The Enclosure

Corn snakes have a few basic needs that need to be met to ensure that they thrive under your care. The first thing would be an escape-proof enclosure. Snakes are natural-born escape artists with a body shape that makes it easy to squeeze through an amazingly small hole or crack.  A hatchling will do well in a small tank or a “Critter keeper” while an adult should have the space afforded by a 20 gallon long  aquarium. Cages need to be the proper size for the animal, well ventilated, and easy to heat and clean.

 Heating

Because corn snakes are cold blooded, heat must be provided so digestion and other bodily functions can occur. A uth (under tank heater) made for  reptiles with a .thermostat  for temperature regulation works well. Flexwatt tape is the heating system of choice for rack systems and multicage units. No matter which you use, you will need to regulate the temperature so as to not overheat the enclosure. The cage should have a warm end and cool end (72 - 85 degrees). Don’t use heat rocks EVER because they are poor at providing a thermal gradient and can easily overheat and burn your snake.

Substrate

When choosing a substrate, you want to keep in mind ease of cleaning, keeping the tank sanitary, and your snake’s comfort. Aspen and newspaper seem to be the most popular but cypress mulch, reptibark and care fresh litter are fine too. Reptile carpet can also be used but it is difficult to clean (and snake poop is NASTY!), and needs to be completely dry before it is put back into the enclosure. Avoid materials that can harbor mold like corn cob or substances that can get between the scales and cause irritation like sand. Avoid cedar and pine as these contain toxic substances that are bad for your snakes health.

Finishing off the cage set up

The cage should also be equipped with 2 hides, one on the warm end and one on the cool. The hides allow the snake to feel secure and alleviates stress. A sturdy water bowl completes the cage.

Feeding

Snakes are carnivores and eat a variety of prey in the wild. Their diet can include birds, rodents and lizards. Captive bred corn snakes generally feed on mice. Corn snakes readily adapt to frozen/thawed prey items, which is thawed to room temperature or above before feeding. Thawing a prey animal is easy, it can be thawed quite quickly in warm water. If you don’t mind wet mice, you don’t even need to leave it in a bag! Feeding thawed prey is the most recommended feeding method by most breeders and educated hobbyists because it is safer for the snake than live food. A live rodent WILL fight back if given the chance and very possibly injure your snake (and really, who can blame it?). A good rule of thumb is that the size of the prey item should be no more than 1 1/2 the girth of the snake. Snakes should never be fed on loose substrate and should be fed either in a another container or on a surface such as newspaper or a paper plate. Ingestion of loose substrate stuck to food items can lead to regurgitations or impactions and cause the death of your snake.