Corn Snake Care Page

Reptiles aren’t like dogs and cats that can simply roam around your house. They are very sensitive to their environment, and need their own enclosure set up according to their specific needs. This guide covers everything you will need to care for your pet corn snake properly.

Corn snakes should be housed in an enclosure that is no smaller than 4’L x 2’W x 2’H. This is the bare minimum, based on the formula for calculating a snake’s minimum space needs:

Enclosure Width ≥ snake length
Enclosure Length ≥ ½ snake length
Enclosure Height ≥ ½ snake length

If your corn snake is any longer than 48”, you will need at minimum a 5’x3’x3’ enclosure.

However, if you can provide an enclosure with more height or floor space, do it! Housing your snake in a larger enclosure will encourage it to be more active and demonstrate more natural behaviors.

Substrate is the material that you use to cover the floor of the enclosure. This aspect of the enclosure is important because it contributes to overall humidity levels. For best results, corn snakes should have at least 3-4” of substrate.

The best corn snake substrate is a DIY mix of roughly 40% organic, additive-free topsoil + 40% Zoo Med Reptisoil + 20% play sand. Mix well, soak until muddy, then pack it firmly at the bottom of the enclosure. Make sure it is 100% dry before introducing the snake to the setup. For best results, scatter a layer of leaf litter on top.

You can also use a pre-packaged substrate, though this can be more costly. Depending on the brand, you may still need to add some topsoil (if too dusty) or sand (if too dense) to reach desired consistency. Here are some recommended commercial substrates appropriate for corn snakes:

The BioDude Terra Firma Bioactive Kit

Zilla Jungle Mix

Zoo Med Eco Earth

Both Zilla Jungle Mix and Eco Earth can become quite dusty when dry, these must be keep moist at all times.

Bioactive substrate
Another option is a bioactive setup. Bioactive enclosure setups are designed to mimic a reptile’s natural environment and stimulate natural behaviors. The DIY and BioDude substrates can easily support bioactivity with the addition of a “cleanup crew” of isopods and springtails that clean up uneaten food, fallen leaves, and fecal remains, making bioactive substrates incredibly low maintenance.

Reptiles are much more intelligent than we humans tend to give them credit for, and that means they need things to entertain them. Otherwise they exist in a state of perpetual boredom, which makes them dull, inactive, and overall less interesting as pets. When reptiles have objects to interact with in their enclosure, they become less stressed and more engaged with their environment. This practice is called environmental enrichment.

It’s important to choose enrichment items (a.k.a. enclosure decor) that are appropriate to your pet’s natural behaviors. Corn snakes are skilled climbers, so providing sturdy climbing objects is essential for this species. Here are some other objects that serve a vital function in a corn snake terrarium:

UVB is important for healthy metabolism, specifically vitamin D synthesis and calcium metabolism, improving skin health, and strengthening the immune system. UVB can be replaced with an oral vitamin D3 supplement for corn snakes, but this method is less effective and more difficult to regulate, so we strongly recommend using a proper UV lamp instead.

UVA is beneficial to eyesight and is sensed by their pineal gland to regulate a circadian rhythm. UVA is emitted by both UV lamps and halogen bulbs.

Infrared radiation (i.e. heat) is important for reptiles' thermoregulation. As ectotherms, they rely on the heat of the sun to warm their bodies and stimulate their metabolism, digest their food, and stay alert and active. The shorter the wavelength, the deeper it can penetrate their muscle tissue. In captivity, we can provide this with specific heat bulbs that emit the most beneficial infrared wavelengths (IR-A and IR-B).

All light and heat should be kept on a regular schedule using outlet timers or done manually. This allows for a predictable day/night cycle which the snake can follow, allowing for natural hormonal rhythms and good mental health. We recommend the following schedule for corn snakes, based on their natural environment:

Corn snakes benefit greatly from a UVB lamp in the enclosure. They are capable of surviving in captivity without UVB if they receive sufficient supplementary vitamin D3 in their diet, but simply surviving is not thriving. D3 supplement dosing is extremely imprecise and less efficiently absorbed by the body. Experts don't know much vitamin D3 corn snakes actually need, but they do know how much UVB is needed for them to self-regulate their own D3 production, so providing a UV lamp is far more natural and beneficial to promote optimum health.

UVB Bulb
Corn snakes should have a low-to-medium strength T5 HO linear fluorescent bulb. The appropriate UVB % output for your enclosure is calculated by the distance between the lamp and the basking surface (see our chart in the Distance and Mesh section below).

We recommend Arcadia or Zoo Med bulbs, as these brands produce the best and most reliable UVB lamps on the market. This lamp should be roughly half the width of the enclosure and placed on the same side as the heat lamp. So if you have a 4’ enclosure, you will need a 22” T5 HO UVB bulb.

Best 2.5-6% UVB bulbs for corn snakes:

Arcadia ProT5 6%

Arcadia ShadeDweller MAX 2.5%

Zoo Med Reptisun T5HO 5.0

Best 10-12% UVB bulbs for corn snakes:

Arcadia Desert 12%

Zoo Med Reptisun T5HO 10.0

Distance and Mesh
The bulb you choose will depend on your enclosure setup. The strength of the UVB lamp’s output varies according to distance from the bulb — stronger when closer, and weaker when further away. If you are using a Solarmeter 6.5 to measure your UVB lamp’s output, the UVI (UV Index) reading should be between 2.0-3.0 at the height of the snake's back when sitting on the basking platform, and down to zero on the cool side. Mesh will cause a 30-40% reduction in the bulb’s output.

If you don't have a Solarmeter, here is an estimate of how far the surface of your basking platform should be from the lamp, based on which bulb you are using and whether the lamp is mounted above or below mesh:

These measurements are based on Vivarium Electronics T5 HO / Arcadia ProT5 fixtures. If using a Zoo Med hood fixture, please reference this chart.

Fixture
To optimize your UVB bulb’s performance, you will need a high-quality reflective T5 HO fixture. Some lamps come in kits that already include a fixture, such as the Arcadia ProT5 kit and the Arcadia ShadeDweller MAX kit. Otherwise, Vivarium Electronics and Zoo Med make various fixtures for T5 bulbs.

Arcadia ProT5 Kit

(6% or 12%)

Arcadia ShadeDweller MAX

Vivarium Electronics

T5HO Fixture (24”)

T5 bulbs last 12 months before requiring replacement, as their UVB output decays over time. Off-brand UVB bulbs are likely to have shorter lifespans and unreliable output. Avoid “compact” and coil UVB bulbs, as these cannot properly distribute a UV gradient across the enclosure.

Corn snakes are reptiles, which means that they are ectothermic, or cold-blooded. Ectotherms need access to a variety of temperatures within a certain range in order to properly regulate their metabolism:

1. Basking area surface: 90°F
2. Warm side ambient: 78-82°F
3. Cool side ambient: 70-75°F
4. Nighttime: 65-75°F, but no lower than 60°F

All basking heat and lights should be turned off at night and kept on a regular day/night cycle that matches the same schedule as the UVB and daylight lamps, allowing for a natural temperature drop and a healthy circadian rhythm.

To track the temperatures in your corn snake’s enclosure, you will need a good thermometer. Temp gun-style infrared thermometers are useful for measuring surface temperatures anywhere in the enclosure. However, digital probe thermometers are useful for being able to track local air temperatures at a glance. It's best to have at least 2 thermometers to measure temps on each end of the heat gradient. Here are some devices we recommend for measuring temperatures:

Zoo Med Digital Thermo & Humidity Gauge

Etekcity Lasergrip 774

Corn snakes need an average humidity of 65-75% in their enclosure. Because this is just an average, humidity levels can safely dip lower during the day and rise higher at night.

A simple hand mister can be used to bump up humidity when it drops below the required range. Proper loose substrate, adequately sized water bowl, good cross-ventilation, and overhead heating will all help to stabilize the enclosure's humidity levels.

You can measure humidity with a hygrometer like the Zoo Med Digital Combo Gauge linked in the Measuring Temperature section. Hygrometers should be placed within 12” above the substrate towards the cooler end of the enclosure to give you an accurate idea of average humidity levels (or one on either side if using a thermo/hygro combo meter).

Here is a basic feeding schedule for pet corn snakes:

If using rats as feeders for adults, increase the interval to every 14-21 days.

Offer a prey item that is between 1-1.5x the width of your snake’s body at its widest point (don’t worry about head size — snakes are very flexible). Depending on the size of the feeder and the age of your snake, you may offer two prey items in one feeding session. However, do not offer more than two.

Although mice are the most common feeders, corn snakes need to eat more than just rodents to truly thrive. The key to providing a healthy, balanced diet for your pet snake is variety. Here are some good feeder options:

We strongly recommend offering frozen-thawed prey, rather than live. This is much safer for the snake, as they can be seriously injured by live animals. Frozen prey should be slowly thawed in the fridge overnight, then about 15-30 minutes before offering, seal it in a BPA-free plastic bag like a Ziploc and submerge in warm, almost hot, water until the prey reaches about 100°F/38°C. Use soft-tipped feeding tweezers to protect your snake's teeth.

All prey should be captive bred. Don’t feed your snake animals from the wild — this can make them sick! Here are some sites we recommend to buy safe, captive-bred, frozen feeders:

1. Perfect Prey
2. Layne Labs
3. Reptilinks

While in theory, corn snakes should get all the nutrition they need from whole prey, captive-bred feeder animals can be inferior to their wild counterparts when it comes to nutrition. You should lightly dust prey items occasionally with calcium or vitamin supplement to help fill in the gaps in your snake’s diet. Here is a basic supplement schedule:

Juveniles
Calcium: every other feeding
Multivitamin: mixed 50/50 with calcium every other feeding

Adults
Calcium: every other feeding
Multivitamin: mixed 50/50 with calcium every 4th feeding

Keep a large, heavy bowl of water in the enclosure at all times, big enough to accommodate the snake's entire body for soaking as desired. Keep the water clean and fresh at all times. At least once a week, scrub the bowl with an animal-safe disinfectant like F10SC or chlorhexidine before refilling.

Do not use distilled or softened water! Tap, spring, and even filtered water (assuming that it’s safe for humans to drink) contains minerals vital to your snake's health. You can dechlorinate tap water with a conditioner like ReptiSafe.

Start handling sessions at no more than 5 minutes every few days. After a couple weeks of this, gradually work your way up to longer periods of time more frequently. Once this has been accomplished, you can work up to 10 minutes, and then gradually longer from there.

Corn snake handling can occur up to 1-2x weekly, but no more than once daily.

Corn snakes have a variety of body language cues. When you learn to understand these cues, you can understand your pet’s mood and needs better, and react accordingly.

Tongue flicking in and out — Snake is “smelling” the air. This is how it knows when prey or a human is nearby. Also signals that the snake is awake.

No movement or tongue flicking — Snake is probably asleep (they don’t have eyelids to close). Approach with caution.

Head retracted, neck coiled into ‘S’ shape — Snake feels threatened and is preparing to defend itself if necessary. May also be preparing to strike at prey.

Hissing — Snake is telling you to “go away.”

Tail shaking/rattling —Snake feels threatened and is trying to scare away the perceived predator.

Musking/defecating during handling — Snake perceives you as a predator, and uses poo or an unpleasant-smelling musk to try to get away.

Clouded/bluish eyes — Snake is preparing to shed. May be extra defensive because it can’t see well.

Corn snakes can suffer from a variety of health problems including: abrasions dehydration, mites, obesity and respiratory infections. If your corn snake is displaying potential symptoms of illness, it’s important to take them to an experienced reptile veterinarian right away for diagnosis and treatment. Do not try to treat them at home, as you could make the problem worse!