Corn Snakes: An Active and Easy to Care For Exotic Pet

If you’re new to the world of reptile keeping, you might want to take a look at corn snakes for your first pet snake. They are one of the easiest animals to care for and are readily available at most exotic pet shops.

Just because they are common doesn’t mean they aren’t fascinating to watch and interact with.

What to know about corn snakes

There are a few things that make corn snakes stand out from other reptile pets. For one thing, they are great for beginners because they are so easy to handle. Well, mostly. Corn snakes tend to be docile and non-aggressive, but they are quite active, meaning that if you hold them, be prepared for them to climb all over you.

You may also find that corn snakes, especially as babies, may be prone to biting. That being said, the bite of a baby corn snake is not really painful, and they do not latch on.

A big thing to keep in mind, that is actually true of most snakes, is that if you buy a corn snake as a baby, it is going to get much, much bigger over time.

How big? Adult corn snakes stay fairly slender, but they vary in length from about three to five feet, with some outliers being shorter or longer.

Don’t be fooled by how tiny they start out. You will eventually need room for a full grown snake.

What do corn snakes look like?

Aside from being a long and slender snake, corn snakes are often orange or yellow-brown in color, with a pattern of black-edged, red or brown blotches. That is the color pattern most often seen in the wild.

Domestic corn snakes, however, can come in several different morphs, including:

• Amelanistic
• Anerythristic
• Okeetee
• Snow
• Lavender
• Bubblegum
• Blood red
• Palmetto
• Blizzard
• Creamsicle
• Fluorescent Orange
• Ghost

This is, of course, not a complete list, as there are literally hundreds of corn snake morphs available.

Taking care of a corn snake

Because they are slender snakes, corn snakes tend to be a bit fragile, especially as babies. You’ll want to handle them with care and not let children handle baby corn snakes.

Corn snakes are carnivores that eat small prey, such as mice and small rats.

The great thing about corn snakes is that they are perhaps the easiest pet reptile to keep. Their care needs are fairly minimal. They need space to climb around, water available regularly, and frozen or live food once a week.

In fact, most keepers find that corn snakes are easy to feed and readily accept prey. The thing to watch out for is overfeeding, as these snakes are often happy to take as many rodents as you give them. (Check out our article on the dangers of obesity in snakes for more information.)

Come check out the corn snakes at The Tye-Dyed Iguana in Fairview Heights to see if they’re the pet for you.