Corn Snake ( Elaphe guttata )

Corn Snake

Photograph by Mike Wesemann. License: Public Domain.

Corn Snake

Photograph by scubadive67 / James. Some rights reserved.

CORN SNAKE FACTS

Description
The Corn Snake is orange-brown with orange, red, or brownish blotches bordered with black. The underside has a black and white checkered pattern, often with some orange. The tail has two black stripes on the underside. underside of the tail has 2 black stripes. There is a spear shaped or V-shaped pattern on the top of the head. Juveniles are similar to adults, but more brownish. They are good climbers and can climb trees in search of birds.

Other Names
Red Rat Snake

Size
120cm - 180cm

Environment
overgrown fields, forest clearings, farms. They hibernate during winter in colder regions. In warmer climates they shelter in rock crevices and logs during cold weather and come out on warmer days.

Food
Corn Snakes eat mainly mice and rats which they kill by constriction. Also eats lizards, frogs, birds and their eggs. Young snakes eat small lizards.

Breeding
It lays 3 - 40 eggs during the summer, which hatch from July to September.

Range
Corn Snakes are found throughout the south east and central United States, from New Jersey to Florida keys and west to Texas.

Notes
The Corn Snake is docile and reluctant to bite, and fairly easy to care for, making it a popular pet snake. Large numbers are bred in captivity. Corn snakes are good at squeezing through very small holes, so care must be taken to make their enclosure escape proof.

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Classification

Class:	Reptilia
Order:	Squamata (Serpentes)
Family:	Colubridae
Genus:	Elaphe
Species:	guttata
Common Name:	Corn Snake

Relatives in same Genus
  Baird's Rat Snake (E. bairdi)
  Emory's Rat Snake (E. emoryi)
  Common Rat Snake (E. obsoleta)
  Texas Rat Snake (E. obsoleta lindheimeri)
  Western Fox Snake (E. vulpina)