Corn Snakes make wonderful pets. (Actually snakes in general make wonderful pets.) They are clean, quiet, hypo-allergenic and only need to be fed every week to three weeks. They make going on vacation a snap! Most of them tame down very quickly, especially ones obtained as captive bred babies. It has been very hard for me to find information on the Web about Corn Snakes specifically so I have composed a care sheet myself. Anyone with any information they think I should add to it please email me.

Babies For Sale 2007 - Abbott's Okeetees

Very Basic Corn Snake Care

Baby Corn Snakes can be kept for quite some time in a 10 gallon fish tank. One adult should have a 30 gallon tank or larger. Bigger is always better! Obviously multiple adults need a far larger cage.  They need a heating pad at one end of the tank so they can move back and forth adjusting their body temperature. There are under tank heaters that can be purchased at most pet stores. DO NOT BUY A HOT ROCK!  <click here to find out why!  Corn Snakes need a bowl of fresh water at all times, preferably large enough for them to submerge their whole body in. They like to soak themselves quite frequently. They do not need any special lighting like most lizards do. They need to be fed once per week as babies (frozen, thawed mice are best) but as they get larger they can be fed every 2 or 3 weeks. Obesity can be a problem since they don't get the exercise that their wild counterparts get. Yes, they only eat mice and or small rats. There is no substitute. So, if you are squeamish about that, maybe a snake isn't for you! Speaking of exercise,letting your snake out for some exercise on a regular basis is a very good idea. When they are small they can just come out and wind around your fingers and arms. When they get bigger they can cruise all over your body or they can be let go on the floor under close supervision. About the heating: Corn Snakes are from temperate areas not the tropics. Their enclosure does not need to be kept at 80-100 degrees! They are fine if the cage is in the 70-85 degree range with that heating pad at one end so they can lie on it to digest their food. Be careful that the area over the heating pad is not too hot. If you cannot leave your hand on it, it is too hot. Click here for my detailed Corn Snake Care Sheet

This is the enclosure that I used to keep one male and two females in. It is custom built with the dimensions 4'x2'x2.5' There is one big log/stick that goes across the whole thing and a shelf that you can barely see here. The heating pad is under those pieces of bark on the left and it is thermostatically controlled.
    They all have enough room to cruise around and stay out of each other's way. Of course, you give them all this room and most of the time they are all holed up in a snake-pile under one of the pieces of bark!

Baby Cornsnakes

In 1999 we hatched out 34 baby corn snakes. That was out of 35 eggs which is pretty impressive! I incubated the eggs right alongside the Leopard Gecko eggs in the same incubator at about 82 degrees.

Check out the pile of snakes on the right. This picture was taken when there were only about 12 snakes in there.
 

Here is one from another year that hatched out onto my hand. They are pretty tiny when they come out!
 
In 2001 we had10 babies for sale. Very similar to the ones shown here. One of my females died in 2000 thus the reduced number of babies available.

Update: In the summer of 2003 I picked up a male and 2 female hatchlings that are amelanistic (albino) and het for Snow (they carry the gene for "Snow".) They have grown like weeds and much to my surprise both the females laid healthy looking clutches in May of 2005. We shall see what happens. We have 32 eggs altogether.

Here is one of the females immediately after laying. Generally I leave them alone for awhile but I wanted to get a photo.

Sssssnake Sssstuff elsewhere...

In Memory of "Cruiser"

This is one of the few pictures I have of him. He happens to be just about to eat here.

Books you should read

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Please feel free to write me with any questions you may have at reptileszz@cox.net

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