Beginner Corn questions...

[thecatalyst78]

I dont have a snake yet but want one. I was wondering though and couldnt find it anywhere on the site, do the different colours of Corn snakes affect personality in any way? Is one type of colour harder to raise than another...does one type grow bigger etc? Do females lay eggs even if they haven't mated, and does one sex have different personnality traits? Thanks a lot for any info.

Also how does the description thing work on who owns what...some people have Gecko 1.1, Corn .3 etc., what does this mean, as if you have .1 or .3 or something then we have problems I'm thinking... :p

[vanderkm]

The numbers thing first - they stand for number of males.females.unknown in your collection - so 2.1.6 is 2 males, 1 female, 6 unknown sex.

The corn questions - first they are great snakes - one of the absolute best species to work with!! We have found some differences in personality related to color, but those may also reflect differences in genetic background because the ones we have that are different colors are from different breeders mostly. Of all the morphs we have, the ghosts are the most curious and bold - really fun snakes, often out and always looking around - and even more so than their snow sisters. Other than that, we haven't seen much difference based on color - individuals seem to vary as much within color type as between colors. Some hypo lines (hypoOkeetees) have been reported by others to be persistent biters but we don't own any.

Miami and butter strains as well as Rosy Ratsnakes in the early years of development did prefer anoles as prey and could be harder to get started on pinky mice. Most of that has apparently been bred out of these lines.

Most of the very large corns have been normal males, although there seem to be quite a few large snow males as well. We have found males get longer than females in general, but there is a lot of variation.

Female corns can lay slugs (infertile eggs) without ever being bred. This can result in egg binding as slugs can be hard to pass. There have been suggestions that the female needs to have at least been around a male (same household, but no actual breeding) for this to occur.

We have not seen consistent personality differences between males and females - some individual corns may be very distinctive in personality but all of ours have been basically calm, curious, non-aggressive snakes that are excellent feeders and very tolerant of handling.

good luck in finding one - just one warning - they are highly addictive!!

mary v.

[D J N]

Originally posted by vanderkm
good luck in finding one - just one warning - they are highly addictive!!

mary v.


You got that right mary they are very addictive and they are small so ya can house lost in a rack type system.

[BrianS]

I just expanded from arachnids to corns myself and I really like 'em!!! I wouold have to say that they are one of the best beginner snakes out there. Mine are very calm and docile and don't mind being handled.

[thecatalyst78]

Wow...so much info, thanks. Yeah I started with a Leopard Gecko, rescued an Anole at work (brake parts factory for cars) which came in a material shipment from somewhere in the world and now time for something else.

[tai_pan1]

Be warned! One corn will NOT be enough! 12 step programs will NOT work. You will NEED to get more corns.