Corn Snake

• The Corn Snake (Elaphe guttata) is a snake that is found throughout the south-eastern and central U.S. Known to have a docile nature, a moderate size, and attractive coloring, it is also popular as a pet snake.
• The name Corn Snake might come from the white and black pattern of scales on its belly, resembling Indian corn. Another theory is that the early European settlers found these snakes in their corn fields and corn cribs. They mistakenly thought the snakes were eating the corn—in fact they were helpful to the farmers as they were keeping down the rodent population.
• The pattern of every snake, like a zebra’s strips are its fingerprint, each individual is different. Corn snakes have glossy scales in vivid colors. They have red, orange or brownish blotches edged with black and a grayish to orange background tinged with yellow. The average Corn Snake grows to about 3-5 feet in 4 years. They do, however, continue to grow during their entire lives.
• Corn Snakes are found in deciduous forests, pine barrens, rocky hillsides and farm areas. They are most active at night or at dawn and dusk. During the day they hide under tree bark, beneath logs, rocks or other debris.
  Adult snakes eat about every 7-10 days. Their diet consists mostly of mice and rats but they also eat birds, lizards, fish and frogs which they kill via constriction.
  
• Corn Snakes breed in early spring. Egg laying occurs more than a month after mating. An average of 12-24 eggs are deposited into a warm, moist hidden location. Each egg is oblong with a leathery flexible shell. Approximately 10 weeks after laying the young snakes use a specialized scale called an egg tooth to slice slits in the shell.