Corn Snake Care, Temperament, & Morph Questions!

[loud]

Warning, this will probably get pretty detailed and long! Please bear with me and thanks in advance. If you don't want to read everything, just read the tl;dr directly below.

tl;dr: Might be getting a corn snake this summer for my sister, who will be living with me. I am new to snakes with limited experience, and am essentially looking for a hardy snake that's good for a beginner, okay with handling, and fits the look I like (patternless/minimal patterns, preferably white). Breeder recommendations and advice are appreciated!

Would also enjoy hearing about corn snake temperament as well.

And yes, I've been linked to the stickies!!
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I am currently looking to get a corn snake for/with my younger sister, who will also be my roommate this coming Fall. Having heard me talk about how great it is to have a pet snake, she now wants one too but is too scared to handle mine. We originally thought about getting a Ball Python for her, but knowing that they are finicky eaters and more environmentally sensitive made me steer her towards a more beginner friendly snake. First snake that came to mind was the corn snake!

Here's what she wants
- a snake around 4 ft in length (she as originally opposed to the idea of a corn snake because she thought they were all tiny)

- a snake that's okay with being handled

- less likelihood of getting bit

- relatively easy to take care of

- does not require an elaborate enclosure (we're thinking a tub enclosure and are fine with "furnishing" it, but prefer not to drop $200+ on an enclosure. And yes, I do know the basics of what an enclosure should have... here is a link to my snake's enclosure).

I think that this fits a corn snake, but am willing to be corrected if I'm wrong.

Now, because my sister doesn't always do well with committing to pets, there's a likelihood that this snake will end up being mine. Which means that I'm adding one more requirement - the snake must be aesthetically pleasing to me. That seems to limit us to corns like blizzards (and opals?) or solid colored snakes in general (no to very, very minimal patterning). Apologies if this rubs people the wrong way! Rest assured that any pet I have will be loved regardless of looks, but I am paying money for a snake of my (our) choice that we will own for 15-20 years, so yes, looks matter. If the snake does not turn out exactly as I want it too, it's okay, but I want to stack the odds in my favor.

So, my other questions

- what morphs fit this requirement? I know blizzards do, and that's what my sister has her heart set on, but I've seen some nice solid blacks and solid reds (excluding a white or patterned belly, which is fine).

- does anyone know any breeders that produce corn snakes like this? I've contacted one local breeder, who'll be a vendor at the expo this summer, but have yet to hear back.

There is another breeder that I'd have to ship from with a good reputation and blizzards available on his website... but my friend bought a leopard gecko from him once and the animal was very malnourished, which makes me think twice about going to him.

- budget of ~$100, excluding shipping (that probably rules out adults, doesn't it?)

Aside from that, I have just a few more questions regarding general care

- everyone on this forum seems to be talking about feeding mice? Are f/t mice the way to go for even adult corn snakes?

- how tough IS it to keep a corn snake from escaping? I'm assuming that the majority of forum members here are responsible and knowledgeable, yet it seems that quite a few have had corn snakes escape from their enclosures at one point! I use binder clips to lock down my snake's tub, but is that enough?

- tell me about their temperament and likelihood to bite? Particularly as adults.

- what size tub can an adult happily live in?

If anyone can answer one or any number of these questions, I'd really appreciate it. Feel free to add anything else that comes to mind! Thanks again, and sorry for the ridiculously long post

 

[Tavia]

Wasn't sure if you were set on a color or not but when I saw these, they made me think of you. http://www.cornsnakes.com/forums/showthread.php?t=136406
So it sounds like you are really wanting something with a reduced pattern as the biggest looks requirement? Rather than color?

I think a corn should fit all of your requirements. A simple enclosure is just fine with them, as long as the basics are covered, enough hides, good temp gradient, etc as you already know.

I got my first corn in Sept '08 and have, knock on wood, never been bit by any of my 6 corns. My male Phantom was fairly feisty as a baby and struck at me a few times with a closed mouth but has almost entirely calmed down since. He was loaned out to a friend for breeding this year and for some reason was very unhappy when I went to pull him out and package him up for the drive to the friend's place, although he didn't attempt to bite me. But when my friend was getting him settled he did take a major dislike to him and made two serious attempts to bite him, that was as "mean" as I've ever seen any of my corns get and I'm not terribly sure what set him off. He did eventually stop threatening to eat my friend and went back to being calm after a week or two. The other feisty one I have is my Sunkissed Caramel, Fiona. She is a drama queen and a pro tail rattler that does sometimes like to strike at me but it's 99.9% bluff and rather cute. Sunkissed is one of the genes that has actually been linked to temperament, they do tend to be feisty at the best of times and can be a lot more bitey. They also tend to be great eaters though and not a problem to get started.

A 20L is considered the minimum size for an adult but I personally feel that something similar in size to a 40 gallon is better, I do have some of our snakes in tubs and some are in tanks. Nice thing with a tub is that you can go quite large and still spend less than on other kinds of enclosures.

All but two of my escapee's to date have been due to operator error (meaning I forgot to lock them up properly) rather than a failure of the caging.

 

[LittleFrog]

I was thinking vanishing stripes too, they're gorgeous! A bloodred might also be an option. They're patterned as hatchlings but mature into a gorgeous solid dark red

 

[Tavia]

Oh and most corn keepers do feed mice, yes. Adults almost never require a larger prey item than an extra large mouse and rats are a bit higher in fat, so other than generally being more expensive, they can also make your snake obese, if you aren't careful. That said, it's okay to feed appropriately sized rats to them.

 

[hypnoctopus]

I think Tavia hit all of your questions spot on.

And yes, pretty much all a corn snake will need throughout its life is F/T mice. Usually an adult can eat a large adult mouse, but they don't generally need anything larger than that.

If you don't find what you're looking for at the expo, I really recommend looking at the for sale section on this website, as well as the corn snake section of faunaclassifieds.com. I would also SUPER recommend checking out any potential seller on the Board of Inquiry (which is also over at faunaclassifieds.com).

Blizzards aren't usually too expensive as hatchlings (Don at SMR has them for $65 before shipping), but the price generally will increase for an older snake. A nice bloodred can also be a very pretty snake - solid red with a white belly. I also like fires. Anytime you add the stripe mutation to a morph, it usually makes the colors nicer and the pattern cleaner, so that's something to consider as well. Check out http://iansvivarium.com/morphs/species/elaphe_guttata/?sid= for a list with pictures of most of the morphs available.

Since your sister doesn't have much experience with snakes, I would opt for an older corn for her, maybe one that is 6 months to a year old. By that age, the snake should be an established feeder and should have calmed (at least somewhat) out of its flighty baby stage. For any breeder you contact, I would ask about the snake's temperament. They may not be able to give you a very accurate answer if they're a large scale breeder, but most smaller breeders will be able to help you pick a good one.

People should be posting more and more babies in the coming couple of months, so just keep checking the classifieds.