Description:
Scientific name: Pantherophis guttatus
Life span: Up to 20 years
A rat snake species native to North America is the corn snake. They are frequently kept as pets because of their placid demeanor, unwillingness to bite, average adult size, gorgeous pattern, and relatively easy maintenance. Corn snakes are benign and helpful to people, despite superficially resembling the poisonous copperhead and frequently being killed as a result of this mistaken identity. Mostly orange or yellowish-brown in hue, these snakes have huge, red blotches running down their backs with black edges. Their bellies have a checkerboard-like pattern of black and white marks. Because of their frequent appearance near grain stores, where they hunt on mice and rats that consume harvested corn, corn snakes got their name.
Native Region/Habitat
The Southeastern United States, from New Jersey to the Florida Keys and as far west as Utah, is home to corn snakes. Wild Corn Snakes favor settings like overgrown fields, forests, palmetto flatwoods, and vacant or infrequently used homes and farms. They can also be found in hammocks in the tropics and rocky open regions.
Behavior:
Corn snakes are lone individuals. The majority of the day is spent sleeping underground in burrows or hiding under logs, rocks, or loose bark. They are most active at night. These snakes often don’t move off the ground until they’re four months old, although they can climb up trees, cliffs, and other high places. Winter is when corn snakes brumate in cooler areas. They can find shelter in small, enclosed spaces, like under a home, and come out on warm days to enjoy the sun’s heat in the more moderate environment around the coast, where they do so in the form of logs and rock crevices during the winter. Snakes hunt less in colder months because they are less active. Corn snakes use their keen sense of smell to track down their prey. They typically hunt on the ground, in trees, or in tunnels underground, eating every several days.
Care As a pet/In captivity:
Among all pet snakes, corn snakes are among the most well-liked, and with good reason.
- A 10-gallon tank (or more if possible) is an ideal size and shape environment for a baby colubrid to support normal activities and exercise for the first several months of a snake’s life. In two to three years, corn snakes achieve adult size. When your corn snake grows, you will need to expand its environment.
- Temperature gradient (warm end is 85°F; cold end is in the mid 70s°F). With an over-the-tank basking heat lamp and/or under-tank heater, radiant heat is advised. A point-and-shoot thermometer or at least two thermometers (one in the chilly zone and one in the basking zone) should be used regularly to check the temperature in the tank.
- Maintain a humidity of 40% to 60%; increase to 70% when shedding. Daily misting with warm water and a shallow open bowl of water, a piece of wet paper towel, or sphagnum moss can help with shedding.
- Sized frozen rodents that have been thawed or heated to temperatures above room temperature. Initially, use pinkies for baby snakes, and then larger mice and rats for adult corn snakes.
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