Cornsnake Husbandry
The Care for Corn Snakes, Emory Rat Snakes and the Hybrid cross of these two snakes is the same.
Scientific Classification:
Corn snakes are members of snake family Colubridae, which includes Kings, Milks, Bulls, Pines, Garters, Waters and Racers. Previously, Corn snakes were known as the species Elaphe guttata but have recently been taxonomically reclassified to Pantherophis guttatus. New changes in classification have also seen the identification of the Corn snake as the sole species in the class Pantherophis guttatus as the Emory Rat snake and the Slowinskii are now recognized a full species of their own and are no longer considered sub-species of the Corn.
Size:
Corns are a medium sized averaging 4-5 feet, although some have been reported to get at long as 6 feet. When first hatched Corns are 9-12″ long and 4-10 gms. At adulthood males (average 54″/4′ 6″) are generally larger than females (average 48″/4′). Although these sizes can vary greatly depending on the type of Corn, some tend to be smaller only averaging 30″/2″ 6″ and some averaging closer the the 5′ 6″ mark. Weight of the snake varies greatly with the size, age and sex of the snake.
Lifespan:
Captive corns, given proper husbandry, average from 10-20 yrs.
Health:
UNDER CONSTRUCTION
Feeding:
First of all in captivity we feed Corn snakes mainly mice and occasionally rats. Mice are the preferred staple prey item as they have a lower fat content and the snake is less likely to end up with a weight problem, on a diet of mice. As well some Corns when offered rats will gain a preference for them and then refuse to eat anything else. Mice give a complete nutritional diet for the snake and there is no need to give anything else.
There are a couple of different ways a person can go about determining what size prey items and how many of them to feed to their snake.
1. Weigh snake and prey item @ each feeding
This is the method I recommend. I say this because if you weigh your snake each feeding, you will know if it is gaining, maintaining or loosing weight. Weight being one of the best indicators of health in reptiles, it is a great thing to know what the weight of your snake is doing. Simply, purchase an inexpensive digital kitchen scale (Walmart) that will weigh in 1 gram increments and has the tare function (zero out with something, like a container, on it). An experienced keeper, Dean P. Arnold II aka Roy Munson, from the corn snake community on www.cornsnakes.com has created The Munson Plan, a simple feeding guideline to use based on the weight of your snake and the mice you are feeding it.
The Munson Plan (Sample Feeding Chart): Revised 06/08/08
-When they’re on single pinks (2-3g), I feed every 5-6 days. (Snake = 4-15g)
-Double pinks (3g x 2) every 5-6 days. (Snake = 16-23g)
-Small fuzzies (5-7g) every 6-7 days. (Snake = 24-30g)
-Regular fuzzies (7-9g) every 6-7 days (Snake = 30-50g)
-Hoppers (9-12g) every 6-7 days (Snake = 51-90g)
-Weaned (14-20g) every 7 days (Snake = 91-170g)
-Adult (20-30g) every 7-x days (Snake = 170+) See below.Note: Adult females are fed more frequently than adult males (especially following brumation). Adult females are fed every 7-12 days; adult males are fed every 11-14 days. This is by no means scientific, and not all corns will cooperate 100% with the schedule. The weight ranges I gave for the prey and snakes are approximate.
Dean P. Arnold II
Keep in mind that your snake is like any other animal and as Dean mentioned above will not always follow our written plans, some will gain faster or slower than others, some have higher or lower metabolisms. For that reason I have described at the end of this section what a healthy, overweight and underweight Corn looks like. Use your best judgment and tailor the plan if need be based on the growth of your snake.
2. Size of your snake’s body as a guideline.
This method leaves everything up to guesswork and estimation. You take a look at your snake’s body and the thickest point. Now you select a mouse that is no larger than 1.5 times the thickness of the thickest spot on your snakes body. This is generally a safe size to feed to your corn snake and not cause it to regurgitate (throw up). If you are going to use this method and are nervous about the size of the mouse then select one that is no larger than 1.25 times the size of the thickest part of your snake. When I say not larger than 1.25-1.5 times the thickest point on your snake, I am referring to the thickness of the mouse as well and not the length of it. This way does not allow you to track your snakes weight though.
Feeding Frozen Thawed (F/T) vs. Live vs. Fresh Killed (F/K)
This is often the heart of much controversy. Many breeders and keepers (myself included) alike will recommend feeding F/T vs. Live or F/K for many reasons.
Frozen Thawed (F/T) is safest way to feed your pet snake. Yes, in the wild your snake would hunt and kill a live animal for it’s meal BUT in the wild, if your snake was not hungry it would not be near that animal. Only a hungry snake will strike and kill the prey item but a prey animal will always fight back and even attack in defense and fear. In the wild, your snake and that prey animal are not trap in a very small confined space. If your snake is not hungry or misses the prey has lots of space to get away in and chooses flight vs. fight. In captivity it is the opposite, the prey animal has nowhere to choose flight so it has to choose fight. Many pet snakes have been harmed, some seriously and some even killed by prey items as small as mice!
Other benefits to F/T is that you can ensure you have a stock on hand, it is easier to choose an appropriate size on feeding day, it is not as cruel to the prey animal, by having frozen the prey item some of the bacteria that it carries is killed off in the freezing process, many stores will not sell live prey items, and no need to have live prey items in your house. Live prey items can be smelly and if they escape can multiply and/or cause damage to your home.
Live is not the only way you are going to see a snake strike, coil and constrict it’s prey. Many snakes will do this procedure with F/T and unfortunately for the snake, many in captivity do not do it at all, even with live! All animals carry a variety of bacteria in their stomachs, if feed live then all of these bacteria are also still alive. Some people thing that live is cheaper (they will catch their own) but you put the health of your snake at serious risk for all kinds of problems if you feed wild caught live prey, as you have no idea if that prey has a disease, is sick with some thing that can be transferred to your reptile or has gotten into or ingested something toxic to your snake.
Fresh Killed (F/K) is basically a middle ground. It is not as dangerous as feeding live, the prey item can not fight back, but you will still have all present bacteria alive and well inside of the F/K mouse. If not done correctly, it can be very cruel to the mouse, the most humane way to kill the mouse if you are going to use F/K is to practice cervical dislocation.
A healthy Corn should have an appearance similar to a loaf of bread. Their underbelly should have a flat bottom and edge to it and then the top of the snake will sort have a small roundness to the rest of them, much like the top of a loaf of bread.
An overweight Corn will have no definition from the sides to the underbelly, the underbelly will be rounded like the top (back) and there may be an appearance of “hips” just before the vent. This happens when fat builds up around the pelvic area just like in a human. Extra weight on a snake is detrimental to their health and can ultimately lead to premature death.
An underweight Corn will have a triangular look to it when looking from above it. The spine will be visible (to varying degrees depending on how under weight the snake is) and the sides will slope downward to the underbelly giving a look similar to that of a triangle. Underweight is a problem that is generally easily fixed, by simply increasing the amount of food or the frequency of feedings. While bringing a Corn back up to a healthy weight be sure to keep an eye on the look of the snake as you do not want to end up with and overweight snake.