Corn Snake
Pantherophis guttatus
Our Ambassadors:
On exhibit, you can find two corn
snakes. One portrays the correct color
pigmentation, and was purchased from
a legal source. He is a permanent
resident of Snake Tale Alley, but also
enjoys visiting students during
naturalist and traveling programs. He
eats one mouse once a week during
the spring and summer months.
The second was illegally held as a pet
and was transferred to us via recommendation by the Tennessee Wildlife Resource Agency. He is
amelanistic, meaning he is missing some, but not all of the normal color pigments making it difficult for
him to use camouflage in the forest. He eats one rat pinkie once a week during the spring and
summer months.
Size
:
24 - 72 inches
Appearance:
Long and slender. Orange to brownish-yellow with large, black edged red, brown, olive-brown, or
dark-gray blotches down the middle of the back. Belly has alternating rows of black and white marks
resembling a checkerboard.
Eating Habits
:
Small rodents, birds, and bats. Being a
constrictor, it will bite its victim to hold
onto it, then wrap its body around the
prey item one or two times to suffocate it
before swallowing it whole, usually head
first.
Habitat:
Pine barrens, rocky wooded hillsides,
groves, along streams and farms
Reproduction:
Females lay 3 - 21 eggs in rotting stumps
or in piles of decaying vegetation where
heat and humidity are at the appropriate
levels. Eggs hatch sometime from July to
September.
Life Span:
10 years in the wild; 25 years in captivity
Interesting Facts:
• Corn snakes get their name from the pattern on their belly scales that resembles kernels of Indian
Corn.
• As with most rat snakes, across section of the snake would resemble a “D” shape, with a flat belly,
steep sides, and a rounded back. Some also say it resembles a loaf of bread.
• Corn Snakes are also known as the Red Ratsnake.
Resources:
• Animal Diversity: Corn Snake
• Center for North American Herpetology