LIFESPAN:

Up to 20 years, however, with proper care sometimes even longer!

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SIZE:

HATCHLING/JUVENILE: 20 - 30cm (8-12"in) APPROX.

ADULT: 90 - 152cm (3- 5' ft), but may occasionally reach up to 182cm (6' ft) APPROX.

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DIET/FEEDING:

Corn snakes are carnivorous in the wild so they will eat rodents. When they are hatchlings they will normally eat pinkie mice (newborn mice) readily. However, when presented with a picky eater or even a stressed out baby, you may want to feed it live baby pinkie mice to get a feeding response. Once they accept the food, then you can switch them over to FT (frozen/thawed) mice. They rarely have any issues with having a great feeding response, however, theres always tricks and other tips to help them along quickly. If faced with a baby that is having trouble, dont stress out!, try what we will normally do which works fantastic! Simply place the baby in a small empty container with its food (mouse) of appropriate size, making sure it has breathing holes of course and let them be! This will allow the baby to focus its attention on whats at hand, which is food. As they get older you'll want to switch to bigger meals, so for example, pinkies, then hoppers, then adult mice.

Ensure you are feeding your baby snake once every 5 to 7 days, and once they reach adulthood, once every 7 to 10 days.

Make sure you are refreshing their water bowl every few days and pay attention if they soil (poop) their water as you will need to clean it right away. Remeber to try and not handle your snake up to about 48 hours (2 days) after feeding as they may regurgitate their food due to stress.

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TEMPERAMENT/HANDLING:

These are recognized by professional keepers and breeders as the most easy going snake to have and breed. Therefore, they are quite calm and are able to be handled readily most of the time. When ther are babies, some may have a bit of an attitude and be a bit nippy. This will eventually fade as you handle your snake little by little until they know you and are comfortable whenever they are picked up. Its very important that you give your baby snake time to adjust to its new home as you never want to stress it out more than it probably already is. Keeping your handling time to short periods but consistent will ensure that your snake gets accustomed to you quickly.

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TEMPERATURES/HUMIDITY/HEATING:

When you plan for the enclosure/housing of your snake/reptile, always ensure you are keeping one hot end and one cool end. This is because your snake needs to thermoregulate, or in other words, use external heat to control their body temperatures. They will use a source of heating to be able to digest their food, so enclosure temperatures should be around 28 - 30°C (80-85°F) on the hot end and for the cooler end room temperatures work fine around 20 - 22°C (low 70°F).

As for humidity, you can always tell if your missing moisture since the snakes shed will be in parts or small pieces. If thats the case then you need to increase humidity by either lightly spraying inside their hide, put a small size damp paper towel, by adding a humidity box (small box hide filled with moist moss not soaking) or ensuring their water bowl is refilled and that its big enough for the snake to soak in.

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HOUSING/CLEANING:

As for your actual enclosure or as they see it their new home, you dont need to get all fancy if you dont want to! On the hot end of your tank, you want to make sure they have an appropriate sized hide (big enough for the snake), and for the cool end their water dish big enough for them to soak as mentioned before. One of the most reliable sources for heat are UTH (Under Tank Heating) pads. These go under the glass of your enclosure and when properly set up as per their instructions, can last the entire life of the tank! For substrate (meaning bedding, or the floor of the tank) the safest material and best for their skin, and health in general is Aspen shavings or chips. The shavings are absorbent, soft and hold the shape of the little tunnels when your snake burrows. You never want to use pine or ceder since the natural oils in the bark will cause health issues in your snake. Remember to check and spot clean the bedding every day, and then fully replace your bedding/substrate every month to ensure your pet is as healthy as possible! Reptile carpet, newspaper or paper towel works as well for the bottom of your tank. For babies you can use a small shoe sized box/container/enclosure with ease and for when they reach adulthood, they will need something around a 20 Gallon Tank or bigger if you so choose. Tanks around 12" x 12" x 30"in work well without taking up too much space. As an added touch of nature you can always spice it up with some natural bark hides, some ledges (if the terrarium is big enough, or other decorations that they can explore. When it comes to clean up, you can spot clean pretty easily with the shavings and even better with the chip bedding. Double check that their water bowl doesnt have any soiling inside it or that the walls inside the bowl arent slimy to the touch. If so, dump the water and clean out the bowl. A quick trick is using a copper penny, as it will change the color of the water should there be animal waste inside it. This way you'll know for sure its cleaning time!.

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Remember you can always contact us with any questions or conerns you may have at any time! We will always try and provide you with tips or tricks that will help you with your new family friend so you can have a long lasting bond!

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