Pantherophis guttatusRed corn snake
Geographic Range
Corn snakes may be found in the eastern United States from southern New Jersey south through Florida, west into Louisiana and parts of Kentucky. However, corn snakes are most abundant in Florida and the southeastern U.S.
Habitat
Corn snakes may be found in wooded groves, rocky hillsides, meadowlands, woodlots, barns, and abandoned buildings.
- Terrestrial Biomes
- savanna or grassland
- forest
Physical Description
Corn snakes are slender with a length of 61-182 cm. They are usually orange or brownish-yellow, with large, black-edged red blotches down the middle of the back. On the belly there are alternating rows of black and white marks, resembling a checkerboard pattern. Considerable variation occurs in the coloration and patterns of individual snakes, depending on the age of the snake and the region of the country in which it is found. Hatchlings lack much of the bright coloration found on adults. Corn snakes are not venomous.
- Other Physical Features
- heterothermic
- Sexual Dimorphism
- sexes alike
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- Average mass
- 900 g
- 31.72 oz
- AnAge
Reproduction
The breeding season of corn snakes is from March to May. The snakes are oviparous, depositing a clutch of 10 to 30 eggs in late May to July. Eggs are laid in rotting stumps, piles of decaying vegetation or other similar locations where there is sufficient heat and humidity to incubate them. The eggs are not cared for by the adult snakes. Once laid, the gestation period of the eggs is 60-65 days at approximately 82 degrees F. The eggs then hatch sometime in July through September. Hatchlings are 25-38 cm long and mature in 18-36 months.
Lifespan/Longevity
The life span of the snakes is up to 23 years in captivity, but is generally much less in the wild.
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- Range lifespan
Status: captivity - 23 (high) years
- Range lifespan
-
- Average lifespan
Status: captivity - 32.3 years
- AnAge
- Average lifespan
Behavior
Corn snakes are primarily nocturnal, but are often active in early evening. They readily climb trees and enter abandoned buildings in search of prey. However, they are very secretive and spend most of their time underground prowling through rodent burrows. They also often hide under loose bark and beneath logs, rocks, and other debris during the day. Not much is known about the reproductive behaviors of corn snakes.
Food Habits
Corn snakes do not usually feed every day. They generally feed every few days or so. Young hatchlings tend to feed on lizards and tree frogs, while adult feed on larger prey, such as mice, rats, birds, and bats. They are constrictors, meaning they will use their coils to suffocate their food before eating it. First a corn snake will bite the prey in order to obtain a firm grip, then it quickly wraps one or more coils of its body around the victim. The snake squeezes tightly until it suffocates the prey. Then it swallows the food whole, usually head first. However, corn snakes have also been observed swallowing small prey alive.
Economic Importance for Humans: Positive
Corn snakes help to control rodent populations that may otherwise spread disease. They are also widely popular as pets. They are the most frequently bred snake species for pet purposes.
Conservation Status
Corn snakes are often mistaken for copperheads and sometimes killed because of this. Also, because of their docile temperament, they are often kept as pets. Sometimes they are captured in the wild to be sold as pets. However, there are many snake breeders, so wild capturing does not pose a serious threat to this species. Corn snakes are not an endangered species. However, they are listed by the state of Florida as a Species of Special Concern because they face habitat loss and destruction in the lower Florida Keys.
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- IUCN Red List
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Least Concern
More information
Other Comments
Corn snakes are also known as red rat snakes. The common name "corn snake" is believed to have originated from the fact that these snakes are commonly found in agricultural fields, such as corn fields, as they hunt for prey.
Contributors
Karen Resmer (author), University of Michigan-Ann Arbor.
Glossary
- Nearctic
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living in the Nearctic biogeographic province, the northern part of the New World. This includes Greenland, the Canadian Arctic islands, and all of the North American as far south as the highlands of central Mexico.
- forest
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forest biomes are dominated by trees, otherwise forest biomes can vary widely in amount of precipitation and seasonality.
- heterothermic
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having a body temperature that fluctuates with that of the immediate environment; having no mechanism or a poorly developed mechanism for regulating internal body temperature.
- native range
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the area in which the animal is naturally found, the region in which it is endemic.
- tropical savanna and grassland
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A terrestrial biome. Savannas are grasslands with scattered individual trees that do not form a closed canopy. Extensive savannas are found in parts of subtropical and tropical Africa and South America, and in Australia.
- savanna
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A grassland with scattered trees or scattered clumps of trees, a type of community intermediate between grassland and forest. See also Tropical savanna and grassland biome.
- temperate grassland
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A terrestrial biome found in temperate latitudes (>23.5° N or S latitude). Vegetation is made up mostly of grasses, the height and species diversity of which depend largely on the amount of moisture available. Fire and grazing are important in the long-term maintenance of grasslands.
References
Anonymous. 1996. Animal Bytes: Red rat snake, Corn snake. Busch Gardens, Inc. http://www.bev.net/education/SeaWorld/animal_bytes/rat_snakeab.html