EQUIPMENT REQUIRED FOR A CORN SNAKE

Corn Snakes are found throughout the south-eastern and central United States. Their
docile nature, reluctance to bite, moderate adult size (1.21.8 meters or 46 ft), attractive
pattern, and comparatively simple care make them excellent and popular pet snakes. In
the wild, they usually live around 10-15 years, but may live as long as 23 years in captivity.
When choosing your first snake you will have to decide as to whether you would like to
start with a hatchling or a yearling. Breeders normally sell on hatchling snakes as soon as
they have shed their skin and taken their first food. This can be anything from 3 to 10 days,
so hatchlings can be very young.
Housing: A 36" x 15" x 15" vivarium should be big enough to house up 1 corn snake. As a
general rule you should not keep more than one snake in a vivarium as most snakes can
be cannibalistic, and should never be fed together, you could end up with one larger
snake. Corns are active early morning late evening and mostly nocturnal so do not need
special lighting.
Temperature: A heat gradient from 7075F (2124C) on one end of the vivarium to 80
85F (2629C) on the other is thought optimal to allow the snake to regulate its body
temperature by moving from one part of the vivarium to the other, as necessary.
Insufficient heat available in an enclosure at any point may lead to poor digestion,
respiratory infections, and death, while excessive heat which the animal cannot escape,
can cause neurological damage. You will need to be able to regulate the heat by using a
dimmer thermostat. A thermometer placed inside the tank is essential to make sure the
temperature is maintained.
Dcor: Corns like to hide up during the day so make sure that you put enough dark hides
cave areas in the vivarium. Use rocks, logs, artificial caves, hides and artificial plants,
these are ideal. Make sure to put a rock or stone underneath the basking area as the heat
will be absorbed by the stone and will make a nice warm place for the snake when it is
active during the night. .
Provide several areas for the snake to climb on, Branches or vines.
Water: Make sure to keep a fresh supply of water in a sturdy drinking bowl for the snake.
You might find that some snakes use the water to defecate in so it is advisable to change it
on a daily basis
Feeding: Snakes do not require live prey (which may injure the snake, and which is

considered animal cruelty in the UK) and many corn snakes feed readily on pre-killed
rodents which can be purchased as frozen from specialist pet shops, then completely
thawed in warm water, prior to feeding. The food is not required to be warm (above room
temperature) for the snake to eat it, but it must be thawed, and usually dry. Hatchlings
should have a pinkie (day old mice) about every 5 days. As the snake grows older you
should increase the size of the mouse and extend the feeding period so that eventually as
an adult they will be feeding weekly. Corn snakes can be overfed. To judge the size of the
mouse as a general rule, a snake can eat a mouse/rat that is twice as wide as the snakes
widest part of its body.
Substrate: If substrates such as aspen or Beech chips are used, the snake should be fed
in a separate empty container, to prevent ingestion of chunks of substrate, which may lead
to internal injury.
Ecdysis/Shedding: Whilst young, corn snakes shed their skin quite often. You will notice
that they will be due to shed by the blue cast over their eyes and the skin becomes duller
and darker; once this has cleared they will shed within a few days. You may also find that
they will go off their food before a shed as well. Once they have completed their shedding
they will return to eating properly.
General Information: After many generations of selective breeding, domesticated Corn
Snakes are found in a wide variety of different colours and patterns. These result from
recombining the dominant and recessive genes that code for proteins involved in
chromatophore development, maintenance, or function. New variations, or colour morphs,
become available every year as breeders gain a better understanding of the genetics
involved.
John Gamesby