunt" a reptile’s is to not feed it enough; assuming you do not want a dead reptile, this is not something you should do. Always find out the adult size of an animal before you buy it. Note that many pet stores intentionally stunt a reptile’s growth; they find it’s easier to sell a cute young reptile to someone who does not know what they are looking at than an older, bigger animal. Always inquire how old the animal is, when it was acquired, etc. Be a knowledgeable consumer, not an impulse buyer. |
Some Words on this Species: | N/A |
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