Care Sheet: Corn Snakes...
Corn Snakes; Latin name ‘Elape Guttata Guttata’ originate in southeastern U.S.A. They are known to be one of the easiest snake species to keep in captivity as they do not have venom and are a good handling snake.
Corn Snakes come in many colours and patterns and can potentially grow to three to five feet long, with a life span of around 15 to 20 years.
Housing
Corn Snakes can be kept in a wide variety of containers and tanks. Providing it is the right size for the snake and has a secure lid as corn snakes can be great escape artists.
In the vivarium you will also need a hide box, a water dish, and a suitable substrate/bedding, make sure your chosen substrate is non-toxic to your snake, see substrate section. Lastly it is important you maintain a steady temperature in the vivarium.
Hide Box
Corn Snakes like to hide so they feel secure. They will use almost anything. You can use proper reptile hides to a cardboard box. Personally I use reptile hides as they can be washed and clean easily.
Water Dish
Corn Snakes must have access to fresh clean water. Which should always be available in a suitable size dish. Corn Snakes not only drink the water, but they like to soak themselves when they shed their skin.
Substrate/Bedding
For the base of the vivarium you can use a range of different substrates. Such as newspaper, paper towels, cage mats or beech wood chips.
It is important that great care is taken when choosing a suitable substrate. Using an unsuitable substrate can cause many problems, sometimes resulting to the death of your snakes.
Temperature/Heating
The temperature should be kept between 72°F and 85°F. the easiest way is to use a heat mat at one end of the vivarium. For best control of the temperature, use a thermostat. A thermostat placed on the substrate will tell you what temperature your snake is experiencing.
Feeding
When feeding your Corn Snake use only a good quality rodent of the correct size. Hatchlings start on pinkies, eventually taking an adult mouse when fully grown. I recommend the use of frozen rodents, NOT live. To defrost the mice I use warm not hot water.
Rough defrosting times:
Pinkies approximately 10 minutes
Fuzzies approximately 10-12 minutes
Small approximately 12-15 minutes
Medium approximately 15-20 minutes
Adults approximately 20-30 minutes
After defrosting re-warm the water to replicate the natural body temperature of the mouse, dry the mouse then feed to the snake. I personally use feeding tongs, so my snakes recognise tongs as food and not fingers.
All snakes are individual, their requirements may differ slightly. For example the amount of food they consume, and time between each feed.
Hatchlings I usually feed 1 pinkie every 4-5 days. Gradually increasing to two every 4-5 days. When they can easily take 3 at each feed, I move the snake up to the next size mouse.
Rodents
Please note all my frozen mice are produced specifically for reptiles. Special care is taken with their feeding so they don’t cause long term effects on your snake
Information
There are many good books available, and you can also ask tips and advise from breeders and keepers. Please do not hesitate to contact me with any queries or questions.
