Corn snakes (Pantherophis guttata) are easily the most common snake kept as pets in the UK today. Native to North America, they are a member of the Rat Snake family and also known as the Red Rat Snake. We probably all know at least one person that has one, but why are they such great pets?
1. They’re a family pet
Due to their non aggressive behaviour Corn Snakes are at ease with all members of the family. Adults and children can both hold and play with them confident that they will not get bitten. It’s very rare for the snakes we sell to bite, but Corn Snakes are especially well behaved.
2. They’re easy to care for
Setting up a Corn Snake vivarium is fairly straight forward. You can watch the video at the bottom of this page to see exactly how it’s done!
3. They’re very low maintainence
Young Corn Snakes only need to be fed defrosted food once a week. Adults are fed once every 2 weeks. Apart from that, it’s just a case of checking they are warm enough and have fresh water. If you spot clean the vivarium you may only need to change the substrate once a month!
4. They’re available in loads of colours
There are literally countless variations now of the common Corn Snake. You can choose the perfect colour Corn Snake to suit you.
5. They’re easy to breed
If you’d like to have a go at breeding your pet, Corn Snakes are ideal. Even beginners with reptiles can breed them, we’ll happily show you how it’s done when the time comes.
Link to equipment needed for a Corn Snake setup.
What do you think about Corn Snakes? Do you already have one? Tell us about your experiences by commenting on our blog.
I got into corn snakes about a yr ago.. and now have 3,one adult and two sub adults .. all great snakes with very different personalities… very easy to maintain even the feed bill isnt that big. Fascinating to watch and handle.. i find my adult just likes to find a warm spot rond me neck and will happily stay there for over an hour… Infact id say they were that easy to maintain and a pleasure to own you can easy get carried away i originally only wanted one corn snake and one python…. but cant recommmend them enough providing that person does their homework and invests in the right equipment and preventions i.e bulb guards and viv locks.. then there is advice and care sheets everywhere.
Personally I think corn snakes are great and you mention many of the major points. They’re also typically one fo the cheaper snakes to buy which makes them a great starter snake and unlike some others they rarely (if ever) seem to go off their food.