turtles lizards snakes
frogs
Reptiles of the United States  
  Home Email Site map
A Guide to the Reptiles &
Amphibians of the United States
Home snakes lizards Turtles turtles salamanders
Snakes of the U.S.
UDG-Banner (55K)
 



Corn Snake Range Map






Corn Snake Video




Corn Snake Juvenile

Home »» Snakes »» Colubridae (Colubrids) »» Corn Snake (Pantherophis guttatus)


Corn Snake (Pantherophis guttatus)STATUS





Description: As an adult the corn snake may have a total length (including tail) of 2.00 to 5.97 feet. In the wild, it usually lives around ten to fifteen years, but in captivity can live to an age of 23 years or more. The record for the oldest corn snake in captivity was 32 years and 3 months. The natural corn snake is usually orange or brown bodied with large red blotches outlined in black down their backs. The belly has distinctive rows of alternating black and white marks. This black and white checker pattern is similar to Indian corn which is where the name corn snake may have come from. The corn snake can be distinguished from a copperhead by the corn snake's brighter colors, slender build, slim head, round pupils, and lack of heat-sensing pits.


Habitat: In the wild, the corn snake prefers habitats such as overgrown fields, forest openings, trees, palmetto flatwoods, and abandoned or seldom-used buildings and farms, from sea level to as high as 6,000 feet. Typically, the corn snake remains on the ground until the age of four months but can ascend trees, cliffs, and other elevated surfaces.

In colder regions, the corn snake brumates during winter. However, in the more temperate climate along the coast, it shelters in rock crevices and logs during cold weather. It also can find shelter in small, closed spaces, such as under a house, and come out on warm days to soak up the heat of the sun. During cold weather, the corn snake is less active so it hunts less.


Range: It can be found in the Southeastern United States ranging from New Jersey to the Florida Keys.


Found in these States: AL | CA | DE | FL | GA | KY | LA | MD | MS | NC | NJ | PA | SC | TN | TX | VA | WV


Diet: Like all snakes, corn snakes are carnivorous and, in the wild, they eat every few days. While most corn snakes eat small rodents, such as the white-footed mouse, they may also eat other reptiles, or amphibians, or climb trees to find unguarded bird eggs.


Reproduction: orn snakes usually breed shortly after the winter cooling. The male courts the female primarily with tactile and chemical cues, then everts one of his hemipenes, inserts it into the female, and ejaculates his sperm. If the female is ovulating, the eggs will be fertilized and she will begin sequestering nutrients into the eggs, then secreting a shell.

Egg-laying occurs slightly more than a month after mating, with 12 to 24 eggs deposited into a warm, moist, hidden location. Once laid, the adult snake abandons the eggs and does not return to them. The eggs are oblong with leathery, flexible shells. About 10 weeks after laying, the young snakes use a specialized scale called an egg tooth to slice slits in the egg shell, from which they emerge at about 5 inches long.


Status: Listed as Least Concern in view of the large extent of occurrence, area of occupancy, number of subpopulations, and population size, and because the species probably is not declining.


Taxonomy: Until 2002, the corn snake was considered to have two subspecies: the nominate subspecies (P. g. guttatus) described here and the Great Plains rat snake (P. g. emoryi). The latter has since been split off as its own species (P. emoryi), but is still occasionally treated as a subspecies of the corn snake by hobbyists.

»» Kingdom: Animalia - Animals
   »» Phylum: Chordata - Chordates
     »» Subphylum: Vertebrata - Vertebrates
       »» Class: Reptilia - Reptiles
         »» Order: Squamata - Scaled Reptiles
           »» Suborder: Serpentes
             »» Superfamily: Colubroidea
               »» Family: Colubridae - Colubrids
                   »» Genus: Pantherophis
                     »» Species: Pantherophis guttatus - Corn Snake

This article uses material from the Wikipedia article "Corn Snake", which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0. Content may have been omitted from the original, but no content has been changed or extended.

 

 

 

 


Recommended Books at Amazon.com


U.S. Guide to Venomous Snakes and Their Mimics     Venomous Snakebite in the Western United States     Venomous Snakes Of The Southeast     The 10 Most Dangerous Snakes in the United States and Canada



DISCLAIMER: We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn advertising fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated websites.

 

 
 

Disclaimer: ITIS taxonomy is based on the latest scientific consensus available, and is provided as a general reference source for interested parties. However, it is not a legal authority for statutory or regulatory purposes. While every effort has been made to provide the most reliable and up-to-date information available, ultimate legal requirements with respect to species are contained in provisions of treaties to which the United States is a party, wildlife statutes, regulations, and any applicable notices that have been published in the Federal Register. For further information on U.S. legal requirements with respect to protected taxa, please contact the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

 
Copyright © 2008 - Herpedia™.com