Care guide
Disclaimer: This is a basic care guide. Throughout the hobby we have many opinions on how best to care for Corn snakes. Remember what's best for your Snake and your situation, may be different than someone else.
Basic Care Guide
Corn snakes are a species of rat snake, they are non-venomous and harmless!
Corn snakes can live 10-20+ years when properly cared for, they range between 3.5-5ft in length.
If you're getting a hatchling, Consider getting a 10 or 20 gallon tank with a good screen top that locks, be sure there are NO gaps. Corn snakes are escape artists, it's for that very reason I do not recommend front opening enclosures until your snake is much older. I've seen way to many posts on Facebook groups of lost snakes due to this very reason. A 20 gallon long could house your snake for up to 2 years, at that point as a pet owner I understand wanting the best for your animals. Feel free to explore larger enclosure options for your corn snake.
Now for heating, I personally use Heat tape or heating pads placed under the enclosure. Always use thermostats! you don't want to cook your snake. I keep my warm side around 85 and my cool side at room temp so 72-75. There are other heating options, however I am not experienced enough with them to offer advice. Just stay away from hot rocks, they're a horrible hazard.
For substrate I use Pine or shredded Aspen, I know pine gets a bad rep in use with reptiles. Phenols contained in the wood are what makes its use dangerous, but most pine is Kiln dried these days and that pretty much removes most of it, making it safer for use with pets. Just be sure to check that it is in fact kiln dried if you decide to use it.
Hides I add one to the hot side and have one on the cool end, if your snake has trouble shedding you may want to add a humid hide as well. Just use some damp moss or even damp paper towels to a hide or cut a hole in a container and use that. Add any other decorations you want, mine really like paper towel tubes. Stay away from aquarium decorations, I've seen snakes get stuck and become injured from their use.
Make sure to provide your snake with fresh clean water, don't use city water it may contain chlorine and fluoride, these could be harmful to your snake. Get bottled spring water if necessary or use Reptisafe water conditioner.
Feeding guide
Snakes don't grow all at the same rate, so you may have to adjust your feeder size to accommodate your individual snake. Food items should be roughly 1.5 times the widest part of your snake’s body. You should be able to see a noticeable bump in your snake’s body after it eats, if you can no longer see a bump, it may be time to move up in prey size.
Hatchlings - feed 1 pinky mouse every 5-7 days
Follow the guideline above then move to 1 fuzzy mouse every 7 days
Once your snake starts eating small mice start feeding every 7-10 days
Once your snake starts eating medium to large mice start feeding every 12-14 days
Adult corn snakes shouldn't need anything Bigger than a large mouse once every 14 days. It's really just that simple! also there really is no need to feed more than one food item at a time, stick with feeding mice and follow the guide above and your snake won’t fall victim to obesity which is sadly very common to see.
Commonly Asked Questions
Q: When will my snake Shed?
A: Hatchling Corns will shed more frequently than adults roughly every 3-8 weeks, by the time they're full grown they'll shed every few months or so.
Q: My snake was in blue and is now looks normal is something wrong?
A: Corn snakes when they start the shedding process will have a cloudy look to their eyes and skin, after a bit of time that cloudiness goes away and soon after that they will shed their skin. No worries its totally normal!
Q: Why is my corn snake hiding all the time?
A: That's pretty much what snakes do! try adding more clutter and hides your snake may feel safer coming out more.
Q: My corn snake escaped what should I do?
A: If your corn snake has escaped its enclosure, the first thing I recommend doing is picking up anything laying on the floor, thoroughly look through items and look along the baseboards, check every nook and cranny and I mean EVERY nook and cranny, I've seen photos of baby corns finding their way into loose doorknob fittings. Make sure to check under everything and look through every room with a fine-tooth comb. If you haven't found your snake after searching, you can set out "traps" using a LIGHTLY sticky tape like blue painters’ tape and laying strips between doorways and along walls. Do not use duct tape, packing tape or gorilla tape. The best thing is prevention making sure to have a VERY tight-fitting lid with no gaps.
Q: My corn snake still acts hungry after I just fed him/her, should I give it more food?
A: It's normal for snakes to still be in search for food right after a meal, they're in food mode and will act like this for hours after at times. Do not give your snake more food! It's very important to feed your snake appropriately, if your snake becomes obese it will shorten their lifespan.
Q: Do I need to feed my snake in a separate container?
A: No, It used to be believed that snakes would always associate you with food if you did this and risk being bitten as a result. This is not the case, I have 30+ snakes and I feed all of them in their enclosures. You do want to be sure that your mouse is dry and doesn't ingest much if any substrate though.