Corn snakes, pantherophis guttatus, are an extremely popular species in the pet snake industry today.
They’re incredibly easy to care for, are moderately sized, readily available and come in a huge variety of colors and morphs.
Corn Snake Care Sheet
| Care level | Beginner |
| Temperament | Docile |
| Native to | Southeastern United States |
| Average size | 4-5 feet |
| Cage requirements | 36″x12″ minimum |
| Temperature | 72-88 degrees |
| Humidity | 40%-70% |
| Preferred food | Mice |
| Feeding frequency | Based on age |
| Lifespan | Over 20 years |
Corn Snake Overview
Corn snakes are in the same genus, Elaphe, as rat snakes, making them not so distant cousins.
They are a nonvenomus species which use constriction to kill their prey, usually mice. They have also been known to eat birds and even other snakes.
They can be found throughout the eastern U.S. from the gulf to the southern part of the Mississippi river, and from New Jersey to all of Florida. The largest concentration of them however, is in Florida.
Where To Purchase A Corn Snake
Choosing the right corn snake is probably one of the most important aspects of owning one. You want to choose a highly reputable breeder to ensure a good pet.
I have always had good experience with XYZ Reptiles. They consistently deliver top quality, healthy reptiles and at a good price!
How Big Is A Corn Snake?
Baby corn snakes hatch from their eggs between 2-3 months after being laid. They are 8-12 inches long when they come out of the egg. You can expect females to grow faster than males in their first year or so. As adults however, males are usually a little longer and a little heavier. Adult corn snakes average 4-5 feet in length, and weigh around 2 pounds.
Your snake will approximately double or triple in size in its first year of life depending on how much you feed it.
Feeding once per week will cause it to double, while a twice per week feeding will find it tripling in length and weight on average in its first year.
Growth slows down in the second year, and by the time your snake is three it will be at it’s adult size.
Of course snakes never stop growing, but it slows down to a point where your pet will not see any significant gains after about three years old.
Housing Your Corn Snake
Baby corns will do just fine in a 10 gallon aquarium.
Having an enclosure that small makes it hard to maintain a warm and cool side of the cage though, so you might want to go with something bigger.
Adults should have something closer to 36″ x 12″ at a minimum. That’s a little bit bigger than a 20 gallon aquarium.
Your best bet, and also the most economical, is to start your snake out on its adult sized enclosure. This way you don’t have to buy more than one. I prefer a cage that is around 42″ x 18″, or even bigger for corn snakes.
Floor space is more important than height, although given the opportunity these snakes will climb through branches. I like to have 2-3 branches in my set ups. It gives my pet a little extra exercise.
Another item your snake will need is a hide box. Two would be even better.
Keep one on the warm side of the cage, and one on the cool side.
Besides giving them a wider temperature range, this also gives them more places to hide. Corn snakes don’t like being out in the wide open where they’re vulnerable.
You should also provide them with other decorations, like fake plants. You want them to feel safe and secure as they explore the enclosure.
A final note on housing. Corn snakes like to be housed alone. Having more than one snake in the enclosure will cause stress which can lead to all kinds of bad things.
Corn Snake Substrate
Now that you have the cage and decor picked out, you need to decide on a substrate.
Some snake owners just use paper towels and that’s OK, but most people want something a little more decorative. Plus when you use paper towels, newspaper or reptile carpet, these snakes have a tendency to hide under it and will rarely come out.
I recommend using one of these four substrates for corn snakes.
- Aspen shaving
- Coconut bark
- Cypress mulch
- Reptile specific forest substrate
Stay away from cedar, pine, or other aromatic woods because they can contain contaminants that are poisonous to snakes.
Corn Snake Lighting
Even though these guys are diurnal, meaning they are active during the day, they spend much of their time burrowing underground and searching through rodent burrows looking for food.
Corn snakes can get by with natural sunlight that comes into the room through the windows.
Just don’t allow direct sunlight to shine on the enclosure as this could kill your pet, just like being locked in a car in the sun with the windows up.
As for me personally, I like to provide my snakes with UVB lighting.
Not only does it help bring out their vibrant colors, in my opinion it also benefits them. Even if it’s just psychologically.
Either way you go, you’ll want to provide your snake with 12-14 hours of light and 10-12 hours of darkness. I like to use a timer and have the lights kick on at 7am and off at 8pm.
Another popular method if you live in the U.S. is to follow your own sunrise and sunset times. Unless you live in Alaska, the amount of daylight where you live will be pretty much the same as their natural habitat.
Perfect Temperature For A Corn Snake
Corn snakes are one of the easiest reptiles to provide the perfect temperature for.
As with all snakes, you’ll want to have a range of temperatures for your pet. A warm side of the cage and a cool side allows your snake to find the temperature that it’s most comfortable in.
Keep a basking light on one side of the enclosure, and maintain a temperature between 86 and 88 degrees.
The cool side of the cage can be left in the low to mid 70s, which it should easily do.
Night time temps can be kept around 70 degrees.
Even though they have the perfect temperature range for most households in the U.S., you should still keep two thermometers in the cage. One on each side. Improper temperature and humidity are the leading causes of illnesses for nearly all reptiles, including corn snakes.
Proper Humidity For A Corn Snake
Corn snakes should be kept at an average humidity level of 40-70%.
This should be just a little higher than the humidity levels in most households. Be aware that in the winter your house may drop in humidity even more.
Keep a hygrometer in the enclosure to monitor the humidity level, and simply mist the cage if it drops below 40% for more than a day.
When your snake is shedding, you should probably keep the cage closer to the top of that range.
Check out my guide for maintaining perfect humidity for more information.
Water
You don’t need an extraordinarily large bowl for water.
Your corn snake needs a simple water dish that is big enough to coil into if it wants should be enough. Corn snakes aren’t very heavy, so you don’t need to worry about them knocking it over while exploring their cage like you do with the larger pythons and boas.
One thing you DO need though, is for the bowl to be kept clean and containing fresh water.
Besides sometimes defecating in the water bowl, they also do their business in the cage and get it on themselves. It’s inevitable for some of the feces to make its way into the water bowl.
The easiest way to handle this is to keep two water bowls. Put a clean, fresh one in the enclosure in the morning and pull out the old one. Then you have all day to clean the dirty one at your convenience to have it ready for the next day.
Corn Snake Feeding And Diet Guidelines
These guys are long and slender, so they don’t require large prey.
In the wild they will eat rodents, frogs, eggs and other prey. For your captive pet however, mice will do just fine for the entirety of its life.
Be sure to train your snake to eat frozen mice. If you need help getting started, here is an article I wrote on getting your snake to eat frozen food.
Here is a corn snake feeding chart for the size of food you can use, and the approximate feeding frequency.
| Corn Snake Weight | Feeder Mouse Size | Days Between Feeding |
|---|---|---|
| <15g | Pinky | 4 days |
| 16-24g | 2 Pinkies | 5 days |
| 25-30g | Small Fuzzy | 5 days |
| 31-40g | Medium-Large Fuzzy | 6 days |
| 41-80g | Hopper | 6 days |
| 81-140g | Weaned mouse | 7 days |
| 151-300g | Small-Medium adult mouse | 10 days |
| Breeding Adults | Medium-Large adult mouse | 7-10 days |
| Non-breeding Adults | Medium-Large adult mouse | 12-14 days |
As you become more experienced, you may want to use a more natural approach to feeding your snake, which is what I do.
You want to see a small lump in your snake’s belly after it has eaten. Feeding prey that is up to 1.5 times the diameter of your snake’s midsection works perfectly.
Mice will work just fine. This is about the size of the food, not the type.
You’ll probably notice a behavior change a few days to a week after you’ve fed your corn snake. They have a fairly high metabolism, and will often go into “hunting” mode as their food digests.
This does NOT mean they need fed again right away. Obesity is one of the biggest health concerns for pet snakes.
I recommend the feeding chart above for someone new to keeping snakes, but by working towards more natural feeding, you will gain a deeper understanding of your specific pet and its behaviors.
The Corn Snake Temperament
There’s a reason why corn snakes make such great beginner pets.
Besides their ease of care, they are also very docile snakes that adapt well to human interaction.
The temperament of the corn snake can be described like this. Corn snakes raised in captivity and handled frequently, readily adapt to human interaction. Normally shy and reclusive, these snakes can learn to recognize the scent of their owner, and have even been known to climb back onto their owners when they’ve been set on the ground. They are calm and docile, making them a great pet.
Babies can be a bit defensive and nippy, but that is a common trait of nearly all baby snakes. At this stage in their life they are the hunted more often than the hunter. They’re so small at this point that they can’t do any damage to you anyways, so it’s nothing to be concerned about.
You do need to work with your pet though. They won’t naturally adapt to handling without some effort on your part. Here is a great article I wrote about bonding with your pet snake that can help you out a lot.
Captive Corn Snake Behavior
Corn snakes are fairly reclusive in the wild.
They spend a lot of their time underground in burrows and in leaf litter, looking for food. This is also a great way for them to stay out if sight of other predators.
Their best defense is to stay hidden, with a back up plan of trying to look like a copperhead in case they are spotted. They will rattle their tail, and exude a nasty odor too when really scared.
In captivity this translates to a snake that likes to explore its enclosure, but also hide under things when possible. When they are relaxed and stress free, they can be fairly active. Especially when it is getting close to feeding day.
Corn snakes are diurnal, meaning they are active during the day and sleep at night, but many owners see their pet get more active for an hour or two after the lights are shut off.
Corn Snake Health Issues
Corn snakes are fairly hardy and healthy, with no specific issues linked directly to the species.
While it’s always possible your snake could develop an illness or ailment naturally, most health issues are directly related to the care and husbandry of your pet.
In other words, take care of your snake the right way and it will most likely live a long and healthy life.
If you want to read more about normal health concerns associated with snakes, here is a good article from VCA Hospitals.
If you do a search about their lifespan, you will often see 6-8 years. This is how long they typically live in the wild.
Corn snakes kept in captivity live much longer than that. You can expect your pet to live for more than 20 years with proper care.
Summary
You can see why corn snakes are one of the most widely kept pet snakes.
They are great for beginners, and just as enjoyable to experienced keepers.
Check out our care guides page for more information on raising snakes and lizards!