Common Name: Corn Snake
Scientific Name: Elaphe guttata guttata
Description: Corns snakes are a relatively small snake from the Colubridae family. They come in a range of different morphs in a variety of colours, but normal (Carolina) corns are bright red to orange with black markings. If you would like to know more about the different morphs available, please see our comprehensive morph list.
Size: 120cm -190cm (4ft-6ft)
Life span: (Captive) Pet Corns have the potential to live for over 18 years; records exist of Corns over 22 years of age.
Origin: USA (Range found throughout Central and Eastern America)
Habitat: Pine forests, rocky outcrops, grasslands, hills and around farms and grain stores. They are often found within corn stores, feeding on the rodents that feed in the corn, hence the name Corn Snake. They are a terrestial species, spening the majority of their time on the ground, but they also appreciate the opportunity to climb.
Things to Consider Before Buying:
Choosing A Corn Snake:
Always insist on handling your snake before you decide to buy. This will allow you to notice any health or temperament issues before you take your Corn Snake Home. A healthy Corn Snake will be alert, bright eyed and flicking it's tongue regularly during handling. The skin should be smooth and firm and there should be no traces of retained shed anywhere along the snake's body. If you are in any doubt about the Corn snake's health and well-being then do not purchase it.
Corn Snakes can be transported home over short distances in either a RUB (Really useful box/plastic tub with lid) or a cotton bag tied at the top. Most reptile stockists would provide these, but private sellers may not.
Quarantining your new Corn Snake is good practice if you have other snakes in the household. 2-3 months should be a minimum quarantine period.
Temperament: With the odd exception, Corn Snakes are calm, docile, placid snakes that are hardy and thrive very well in captivity. Due to their temperament Corn Snakes are a recommended first snake to keep as they are relatively easy to care for and they also do not outgrow their welcome in the way that some Boas and Pythons can.
Corn snakes do make a good choice for beginners since they are easy to handle and care for. However, they are also favorites with experienced keepers due to the vast array of beautiful colors and patterns selective breeding has produced.
Corn Snakes make great pets as they are highly unlikely to bite and have pleasant personalities. If threatened their first response is to hide, rather than strike and they will occasionally warn of predators with a little tail rattling. If your Corn Snake rattles it's tail this is nothing to worry about, just take steps to ensure that your Corn Snake feels secure and continue with regular handling until they become used to you and know that you are not a threat to them.
Handling: Corn Snakes are quite active snakes and will appreciate time outside the vivarium to exercise. Care should be taken to avoid dropping your Corn Snake whilst handling, so support your Corn Snake at all times. Approximately 10-15 minutes 3-4 times a week is a suitable amount of time for handling your Corn Snake, but this may vary depending on the particular snake. Some Corn Snakes will appreciate more time outside the vivarium, while others may shy away from regular handling. It is important for hygiene reasons to wash your hands with a good anti-bacterial handwash before and after you handle your snake. This is especially important if you have multiple specimens, so has not to pass on any infections between your snakes. Anti-bacterial hand sanitisers are widely available and are useful to have close to your vivarium for quick and regular hand cleaning.
Keeping Notes: Record keeping is a good way of monitoring your Corn Snake as it grows and develops. It is advisable to keep a written record of when your snake feeds and sheds it's skin, so that you have a resource to refer to if there becomes a problem. Regular weight and length checks are also useful as you can monitor the growth of your corn, which helps to ensure that your corn is healthy.
Feeding:
Corn Snakes feed on mice appropriate to the size of their mouth. A prey item should be approximately the same width as one and a half times the size of the corn snakes head.
Hatchling Corn Snakes start on pink mice, one every 5-6 days and graduate up to an adult mouse every 7-14 days as they grow. Very large snakes may require 2 adult mice per feed. You may also feed your Corn Snake on chicks and fertilized quail eggs to provide a variation in diet, although these are not recommended as a staple diet as these will not contain all the beneficial nutrients and minerals that rodents have. Larger Corn Snakes will also take other small rodents such as gerbils, hamsters and young rats.
Do not feed your snake with live food, even a small mouse may bite or injure your snake. Shop brought frozen rodents are available from most pet shops or bought over the internet these can be thawed to room temperature and make an excellent all round food for your snake. Wild rodents carry parasites and should be avoided at all times.
Never handle your snake straight after a feed, as it will regurgitate its meal. It is advisable to wait 48 hours after a feed before handling your snake.
Feeding your Corn Snake outside the Vivarium is recommended to ensure that no substrate is ingested along with the prey item. If a Corn Snake ingests large amounts of it's substrate then it can lead to your snake becoming impacted and ill.
If your snake is reluctant to feed, which is unlikely in a Corn Snake, then there are a few techniques you can try to encourage your snake to feed. One of these is 'braining' the mouse. Snakes are attracted to the scent of brain matter, so if you cut into the skull of the mouse to expose the brain tissue, then they are more likely to take the food item.
Shedding:
Corn snakes, like all other snakes, shed their outer layer of skin periodically throughout their lives. Young snakes may shed more frequently than adult snakes, but in general the shedding process occurs several times a year. This is nothing to worry about as a keeper, but there are a few things you can do to help your snake through this process.
Preecdysis is the name given to the changes your snake will go through whilst preparing to shed it's skin. This will include a dulling of your snake's skin colour, general inactivity and their eyes will turn a bluish grey colour. At this time your Corn Snake may refuse a feed or shy away from being handled, but this depends on the individual snake and how they handle preecdysis. While your snake is 'in blue' it is advisable to handle with care as their vision is obscured by the membrane covering it's eyes and they may feel more insecure than usual, therefore more likely to be defensive.
Most Corn snakes will handle a shed without any need for extra help, but if you want to assist your snake during this time you should try to raise the humidity in your Vivarium to help your snake loosen it's skin. You can do this by placing a larger water bowl in the vivarium so that your snake has the opportunity to soak itself if desired. You can also lightly mist the tank with water to help raise the humidity. Another useful tactic is to place a humidity box in the Vivarium. This can be a sandwich box with a hole cut in the top filled with damp sphagnum moss. Your Corn snake should appreciate the extra humidity and it will make the next stage in the process easier for it.
Ecdysis is the act of shedding, which is usually started by your snake rubbing it's head on rocks or decor to loosen the skin around it's head. Once it has worked it's head free it will continue to crawl its way out of the old skin by rolling it inside out has it moves. Once your snake has shed it's skin it should be removed from the vivarium along with any faeces that usually accompanies Ecdysis. Check your snake to ensure that the shed skin has successfully been removed, taking particular notice that the eyecaps and tail end have not been retained. If necessary bathe your snake and remove any patches of skin that have not been shed with a warm towel or tweezers, to avoid infection or death of the tissue below it.
Housing:
Corn Snakes are quite active and require appropriately sized enclosures. A medium sized vivarium (Even a fish tank with a tight fitting lid) will house your Corn Snake nicely. The vivarium should allow a minimum of 1 square foot of floor space to each foot of snake and be approximately a third of the snake’s length in height. Hatchlings should start out in an appropriately sized small vivarium as they can become stressed and stop feeding in an oversized vivarium. Corn Snakes are excellent escape artists, so care must be taken when planning their housing. Make sure your vivarium or tank has a tight fitting lid, which can be clamped down. Corn snakes are very strong and can push a loose fitting lid from a vivarium.
Climbing places should be provided as, contrary to popular belief, corn snakes do like to climb.
Corn Snakes are relatively easy to care for, as they defecate rarely, so with regular spot cleaning a full vivarium clean out should only be necessary every 3-5 weeks. When you clean out the housing, disinfect the cage furniture and the inside of the vivarium with a weak disinfectant solution or a reptile safe product. In general, if a disinfectant is safe to use for disinfecting baby bottles, then it is weak enough to use with snakes. Completely dry the contents before replacing in the vivarium with fresh substrate. For hygiene reasons it is advised to use seperate towels and cleaning cloths for your snakes.
Substrate:
Aspen shavings, newspaper, kitchen roll, repti-card - there are many different options. Here at OCCS we use repti-card as it is highly absorbent, the snakes can burrow through it and it is really cheap!
Water:
All Corn Snakes need fresh water to drink daily. Water should be given in a reasonable sized bowl which is fairly heavy to stop your snake tipping it over.
Water can also help your snake during shedding at this time your snake may be found bathing in the water.
If the snake defecates in its water bowl, the bowl must be cleaned and disinfected immediately.
Heating:
Corn Snakes are cold blooded and get heat from their surroundings. In the wild snakes bask in the sun to keep warm or move to a shady spot if they are too hot, this is called thermo-regulation. The ideal temperature for you snake's vivarium is a temperature gradient of 21-30°C (70-86°F) Heat should be provided using either a heat mat with thermostat or a bulb with a dimming stat on the roof of the vivarium surrounded by a bulb guard.
Heat mats should only cover between a third and a half of the floor space to allow your snake to thermo-regulate. This heat mat should be regulated by a thermostat to ensure that it does not overheat. Since a heat mat should provide sufficient heat to keep your corn snake happy, a basic mat stat, like the Microclimate Ministat 100 or the Habistat Mat Stat, should be appropriate. These thermostats are available from reptile shops and online, are relatively cheap, and will ensure the heat source is regulated at a safe level.
A popular alternative to the heat mat is a normal light bulb on the roof of the vivarium, attached to a dimming stat. It is important to ensure that the heat source is protected from direct contact with you snake by using a guard. Corn snakes do not feel heat in the same way that we do and do not always realise that something they are touching is burning them. A bulb guard will ensure that your Corn snake will stay a safe distance away from the heat of the bulb so burns will be avoided. The disadvantages of using a bulb as a heat source is that the bulb needs to be turned on constantly to keep the vivarium at the correct temperature. Your corn snake does not require light 24 hours a day and can suffer from stress if the light exposure is too long. It is recommended to keep your corn snake in a natural light pattern that mimics normal daytime, so a heat mat is a better choice between the two heat sources. If you do decide to use a heat mat, then a energy-saving bulb with guard can be added to the vivarium for decorative purposes to help you see your snake.
It's useful when using either method to have a small thermometer on each end of the vivarium to check the temperature. Place the thermometers near the hides on top of the substrate as this is where your Corn snake will spend the majority of it's time. One end should be around 30°C and the other around 21°C. Checking temperatures regularly is advised to ensure that your Corn Snake can thermo-regulate by moving around the tank
Hiding Places:
All Corn Snakes need somewhere to hide and may become stressed if this is not provided. This could be a cardboard box, a toilet roll tube or a upturned plant pot that can be easily replaced if it becomes soiled. Specialist reptile hides can be purchased from pet shops and over the Internet. These are usually quite expensive, but look good inside the vivarium and can be easily cleaned when you clean the rest of the vivarium..
Any hide should be just large enough for your Corn Snake to curl up in; if it is too large the snake will not feel as secure. It is advised to place at least two hides in your vivarium so that your Corn snake will have a place to hide in both the warm and cool end of the tank.
In general, it is wise to place two hides in your vivarium for your Corn snake to use, one in the warm side of the vivarium and one in the cooler side. This enables your snake to have adequate hiding places along the temperature gradient, which would allow your snake to adjust its body temperature. This is important, because for some Corn Snakes, the instinct to hide is often more insistent than the instinct to keep at the right temperature. If the snake does not control his body temperature it can lead to many problems, the least of which being digestive problems.
Breeding:
Corn Snakes breed so well in captivity that it is unusual to find any wild caught animals for sale. They come in an ever-growing range of colour and pattern mutations, which can lead to a very varied collection of just one species.
Corn snakes should be of a good age and weight before they are allowed to breed to avoid problems like egg binding. I would recommend that the minimum requirements for a female to breed would be at least 3 years of age, 3ft in length and 300 grams in weight.
Brumation
Brumation (cooling your snake down for winter) is advised to greater your chances of successful breeding. A good brumation period is about 8 to 10 weeks for the female Corn Snake. The temperature needs to be dropped gradually to around 7-18°C (45-65°F) and maintained until gradually raising it back up after the recommended brumation period. Your Corn snake should not be fed during this time, but fresh water should always be available.
Mating
In the wild the Corn Snake mating season is usually around March, so this is a good time to introduce your female to the male's vivarium for copulation. They can be left together for a few weeks. If the copulation is successful, the female will become gravid (pregnant).
Laying
Once your Corn snake has become gravid, they will need to fed more frequently to ensure they gain the vital nutrients needed for egg development. A nest box should be placed in the vivarium when it becomes obvious that the female is searching for a place to lay her eggs. A nest box can be made easily from a plastic tub. Simply cut a hole in the lid of the box that is big enough for your female to fit through and fill the tub with damp vermiculite. Once the eggs have been laid, remove the eggs. Your female will be hungry and exhausted, so continue feeding her more often than you normally would to increase your chances of a successful double clutch.
Incubation
Female Corn Snakes will lay between 10 and 20 eggs, which will need to be incubated for between 55 and 65 days (7 to 9 weeks). Try to keep the eggs at a constant temperature of 26-29°C (79-85°F). Vermiculite is a good substrate to have inside the incubator as it will help keep the humidity levels correct.
Hatchlings
If incubation is successful the hatchlings should break out of their eggs using an egg tooth. They will remain in the eggs to soak up the york for a few days before venturing out of the shell. You should watch them closely at this stage, but not force them to leave the egg before they are ready.
Once they are out of the egg, the hatchlings will all need to be housed separately. Small sandwich box type RUBS (Really Useful Boxes) are good for housing your hatchlings at this stage.
Hatchlings will require their first feed after their first shed, which should occur around a week after they hatch. If the hatchling is reluctant to eat it's first pinky, try braining the pinky to encourage them to take it. If you are planning to sell on your hatchlings, it is important to ensure that the hatchlings are readily accepting food and are healthy before selling them.
Sources: www.thecornsnake.co.uk
Scientific Name: Elaphe guttata guttata
Description: Corns snakes are a relatively small snake from the Colubridae family. They come in a range of different morphs in a variety of colours, but normal (Carolina) corns are bright red to orange with black markings. If you would like to know more about the different morphs available, please see our comprehensive morph list.
Size: 120cm -190cm (4ft-6ft)
Life span: (Captive) Pet Corns have the potential to live for over 18 years; records exist of Corns over 22 years of age.
Origin: USA (Range found throughout Central and Eastern America)
Habitat: Pine forests, rocky outcrops, grasslands, hills and around farms and grain stores. They are often found within corn stores, feeding on the rodents that feed in the corn, hence the name Corn Snake. They are a terrestial species, spening the majority of their time on the ground, but they also appreciate the opportunity to climb.
Things to Consider Before Buying:
- Who will look after your new pet if you are away?
- Can you get food easily from your local pet shop?
- Can you live with a bag of dead mice in your freezer?
- Can you handle feeding the mice to your pet?
- Are you prepared to take on an animal that could live for up to 20 years?
- Is the rest of the family happy to live with a pet snake?
- Can you afford all the equipment necessary to keep your pet happy?
- Have you done your research on Corn Snakes and their relevant care?
Choosing A Corn Snake:
Always insist on handling your snake before you decide to buy. This will allow you to notice any health or temperament issues before you take your Corn Snake Home. A healthy Corn Snake will be alert, bright eyed and flicking it's tongue regularly during handling. The skin should be smooth and firm and there should be no traces of retained shed anywhere along the snake's body. If you are in any doubt about the Corn snake's health and well-being then do not purchase it.
Corn Snakes can be transported home over short distances in either a RUB (Really useful box/plastic tub with lid) or a cotton bag tied at the top. Most reptile stockists would provide these, but private sellers may not.
Quarantining your new Corn Snake is good practice if you have other snakes in the household. 2-3 months should be a minimum quarantine period.
Temperament: With the odd exception, Corn Snakes are calm, docile, placid snakes that are hardy and thrive very well in captivity. Due to their temperament Corn Snakes are a recommended first snake to keep as they are relatively easy to care for and they also do not outgrow their welcome in the way that some Boas and Pythons can.
Corn snakes do make a good choice for beginners since they are easy to handle and care for. However, they are also favorites with experienced keepers due to the vast array of beautiful colors and patterns selective breeding has produced.
Corn Snakes make great pets as they are highly unlikely to bite and have pleasant personalities. If threatened their first response is to hide, rather than strike and they will occasionally warn of predators with a little tail rattling. If your Corn Snake rattles it's tail this is nothing to worry about, just take steps to ensure that your Corn Snake feels secure and continue with regular handling until they become used to you and know that you are not a threat to them.
Handling: Corn Snakes are quite active snakes and will appreciate time outside the vivarium to exercise. Care should be taken to avoid dropping your Corn Snake whilst handling, so support your Corn Snake at all times. Approximately 10-15 minutes 3-4 times a week is a suitable amount of time for handling your Corn Snake, but this may vary depending on the particular snake. Some Corn Snakes will appreciate more time outside the vivarium, while others may shy away from regular handling. It is important for hygiene reasons to wash your hands with a good anti-bacterial handwash before and after you handle your snake. This is especially important if you have multiple specimens, so has not to pass on any infections between your snakes. Anti-bacterial hand sanitisers are widely available and are useful to have close to your vivarium for quick and regular hand cleaning.
Keeping Notes: Record keeping is a good way of monitoring your Corn Snake as it grows and develops. It is advisable to keep a written record of when your snake feeds and sheds it's skin, so that you have a resource to refer to if there becomes a problem. Regular weight and length checks are also useful as you can monitor the growth of your corn, which helps to ensure that your corn is healthy.
Feeding:
Corn Snakes feed on mice appropriate to the size of their mouth. A prey item should be approximately the same width as one and a half times the size of the corn snakes head.
Hatchling Corn Snakes start on pink mice, one every 5-6 days and graduate up to an adult mouse every 7-14 days as they grow. Very large snakes may require 2 adult mice per feed. You may also feed your Corn Snake on chicks and fertilized quail eggs to provide a variation in diet, although these are not recommended as a staple diet as these will not contain all the beneficial nutrients and minerals that rodents have. Larger Corn Snakes will also take other small rodents such as gerbils, hamsters and young rats.
Do not feed your snake with live food, even a small mouse may bite or injure your snake. Shop brought frozen rodents are available from most pet shops or bought over the internet these can be thawed to room temperature and make an excellent all round food for your snake. Wild rodents carry parasites and should be avoided at all times.
Never handle your snake straight after a feed, as it will regurgitate its meal. It is advisable to wait 48 hours after a feed before handling your snake.
Feeding your Corn Snake outside the Vivarium is recommended to ensure that no substrate is ingested along with the prey item. If a Corn Snake ingests large amounts of it's substrate then it can lead to your snake becoming impacted and ill.
If your snake is reluctant to feed, which is unlikely in a Corn Snake, then there are a few techniques you can try to encourage your snake to feed. One of these is 'braining' the mouse. Snakes are attracted to the scent of brain matter, so if you cut into the skull of the mouse to expose the brain tissue, then they are more likely to take the food item.
Shedding:
Corn snakes, like all other snakes, shed their outer layer of skin periodically throughout their lives. Young snakes may shed more frequently than adult snakes, but in general the shedding process occurs several times a year. This is nothing to worry about as a keeper, but there are a few things you can do to help your snake through this process.
Preecdysis is the name given to the changes your snake will go through whilst preparing to shed it's skin. This will include a dulling of your snake's skin colour, general inactivity and their eyes will turn a bluish grey colour. At this time your Corn Snake may refuse a feed or shy away from being handled, but this depends on the individual snake and how they handle preecdysis. While your snake is 'in blue' it is advisable to handle with care as their vision is obscured by the membrane covering it's eyes and they may feel more insecure than usual, therefore more likely to be defensive.
Most Corn snakes will handle a shed without any need for extra help, but if you want to assist your snake during this time you should try to raise the humidity in your Vivarium to help your snake loosen it's skin. You can do this by placing a larger water bowl in the vivarium so that your snake has the opportunity to soak itself if desired. You can also lightly mist the tank with water to help raise the humidity. Another useful tactic is to place a humidity box in the Vivarium. This can be a sandwich box with a hole cut in the top filled with damp sphagnum moss. Your Corn snake should appreciate the extra humidity and it will make the next stage in the process easier for it.
Ecdysis is the act of shedding, which is usually started by your snake rubbing it's head on rocks or decor to loosen the skin around it's head. Once it has worked it's head free it will continue to crawl its way out of the old skin by rolling it inside out has it moves. Once your snake has shed it's skin it should be removed from the vivarium along with any faeces that usually accompanies Ecdysis. Check your snake to ensure that the shed skin has successfully been removed, taking particular notice that the eyecaps and tail end have not been retained. If necessary bathe your snake and remove any patches of skin that have not been shed with a warm towel or tweezers, to avoid infection or death of the tissue below it.
Housing:
Corn Snakes are quite active and require appropriately sized enclosures. A medium sized vivarium (Even a fish tank with a tight fitting lid) will house your Corn Snake nicely. The vivarium should allow a minimum of 1 square foot of floor space to each foot of snake and be approximately a third of the snake’s length in height. Hatchlings should start out in an appropriately sized small vivarium as they can become stressed and stop feeding in an oversized vivarium. Corn Snakes are excellent escape artists, so care must be taken when planning their housing. Make sure your vivarium or tank has a tight fitting lid, which can be clamped down. Corn snakes are very strong and can push a loose fitting lid from a vivarium.
Climbing places should be provided as, contrary to popular belief, corn snakes do like to climb.
Corn Snakes are relatively easy to care for, as they defecate rarely, so with regular spot cleaning a full vivarium clean out should only be necessary every 3-5 weeks. When you clean out the housing, disinfect the cage furniture and the inside of the vivarium with a weak disinfectant solution or a reptile safe product. In general, if a disinfectant is safe to use for disinfecting baby bottles, then it is weak enough to use with snakes. Completely dry the contents before replacing in the vivarium with fresh substrate. For hygiene reasons it is advised to use seperate towels and cleaning cloths for your snakes.
Substrate:
Aspen shavings, newspaper, kitchen roll, repti-card - there are many different options. Here at OCCS we use repti-card as it is highly absorbent, the snakes can burrow through it and it is really cheap!
Water:
All Corn Snakes need fresh water to drink daily. Water should be given in a reasonable sized bowl which is fairly heavy to stop your snake tipping it over.
Water can also help your snake during shedding at this time your snake may be found bathing in the water.
If the snake defecates in its water bowl, the bowl must be cleaned and disinfected immediately.
Heating:
Corn Snakes are cold blooded and get heat from their surroundings. In the wild snakes bask in the sun to keep warm or move to a shady spot if they are too hot, this is called thermo-regulation. The ideal temperature for you snake's vivarium is a temperature gradient of 21-30°C (70-86°F) Heat should be provided using either a heat mat with thermostat or a bulb with a dimming stat on the roof of the vivarium surrounded by a bulb guard.
Heat mats should only cover between a third and a half of the floor space to allow your snake to thermo-regulate. This heat mat should be regulated by a thermostat to ensure that it does not overheat. Since a heat mat should provide sufficient heat to keep your corn snake happy, a basic mat stat, like the Microclimate Ministat 100 or the Habistat Mat Stat, should be appropriate. These thermostats are available from reptile shops and online, are relatively cheap, and will ensure the heat source is regulated at a safe level.
A popular alternative to the heat mat is a normal light bulb on the roof of the vivarium, attached to a dimming stat. It is important to ensure that the heat source is protected from direct contact with you snake by using a guard. Corn snakes do not feel heat in the same way that we do and do not always realise that something they are touching is burning them. A bulb guard will ensure that your Corn snake will stay a safe distance away from the heat of the bulb so burns will be avoided. The disadvantages of using a bulb as a heat source is that the bulb needs to be turned on constantly to keep the vivarium at the correct temperature. Your corn snake does not require light 24 hours a day and can suffer from stress if the light exposure is too long. It is recommended to keep your corn snake in a natural light pattern that mimics normal daytime, so a heat mat is a better choice between the two heat sources. If you do decide to use a heat mat, then a energy-saving bulb with guard can be added to the vivarium for decorative purposes to help you see your snake.
It's useful when using either method to have a small thermometer on each end of the vivarium to check the temperature. Place the thermometers near the hides on top of the substrate as this is where your Corn snake will spend the majority of it's time. One end should be around 30°C and the other around 21°C. Checking temperatures regularly is advised to ensure that your Corn Snake can thermo-regulate by moving around the tank
Hiding Places:
All Corn Snakes need somewhere to hide and may become stressed if this is not provided. This could be a cardboard box, a toilet roll tube or a upturned plant pot that can be easily replaced if it becomes soiled. Specialist reptile hides can be purchased from pet shops and over the Internet. These are usually quite expensive, but look good inside the vivarium and can be easily cleaned when you clean the rest of the vivarium..
Any hide should be just large enough for your Corn Snake to curl up in; if it is too large the snake will not feel as secure. It is advised to place at least two hides in your vivarium so that your Corn snake will have a place to hide in both the warm and cool end of the tank.
In general, it is wise to place two hides in your vivarium for your Corn snake to use, one in the warm side of the vivarium and one in the cooler side. This enables your snake to have adequate hiding places along the temperature gradient, which would allow your snake to adjust its body temperature. This is important, because for some Corn Snakes, the instinct to hide is often more insistent than the instinct to keep at the right temperature. If the snake does not control his body temperature it can lead to many problems, the least of which being digestive problems.
Breeding:
Corn Snakes breed so well in captivity that it is unusual to find any wild caught animals for sale. They come in an ever-growing range of colour and pattern mutations, which can lead to a very varied collection of just one species.
Corn snakes should be of a good age and weight before they are allowed to breed to avoid problems like egg binding. I would recommend that the minimum requirements for a female to breed would be at least 3 years of age, 3ft in length and 300 grams in weight.
Brumation
Brumation (cooling your snake down for winter) is advised to greater your chances of successful breeding. A good brumation period is about 8 to 10 weeks for the female Corn Snake. The temperature needs to be dropped gradually to around 7-18°C (45-65°F) and maintained until gradually raising it back up after the recommended brumation period. Your Corn snake should not be fed during this time, but fresh water should always be available.
Mating
In the wild the Corn Snake mating season is usually around March, so this is a good time to introduce your female to the male's vivarium for copulation. They can be left together for a few weeks. If the copulation is successful, the female will become gravid (pregnant).
Laying
Once your Corn snake has become gravid, they will need to fed more frequently to ensure they gain the vital nutrients needed for egg development. A nest box should be placed in the vivarium when it becomes obvious that the female is searching for a place to lay her eggs. A nest box can be made easily from a plastic tub. Simply cut a hole in the lid of the box that is big enough for your female to fit through and fill the tub with damp vermiculite. Once the eggs have been laid, remove the eggs. Your female will be hungry and exhausted, so continue feeding her more often than you normally would to increase your chances of a successful double clutch.
Incubation
Female Corn Snakes will lay between 10 and 20 eggs, which will need to be incubated for between 55 and 65 days (7 to 9 weeks). Try to keep the eggs at a constant temperature of 26-29°C (79-85°F). Vermiculite is a good substrate to have inside the incubator as it will help keep the humidity levels correct.
Hatchlings
If incubation is successful the hatchlings should break out of their eggs using an egg tooth. They will remain in the eggs to soak up the york for a few days before venturing out of the shell. You should watch them closely at this stage, but not force them to leave the egg before they are ready.
Once they are out of the egg, the hatchlings will all need to be housed separately. Small sandwich box type RUBS (Really Useful Boxes) are good for housing your hatchlings at this stage.
Hatchlings will require their first feed after their first shed, which should occur around a week after they hatch. If the hatchling is reluctant to eat it's first pinky, try braining the pinky to encourage them to take it. If you are planning to sell on your hatchlings, it is important to ensure that the hatchlings are readily accepting food and are healthy before selling them.
Sources: www.thecornsnake.co.uk