Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Ok..I've been thinking about maybe getting a snake. I have a few ?'s. ...I've heard corn snakes are "beginner" snakes, is this true? What are requirements for their cage? (length, heighth, heat, hides, temps, etc) How long can they get? And lastly do they mainly just eat mice? Thank you for any input!!!

Corn snakes make great beginner pets. They are docile and remain a manageable size. I think 4-5 feet is about average. For cage setups you can be simple or elaborate. I use aspen bedding for a substrate, they have a water bowl and a hide cave. I keep them at room temps but you could use an under tank heater if you wanted. They dont need much to thrive in captivity. Just check online and you can find many care sheets. Kathy Love has some tips at Cornutopia.com Hope this helped. Enjoy your snake if you decide to get one.

EP
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Occupants not paying rent:
7 balls
2.1.10 corns(candy cane, creamsicle, ghost, 6 normal, 4 anery )
1 pueblan milk
1 everglades rat
1 cal. king
1 gray band king
1 w. hognose
1 bearded dragon
1 fish
1 mouse
3.3 cats

Oh yeah, they can be fed a diet of only mice.

EP
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Occupants not paying rent:
7 balls
2.1.10 corns(candy cane, creamsicle, ghost, 6 normal, 4 anery )
1 pueblan milk
1 everglades rat
1 cal. king
1 gray band king
1 w. hognose
1 bearded dragon
1 fish
1 mouse
3.3 cats

My reply is only about housing. An adult corn snake will need an enclosure the size of a 20 gallon long aquarium. Although I prefer to house them in a standard 55 gallon aquarium. That is what I house mine in. For substrate reptile mulch (aviable at alomost every pet store) works very well. It is pretty, smells good and allows your snake to have something to burrow in. Provide a hiding spot on both the warm and cool sides of the terrarium. To create a warm and cool side of terrarium you can eather use a undertank heater or a heat lamp. Depending on where you live a 50-100 watt bulb (for a heat lamp) should keep the terrarium temp. where it needs to be. Also provide a water bowel for your snake to drink from. It should be large enough for your snake to soak in. You can also provide a brach for your corn to climb on and a few fake plants.
*note* If you use an aquarium to house your corn make sure that it has a metal lid with heavy duty metal clamps. Also do not use "hot rocks" to heat your snakes terrarium, these are very dangerous and can burn the snake. Also when housing snakes UV lights are not needed except if you are using live plants in the terrarium.

Good luck with the corn,
SerpentSyco

i'd agree on the corn snake being a good "starter" snake. they are very forgiving for minor husbandry errors...unlike a lot of various species. now a corn snake is a sub-species of rat snake. the regular corn is also whats known as a "red rat snake." Corns are one of the smallest species of rat snakes, but there are others close in size. for example you may be interested in a texas bairds ratsnake. they grow to the same length, 4-5 feet, and i love mine. its just up to you, i would reccomend a 29 gallon though - strictly because corns and rat snakes love to climb, and you can give them more climbing room in a 29. but a 55 would be a lot better even!

check out my care sheet in my signature, and the kingsnake care sheet on the top of the page under care sheets/FAQ/features
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-Chris

The reason mainstream thought is thought of as a stream is because it's so shallow. -George Carlin

A fool doesn't learn. A smart man learns from his mistakes. A wise man learns from the mistakes of others. Which one are you?

My Website
Rat/Corn snake care sheet I wrote

Current snakes:
0.1 Licorice Stick Black Rat (Lola)
1.0 Black Rat (Frankie)
1.1 Texas Bairds (Jose and Rosa)
0.1 Blue Beauty (Brunhilde)
1.0 Green Tree Python (Claudius)... coming soon