Corn Snake
Pantherophis guttatus • Order: Squamata, Suborder: Serpentes, Family: Colubridae, Subfamily: Colubrinae, Genus: Pantherophis, Species: P. guttatus
Native to the southeastern and central United States, ranging from New Jersey south to Florida and west into Louisiana and parts of Tennessee and Kentucky.
Look up Corn Snake in the Snake Encyclopedia →Family
Order: Squamata, Suborder: Serpentes, Family: Colubridae, Subfamily: Colubrinae, Genus: Pantherophis, Species: P. guttatus
Conservation
IUCN Red List status is Least Concern, due to their wide distribution, high adaptability, and large stable populations, though local populations face threats from habitat fragmentation and road mortality.
Physical Description
Features a light grey or brownish-orange ground color overlaid with large, reddish-brown blotches edged in black along the back and sides. The head often displays a distinct spear-point or dart-shaped marking. Scales are weakly keeled, and the body is slender with a slightly flattened belly.
Size & Dimensions
The specimen pictured appears to be a juvenile, roughly 30-45 cm in length. Adults typically range from 61 to 182 cm (24 to 72 inches).
Habitat
Found in overgrown fields, forest openings, trees, and abandoned or agricultural buildings. Prefers terrestrial and semi-arboreal habitats with plenty of cover, from sea level up to elevations of over 1,000 meters.
Diet & Feeding
Diet consists primarily of rodents, small birds, bats, and lizards. They are constrictors that locate prey using scent and strike rapidly, coiling around the prey to restrict breathing before swallowing it whole.
Reproduction
Oviparous species that typically breeds in the spring. Females lay clutches of 12 to 30 eggs in concealed, humid locations such as rotting logs, leaf litter, or underground burrows, which hatch after roughly 60 to 65 days.
Look-alikes
Often confused with copperheads or eastern milk snakes. Unlike venomous copperheads, corn snakes have round pupils, slender bodies, distinct rectangular blotches, and lack heat-sensing pits between the eye and nostril.
Conservation Status
IUCN Red List status is Least Concern, due to their wide distribution, high adaptability, and large stable populations, though local populations face threats from habitat fragmentation and road mortality.
Cultural Significance
Named 'corn snake' because they were frequently found around grain stores in barns hunting the mice and rats that ate harvested corn. They are also one of the most popular and docile pet snakes in the world, with numerous captive-bred color and pattern morphs.
Notable Features
Known for their gentle demeanor, excellent climbing ability, and complex natural camouflage patterns that help them blend into leaf litter and forest floors.