Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hello all,

I am an active Ball python keeper/breeder and currently have 20 ball pythons of many different morphs (Albino, Piebald, Mojave, Pastel, etc.). I have been thinking of getting into corn snakes as well, but do not know much about them. Here are my questions:
1. Do there heating and cage requirement replicate ball pythons (I know they need less space, but as far as heating, venilation, etc.)
2. How often do they eat and can they eat rat pups/ pinkies?
3. If I buy babies, how long will it take for them to be able to reproduce?
4. How long do they live?
5. How often do they eat?
6. Are they easy to breed (very important because I love to breed my animals (I really enjoy that))?
7. Are they easier or harder then ball pythons and boas to care for?
8. Where can I find good info on the web that answer some or all these questions?

Any and all help would greatly be apprecaited.

HOOPY

>1. Do there heating and cage requirement replicate ball pythons (I know they need less space, but as far as heating, venilation, etc.)

Pretty similar. Cage size needs are about the same for snakes of the same length. At night, corn snake heat can just be turned off.

>2. How often do they eat and can they eat rat pups/ pinkies?

Feeding -- about once a week.

Yes (personal experience). Rat pinkies are nearly impossible for corn snake hatchlings (12 inches long) to swallow, but they can do it by the time they are around 16 inches long.

>3. If I buy babies, how long will it take for them to be able to reproduce?

Usually they start to reproduce in the second or third spring.

>4. How long do they live?

A little over 20 years is possible.

>5. How often do they eat?

See question 2.

>6. Are they easy to breed (very important because I love to breed my animals (I really enjoy that))?

Many snakes are fairly easy to breed if someone tells you how. FWIW, I've bred corns but never succeeded with ball pythons. (Nobody told me how when I had ball pythons.) And corn snake clutches have more eggs than ball pythons, usually.

>7. Are they easier or harder then ball pythons and boas to care for?

At worst, roughly the same.as ball pythons of the same size. In some ways, corns are easier. For example, corns are less likely to go on prolonged fasts and easier to get to eat frozen/thawed rodents.

>8. Where can I find good info on the web that answer some or all these questions?

Get Bill and Kathy Love's The Corn Snake Manual. It's in the same series of booklets as (and is better than) The Ball Python Manual, which you probably have.

Paul Hollander

I suggest getting Kathy Love's Corn Snake Manual...its a good & inexpensive resource for all types of corn snake questions. I am not sure but I think I got mine for about $10-15 dollars at amazon.com. I keep BP's & corns and both seem very easy to me, in terms of care, BUT thats just me...I always felt that pythons & colubrids are easier to care for than boas.
GOOD LUCK!

>>Hello all,
>>
>>I am an active Ball python keeper/breeder and currently have 20 ball pythons of many different morphs (Albino, Piebald, Mojave, Pastel, etc.). I have been thinking of getting into corn snakes as well, but do not know much about them. Here are my questions:
>>1. Do there heating and cage requirement replicate ball pythons (I know they need less space, but as far as heating, venilation, etc.)

I would say they don't need it as hot as a ball python. Never worried too much about ventilation.

>>2. How often do they eat and can they eat rat pups/ pinkies?

When they're big enough. Hatchling corns are only large enough to eat mouse pinkies. Young corns can eat every 4-5 days, less often as they get older.

>>3. If I buy babies, how long will it take for them to be able to reproduce?

Females can breed at around 36 inches and 300 grams. Usually the 2nd or 3rd spring they will be large enough.

>>4. How long do they live?

15 years.

>>6. Are they easy to breed (very important because I love to breed my animals (I really enjoy that))?

Very. All I did this year was put the male and female in the same cage for a while - like a half hour. 2 months later, eggs. Low 80s incubation temps.

>>7. Are they easier or harder then ball pythons and boas to care for?

Easier. Humidity isn't as important (room humidity is usually fine) and the temps are easier to maintain. They do poop more often, though
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-audri
Webpage/Pics

I keep both corn snakes and ball pythons. I agree with everything the others had to say, especially about picking up the corn snake manual (is not expensive and worth the read). I do think they are a little easier than the balls, except for the pooping more often (and I think it stinks more!)

One point I didn't see anyone else make. You can brumate corns every winter. In fact, they are more likely to breed if you do. Brumation translates to a few months without fretting over who is eating and who is not! No throwing out perfectly good food that was refused, and you get a couple months off of cleaning the corn tanks!