Named after corn
Either because it hunted mice in corn barns, or because its chequered belly looks like a cob of maize.
Snakes, shells and frogs · Time every day
Corn snake
Snake · from the south-eastern United States
A slender orange snake with red saddle-shaped blotches edged in black down its back.
- Size
- 1.2 to 1.5m long
- Lives for
- 15 to 20 years
- Suits
- Beginners: the gentlest pet snake
Glides after you, tongue flickering. Move your pointer and see.
Good to know
Six things about the corn snake
No venom
It has no venom. It kills its prey by squeezing.
It smells with its tongue
The flickering tongue collects scent from the air and carries it to a sensor in the roof of its mouth.
A new skin
It sheds its whole skin in one piece, like a sock turned inside out, including the clear scales over its eyes.
Hundreds of colours
Breeders have produced corn snakes in white, lavender, black, striped and many more.
An escape artist
It climbs well and can squeeze through a very small gap.
The real thing
Photos of the corn snake
Photos are from Wikimedia Commons, used under the free licences shown. They have been resized, and cropped where they appear in link previews.
Looking after one
It needs a secure tank about as long as itself, with a warm end, hiding places at both ends and a bowl of water. It eats one thawed mouse every week or two.
Before you get one
Corn snakes are calm, hardy and rarely bite, which makes them the usual first snake. They live for twenty years.
Keep going
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