How do you look after a corn snake?

Answer 1

Provide a heat lamp. This will keep the enclosure at a natural temperature for the snake. YOu need to provide a suitable substate like reptile bark. You need to feed the snake about once a week. (more often for a juvenile) Adults will eat mice juveniles pinkies.

Answer 2

As a long-time owner of Cali kings, I cannot possibly answer your question in a paragraph. In quick sum, you will need to consider...

• Lighting
• Heating
• Humidity
• Feeding (are you willing to allow the snake to squeeze the life out of a rodent that you are responsible for killing?)
• Safety
• Water
• Tank Size
• Legality (you will probably have to register as an exotic pet owner, depending on the state in which you live)
• Time (calies should be handled daily to prevent skittishness and bad temperment)
• Eventual Size (will you have the capacity to care for an animal that will probably reach to over four feet?)
• Age (A cali will live for about 20 years. Can you care for it for that long?)

I certainly hope you haven't already purchased the snake, and are just now realizing you don't know how to care for it. Not knowing isn't the problem; If that's the case what you should have done was get your information first.

If you have yet to purchase a snake, I would suggest doing A LOT of research. internet is great. If you have questions that aren't answered on what are called "care sheets" online, going to a Kingsnake forum (kingsnake.com) is good for asking questions of actual owners and picking up some cool tips. Finally, when you go to purchase your kingsnake, ask every question you can think of. Explore kingsnake care products in the store, because you will need a reliable place to purchase the products.

Finally, enjoy My cali is like my child. She's the absolute love of my life, and I couldn't ask for a better companion. Treat your snake well, and it will know, and respond in kind.

Answer 3

This is just a basic care sheet based on my own research and experience caring for king snakes. Talk to a reputable breeder of king snakes to get more in-depth information. I advise against going to a major pet store as Petsmart and Petco, as many of the workers there(in my experience, at least) are incompetent and know very little about the animals they are supposed to care for.

Setup--as a baby, a king snake will do fine in a ten gallon. By the time they are adults, they will need at least a 20 gallon, but a 30 gallon is preferable. The tank must have a screen lid with holes for the heat lamp's. I advise that you buy a set of metal hooks made for securing cage lids for snakes, as king snakes are notorious escape artists. Use a substrate of aspen shavings. Other woods, such as cedar, have toxins in them that can make the snake sick. Sand is dangerous, as it can be accidentally swallowed while the snake is feeding, and can cause impaction and even death. Do not give the snake a gigantic tank, as snakes get stressed out in that are too large for them, and they probably will not eat and may become aggressive.

Heating--almost all snakes require a source of heat, such as a heat lamp and/or an undertank heater. The rare exceptions to this are if the temperature of the room the snake is kept in is between 80 and 85 degrees. 75 is too cool, and the snake probably wont eat if kept at this temp, and 90 is too hot and will make the snake sick. Put the heat source(s) on one side of the tank so the snake can alternate its body temp at will. Personally, I have a heat lamp AND an undertank heater on one side of the tank, but that is because my room gets cold at night. Do not leave a heat lamp on for the snake at night, even if the room gets too cool at night, as king snakes need day-and-night cycles like most animals. Use an undertank heater if it gets too cool at night. The cool side of the tank should be 75-80 degrees, and the warm side should be 85 degrees, give or take one or two degrees. ***Make sure to put a hiding place on BOTH THE WARM AND COOL SIDE of the tank****. This is because king snakes, like most kinds of snakes, need to feel secure and safe, and may put their need to feel secure over their need to be the right body temp. Artificial plants are fine in tank. Key word: artificial.

Water--snakes only need one water source. It needs to be large enough that they can soak in it when they want to, but not so large that they can drown in it. The bowl should be more wide than it is tall, so they can stretch out in it. For example, my kingsnake(who is an adult, approximately 3.5 ft long) has a bowl that about 5 inches in diameter and about 3 inches tall. Change the water every day, and give them roughly room-temp water. So no ice-cold water from the tap! :)

Feeding--king snakes only eat about once a week, or once every ten days. ***GET A SNAKE THAT IS USED TO EATING PRE-KILLED FOOD!!!****. This is very important, as live mice can seriously injure a pet snake. Baby king snakes should get one "pinky" mouse once a week. A pinky mouse is a baby mouse that hasn't grown hair yet. As the snake grows and matures, increase the mouse size appropriately. An adult king snake should be able to eat 1, or possibly 2, adult mice a week(as mine does). Even if the snake will eat more than this, do not give them any more. Their stomachs can rupture, and kill them. Snake need at least 5 days to digest a meal before the next one.

Handling--when you first get your snake, give it a couple days to settle in before you try to handle it. Pet snakes should be handled at least 30 minutes every other day to remain tame. DO NOT handle you snake within 48 hours of it eating a meal, especially a baby. As the snake gets older and settles down, it may be possible to handle it before then. My king snake can even be handled an hour after eating! If you handle the snake before that 48 hour mark, it may regurgitate its food, which trust me, is not something you want to clean up.

Shedding--all snakes shed. It is a fact of life. As babies, a king snake will/should shed about once a month, or once every six weeks. As an adult, king snakes shed much less, around once every 3-4 months. When a snake is about to shed, its eyes become cloudy and it won't be able to see, making it feel vulnerable and therefore nippy. In the very early stages of shedding, before the skin has started to come off, it is a good idea to soak the snake in about an inch of warm water for a couple minutes to help the skin come off. Do not leave the snake unattended in the water, as most will try to escape. When the snake is shedding, it most likely will not eat. Don't panic, this is normal. Handle the snake as little as possible during this period; only handle it to soak it in water. Shedding is a very stressful period of time for a snake. It makes them feel very vulnerable, and it takes a lot of energy to get the skin off. Make sure to put a (clean)rock in the tank, or something else with rough edges, such as a tree bark hiding place. This is vital!!!!! The snake needs this to help them shed: they make a tear in the old, dead skin by rubbing against the rough surface, and they wiggle their way out. The process of shedding can take up to a week, in some cases. If you do not help the snake by soaking/misting it with warm water, or giving them a rough surface, they probably won't be able to shed the skin on their own, and it will stay, becoming dry, flaky, and very irritating, possibly a danger to their health.

Answer 4

Grass snakes are used to the high tempatures of the Makdo desert in Guatamala so they need heat from a lamp constantly at a minimum of 375 degrees F. They also create their own water so watering is not needed but food is required. Chocolate covered almonds are their favorite treat but it does give them horrible diarrhea. I have many species of snakes and study their anatomy at Stanford. I hope this helps.

Answer 5

give it food and a shelter remember some snakes only eat live prey.

Answer 6

Depends on what species you plan on keeping, each one has it's own special needs.

Answer 7

by putting them in cages and feeding them the times they need to be feeded