Reptile & Amphibian Forums

So, I might be interested in getting a corn snake in the future. At the moment, I just have a western hog who is roughly a year old.

I'm not really familiar with corn snakes, so I thought I'd pop on over here to ask some questions.

Are there any websites one would reccomend? Godo books to read? What sized tank would one need as an adult? How big do they get? Are they fairly easy to switch to f/t rodents? What are their temperments like?

All I know of them is they seem to be fairly common, and "recommended" as a kid's pet. (I put recommended in quotations, because I'm not sure, only that they always seem to have them in pet stores, and I've known lots of kids who've had them).
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1.0 Western Hognose

The Corn Snake Manual by Bill and Kathy Love is an excellent beginner's guide to the care, raising, and breeding of corn snakes which also includes a good primer about common corn snake color and pattern morphs.

www.cornutopia.com is Kathy Love's website which also has good information. The cornsnake forum sponsor links are also a good reference to check out to learn more about corn snakes.

Corn snakes are very easy to care for, very calm dispositions (very young babies can be a little nippy but for the most part, gentle handling calms them down very quickly. Baby corn snake bites are completely harmless and practically painless...they may hurt a little if the baby snake bites a very young child...but under a year corn snakes have such tiny teeth, they are not even long enough to puncture much past the first layer of skin. Adult corns rarely bite and again, the occasional adult biter there is very little pain or damage. Mosquitos have a more painful bite in my opinion.

Nearly all captive bred corn snakes eat frozen thawed mice and rats (usually no larger than weaned rats for the bigger corn snakes can be offered instead of full adult mice) without any hesitation. Sometimes newly hatched and shed cornsnake babies may refuse frozen thawed and have to be given live pinky mice...but most breeders switch them to frozen thawed after a couple meals.

Corn snake adult size ranges between 3-5 feet on average, though some can be longer than 5 feet but this is more rare. They live on average 15-20 years so do make a good companion for many years.

Typical corn snake adults do perfectly fine in a 'sweaterbox' sized plastic container or a well sealed 20-35gallon Long aquarium or similar type cage. Both methods work fine though the simpler setup does make it easier to clean and regulate temperatures and humidity. A more naturalistic type setup is a bit more work to set up and clean, as well as maintaining proper temps and humidity.

Reading up on care sheets and past forum posts here, will detail specific details such as temperatures, cool and warm end temps and humidity, safe substrates (what you line the cage with) and other details important to ensure the health and comfort of your corn snake.

The wonderful thing about corn snakes is there is such variety and they are quite hardy and tolerant of beginner mistakes, making them idea as a beginner snake. There is also the fact they can be comfortably housed for as little as $20 to as much as $200 or more..depending on how elaborate you want things to be.
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PHLdyPayne

Thanks for the info!!! I'll be sure to look into that.

Happy to hear they can be housed in a 20-35gal long. I've been planning for a while to get a couple of those (one for my hoggie since he's outgrowing his 1gal quite rapidly, one for random collections or quarentine, and one for another snake).

I really just sat down and thought about it the other day. I've been babysitting an everglades rat that I like quite a lot, and saw a wild corn snake at work. I'd never seen an adult up that close before, and I thought it was absolutely gorgeous! I was even more please to learn that they are rat snakes (I feel awful dumb now for not knowing that, lol).

They would also fit more convienently in my home, being smaller than an everglades rat...
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1.0 Western Hognose

Let me just say this, I would be much more comfortable letting a child handle a Corn Snake as opposed to a Hognose. Poisonous, rear-fanged creatures and kids don't blend. You could throw your Corn Snake across the room and it'd still love you, haha.
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Reptiles:
2.2 Leopard Geckos
0.1 Ball Python
0.1 Bearded Dragon
0.1 Box Turtle
0.1 Corn Snake

Bird:
0.1 Jenday Conure

Pups:
2.0 K-9

and lots of tropical fish!

-Patrick

True they are venomous, however, their venom is designed to affect only toads and frogs and does very VERY little to humans and other mammals. While the venom may paralize a toad, it would most likely only cause minor swelling in a mammal.

And being rear-fanged, they'd have to practically swallow your finger to do any harm. At that point, there are other things more worth worrying about.

Plus they tend to be very loathe to bite, preferring to flare like a cobra, or curl up like a rattlesnake. Even if pestered after that, while they may strike, they rarely actually bite, and will usually end up playing dead before anyone gets injured.

Of course, there's always an exception, but I don't believe they have any more potential to be dangerous than any other colubrid. Seeing as -most- colubrids are indeed venomous (depending on how you define venom).
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1.0 Western Hognose

Indeed. I've caught, kept and bred hognose. The only way they'd envenomate you is if you let them start swallowing your finger!

Tim

Third Eye

Tim,

That's a beautiful hoggy in your sig btw. And the leaves make an excellent backdrop.

"The only way they'd envenomate you is if you let them start swallowing your finger!"

Which I can't imagine would be a very easy thing to do. Guess you'd have to smell like food and half starve the animal...

In feeding yesterday I actually got to see my hoggy's fangs. They're so little compared to some of the venomous I've worked around. ^^
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1.0 Western Hognose

Everyone has given you good advice. Kathy Love's books are excellent. So are her snakes! Corn snakes are beautiful, easy to care for, come in ~many~ colors & 2 of my 3 are very gentle & hand tame & seem to like to be handled. The 3rd is an 09 hatchling with hateling attitude, but I have hopes she will improve with time, I'm told most of them do.

Lots of people keep them in 30-40 quart tubs. A 20L will do fine. Most are excellent, easy feeders once they get started (although I read on cornsnakes.com forums about hatchlings who are slow to start eating). Mine eat f/t and hit them with great enthusiasm & constrict as though they think it's alive! It's fun to watch.

Thanks for the info! ^^

I'm interested in getting a normal colored corn...would you happen to know any good breeders who ship in the US and are fairly cheap...?
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1.0 Western Hognose

H nasicus, check out the ads in the Classifieds Section of this website. There are tons of normal colored corns for sale, plus some locale normal morphs like Miami's, Okeetee's and others. Most of the normals on the market are het. for one thing or another, and regular non-locale morph normals are pretty cheap. Shipping costs are ususally more expensive than the snake itself. I would suggest checking out any local herp shows in your area as thats where you will find the most selection and the best prices. Corns are usually adundant at the shows.

Good luck. Corns can be addictive!!

Great! I'll be sure to check that out.

I had thought about shows, since that's where I got my hoggy, but the last one (that I know of) was in August, and there wont be another till August of next year. I'm too impatient to wait that long...though I may have too...if my father doesn't want to give me another tank...I refuse to buy them from pet shops, too expensive!

But thanks for the info!
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1.0 Western Hognose

Also check out

http://www.cornsnakes.com

Lots of good breeders there, sometimes very inexpensive. What part of the country are you in?

Consider checking craigslist too.

I got my 1st corn, Humphrey, from CL. Sex is unknown, but H is a big beautiful tame adult amel who came with a 20L and furnishings for $50. H is super sweet, a TV watching & dish washing snake!

I got my new corn from craigslist. And you dont necessarily need tanks for corns. My cousin keeps his in a plastic sweeter box! Mucc cheaper and easier to clean!