(Her former owner’s name was “Voltaire”, which I may keep. For now I refer to her by my favorite nickname for her.)
I have kept snakes for about 25 years, both for short-term study projects and long-term as animal companions. Mostly I have kept Kings, Corns, Gophers, Garters, North American Rats and an especially prized Russian Rat.
In my experience, males were consistently more active, confident & curious – across species. Females were consistently more shy, wary and less active – for whatever reason. (There are ALWAYS exceptions, I know.)
I recently lost my Gopher to a surprise escape. Although I had kept both a smaller & larger snake in the same vivarium for months with no problems, he somehow found an exit (since corrected with 4 clamps) and was not found after many weeks & searches.
To replace him, I wanted a snake that is alert, active, confident & curious. A local Craig’s List advertisement seemed opportune. The owner later told me by email that her snake had HIGHLY UNCOMMON traits well suited for my setup:
1. Often active, day & night.
2. When she met their cat, she advanced toward it while the cat retreated.
3. Their cat & snake often stared at each other for minutes thru the terrarium glass, as if they both wanted the snake to come out and play.
4. She often sleeps out in the open, shunning a hide box.
I bought her on New Year’s Eve and found out that she is AMAZING! I have never seen a more alert, curious, active, confident Corn Snake. She’s like a snake on amphetamines. She even crawls faster than usual, so she’s especially animating, and only rests in a spot for a few moments before continuing her treks.
She often holds her head high, whether while crawling or resting. She looks at me with a very alert, intelligent look, and sometimes watches me. She also seems to *especially* enjoy her naturalistic setup and its 3 layers of usable space.
Her base color is maple brown (not buckskin) like specimens found in SW Florida. Below is a quick description of her habitat features, and a link to photos of her and the 100-gallon vivarium.
Features: Brush piles at each end, 3 major & 1 minor hide spots, canopy with climbing arches, covered soak pool.
Left to right: Grove behind high driftwood arch, fallen log, low, succulent plant, 3 plants in base, wire grass, center rock den, Mopani grotto, shrubs & covered pool.
Plants: 17 fake species, 3 real species (live moss & lichens remain on some branches, pine sprigs).
Branches: 12, forming full-circle front & rear arches
0.1 Pantherophis guttatus (Carolina)
1.0 Pantherophis guttatus (Carolina)
1.0 Elaphe schrencki
Flickr link
