Corn Snake Caresheet

Introduction

Corn Snakes, scientific name Pantherophis guttata, are very popular and easy to care-for snakes. They come in many, many pattern & color variations but all of them are the same as far as their care goes. Find a morph you like and go for it! When you look at hatchlings for sale, they are usually less than a foot in length and weigh 10-15 grams. As adults, most top out at around 5 feet in length and less than a kilogram in weight. Corns are not generally aggressive snakes. A bite by an adult corn is pretty rare and relatively painless, though they can draw a little blood. Hatchlings are often a little more feisty and may attempt to nip at first, until they get used to you through regular, gentle handling. Don't be scared! A nip from a hatchling doesn't hurt a bit. Cornsnakes eat mice! If you don't see yourself being able to feed a mouse to a snake, you might want to rethink your choice of pet. One thing to consider: most corns will take previously frozen and thawed mice, so you don't need to fool with live ones. You can buy frozen mice online in bulk (see below).

Acquisition/Acclimation

First, have your snake's new home (see below) ready before you buy it! Buy from a breeder, we love what we do. Once you have acquired your snake leave it alone for a few days while it settles into its new home. Give it a bowl of fresh water and a hide or two. Don't attempt to feed right away. Your snake is likely a bit stressed and may not eat right away. Give him some time to settle in, about a week is ideal, before you handle him and stuff him with a mouse.

Handling

First thing, move slowly. Second, BE GENTLE. Don't make fast movements toward a snake's head, it makes them nervous! Hatchlings are delicate. Don't use a lot of force restraining a hatchling, it can hurt itself by throwing it's spine into a kink. That is a bad thing. Be confident. If you put your hand near the snake to pick it up, and it rears back defensively, pick it up anyway! If the snake learns that it can bluff or strike and you will leave it alone, it will ALWAYS do this. At first keep your handling sessions to a few minutes at a time, until your snake seems more at ease. You can tell your snake is comfortable with you if it isn't trying to bite you or thrashing around. Also watch out for fast breathing: this is a sign the snake is stressed. Once your snake has adjusted you can have him out for longer periods of time. Keep an eye out for bulges near the rear end of the snake. If they have to go, they WILL go. Usually on your favorite clothes or furniture.

Housing

Corns are very easy to house. First, all corns should be housed singly, not in pairs or groups, (cohabitation or cohabbing). This is done for many reasons. 1. It's easier to tell if a snake is pooping (good) or puking (bad) if they are by themselves. 2. Snakes aren't pack animals, they would just as soon be alone. 3. Stress over having to compete for the best temperature or hiding spot can cause illness. 4. Corns have been known to occasionally eat each other.

Hatchlings may be kept in small Ziplock or Gladware containers, plastic shoe-boxes, or small aquariums, like "critter-keepers". I use 6qt Sterilite #1642 shoeboxes (see below). You can get them just about anywhere and they only cost about $1. If kept in airtight containers make sure to make some air-holes! A soldering iron with a small tip is perfect for melting holes into containers. Adults will eventually require an enclosure at least the size of a 20 gallon "long" aquarium or a 28-32 quart Sterilite or Rubbermaid sweater-type box. I use 40qt Sterilite Ultra #1986 sweaterboxes (see below). These cost about $10 at Wal-Mart. The main thing to consider is that their home needs to be completely escape-proof. Snakes also need places to hide. Give them a couple of hides. I use appropriately sized gladware with an entrance cut into the side, loosely filled with moistened "frog" moss or sphagnum. Note that in my bins I don't generally use hides.

Substrate

Most professional keepers use paper-towels or newspaper for the bottom of their snake enclosures. Doesn't look real nice, but it is easy to keep clean! Cleanliness is very important, both for your snake's well being and to keep the smell down. If you choose to use a commercially available pet substrate most people recommend shredded aspen. It looks pretty nice and is easy to spot clean, just pull out the dirty bits as you see them and clean the entire cage out occasionally. Don't use cedar, it contains toxins than can harm your snake. When using newspaper you may notice your snake being "stained" by the ink. This won't hurt them, and it comes off when they shed. Also your snake will hide under the newspaper, eliminating the need for a separate hide.

Temperature Requirements

Being ectothermic, cornsnakes need a way to regulate their body temperature. The ideal situation would be to keep their container with a gradient of 75° on the cool side and 85° on the warm side. This can be achieved via an under tank heater (UTH) or Flex-Watt heat tape. Either way, you should use a thermostat to control the heat output of your chosen heat source, so you don't cook your snakes! Don't use a heat lamp. Your snake won't appreciate the extra light and would really rather have heat from below (belly heat). Besides which, heat lamps can dry out the tank a lot, making sheds much more difficult. I use Helix ($140) and Ranco ($80) thermostats. I buy them (and my flex-watt) from Reptile Basics. Below is a Ranco (set for ball python temperature). Tape the probe from the thermostat directly to the heat tape or UTH. Set your t-stat to 87° (it will be a little cooler inside the bin) and place one end of your bin on top of the heat-tape (or UTH). Plug the heat-tape into your new thermostat. Use an electronic thermometer with a probe (I like the Coralife Digital Thermometer at Petco) or a temp gun to make sure that the bottom of the INSIDE of the bin is about 85°. You want to make sure your snake can't come into contact with a surface that is much hotter than 85°.

Feeding

No matter what the guy at the pet-store says... Cornsnakes don't eat crickets! Most keepers feed their snakes frozen and thawed (F/T) mice. Young cornsnakes should be fed an appropriately sized food item once a week. A good rule of thumb is a F/T mouse 1.5 times the diameter of the snake. Start off a newly hatched corn with small pink mice and then move up to large pinks when you no longer see a lump, then move to fuzzies, hoppers, weaned and then adults. Once your snake is eating anything bigger than a mouse hopper, never feed live if you can avoid it. If you feed live prey you risk having the mouse bite/chew on your snake. If you MUST feed live for some reason, don't leave the snake alone with his prey for more than a couple of minutes. Even with you standing there the mouse can bite your snake when the snake strikes. A mouse bite to the eye is not cool. Really, really try not to feed live! After the snake is three years old you can go to 10 to 14 days between feedings. Note: I never feed "Jumbo" mice, I have had regurgitation problems in the past. Most keepers recommend removing the snake from its home and putting it into a smaller container so that it is sure to see its food and eat it in a timely manner. Snakes that feel secure usually eat better and they feel better in a snug area. This also helps to avoid having your snake consume any of the substrate from its tank. Consumption of substrate can cause impaction of the snake's intestinal tract, which wouldn't be good. I use newspaper for substrate and feed MOST of my snakes directly in their bins. I have one adult male who won't eat in his bin, so I move him to a smaller bin to feed him. For babies, I use deli-cups (with air holes) to feed them. You can generally use the deli-cup your breeder shipped your baby to you in! Once your snake has eaten, put it back into its tank and then leave it alone for at least 48 hours (or until you can't see the lump) so it can digest the mouse.

Water

By the way, cornsnakes should always have access to a clean bowl of fresh water. Yes, snakes do drink water! You can use whatever you want for a bowl, but you should try to use something tip-proof. I use melamine cat-bowls from Wal-Mart for adults (about $4). They are tip-proof, light, and have a non-skid bottom. (Want something cheaper? You can usually get ceramic pet bowls from dollar stores for about a buck.) For hatchlings I use little hamster bowls from Petco (about $1). These are nice because they have a little space underneath and can double as a hide.

Shedding

Your new hatchling corn will shed about once a month if fed using the plan detailed above. The snake's skin will become dull looking and its eyes will become an opaque blue. (This is called "being in blue".) Make sure you have provided a moist hide container as detailed in the Housing section: your snake will need the added humidity at this time. After the snake's eyes go blue, they will clear up and a few days later the snake will shed. The entire process can take up to a week or so. People often ask if they can feed their snake when it is in blue, or right after it has shed... yes, you can. Your snake may or may not eat, if so, remember that for next time.

Cage Cleaning

Your snake will make a mess in his cage regularly. If you are using aspen or other substrate, pick out the dirty bits as you see them. When needed clean the entire cage out and replace the substrate with new. If you use tubs and newspaper, this is even easier. When the snake makes a mess... take the tub outside, throw away the dirty paper and use antibacterial soap and a sponge to clean the tub. I use Dawn dish-soap and a scubby sponge. I write a big "S" on the sponge so I don't use it for kitchen stuff. Put fresh paper in the tub and put the snake and his water bowl back in. It doesn't get any easier.

Breeding

A general rule of thumb: 3 feet, 300 grams, 3 years old. People generally agree this is the minimum to safely breed a female. Corns are generally sexually mature at 2 years of age, but it is probably not a good idea to breed them this young, as you will get a small clutch of eggs and could risk the health of your female. Want to know more? Pick up a book or two and visit the forum listed below.

Useful Cornsnake Links

Reptile Basics - www.reptilebasics.com - Good source for equipment like scales, heating and thermostats.

Cornsnakes.com Forums - cornsnakes.com/forums/ - Good source of info, I'm a member - wax32.

American Cornsnake Registry - www.herpregistry.com/acr/index.php - Kind of the AKC of cornsnakes... I register my snakes, you should too!

The Mouse Factory - www.themousefactory.com - RodentPro - www.rodentpro.com - Great sources of frozen bulk quantity mice.

Books

Corn Snakes: The Comprehensive Owner's Guide by Kathy Love at Cornutopia (www.cornutopia.com).

Corn Snakes In Captivity by Don Soderberg at South Mountain Reptiles (www.cornsnakes.net/).

The Cornsnake Morph Guide by Charles Pritzel at Cedar Creek Corns (www.cccorns.com/).