Maize snake: description, maintenance and care at home

2024 Author: Priscilla Miln | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 00:21

Maize snake is the common name for non-poisonous snakes of the family Snails, the genus Panthoropis. They are also called red rat snakes. They received the second name for the peculiarity of appearance. Terrariumists who keep these reptiles in their collections call them "gutata" and also "spotted climber".

Before acquiring such a pet, you should weigh everything well. Do not make spontaneous decisions based only on the beautiful appearance of an exotic pet.

Appearance

A snake can reach a length of up to two meters, but more often the average length does not exceed 1.5 meters. Reptile collectors collect maize snakes of different types, that is, different in color. But the main version looks like this: an orange background, black stripes surrounded by gray spots. The abdomen is characterized by the presence of a mesh pattern of a white-gray tone.

In addition to the main color, there are several morphs that differ in color. The most common and loved by the owners of serpentariums is a morph completely devoid ofblack pigment. Attracts in this subpopulation pink or red eyes, white-pink or red color. There are morphs with brown or grey-brown ventral scales. There are variations with a complete absence of red pigment.

A very popular terrarium morph of the maize snake with a mutation that produces yellow tints where red pigment should be. The “lava” morph is interesting in color - individuals of such reptiles have a predominant black pigment, making it look like a black and white photograph of a red snake.

The Lavender morph has the most interesting mutation. His appearance ranges from soft lavender to brownish (coffee) hues.

Natural environment

In natural conditions, the maize snake moves mainly along the surface of the soil. In some cases, he can freely climb a tree or shrub. It lives in deciduous forests, but is also found on barren soils at the foot of rocks. Rat snakes love to settle in large numbers on farmlands throughout America, Mexico and the Cayman Islands.

In its habitat, the maize snake crawls exclusively on the ground for about four months, but after that it often climbs trees or bushes, rocky elevations.

What does the red rat snake eat

In the wild, the spotted snake prefers to hunt in the evening and before dawn, when prey is better visible to the reptiles. Attacks, as a rule, mice, small rats, bats, small birds and theirchicks, climbs into nests and eats eggs. This should be considered by terrarium keepers when feeding the corn snake.

Snake is afraid of them

In nature, very often those who hunt are themselves objects for predators. The maize snake has many enemies who are not averse to eating its meat. Among the birds of prey that feed on snakes, there are even storks. In addition to them, the secretary bird, kite, eagle, hawk and heron can be considered the enemy of the rat snake. Mammals can also cause significant harm to it: mongooses, jaguars, wild boars, crocodiles, leopards, honey badgers.

Home maintenance

This amazing predator has become a pet because of its restrained nature. You can start them in an apartment or in a house, as they are not aggressive. And the size of the maize snake is not large.

With proper maintenance, such a pet can live from 15 to 20 years. Caring for a snake requires a few basic rules: cleanliness of the terrarium, a stable level of humidity, the presence of clean water in the drinker and timely nutrition.

Comfort in the terrarium

Before choosing a glass house for a scaly pet, you need to know exactly its size and age.

A 40-liter terrarium is quite suitable for babies who have just recently left the egg. Already grown up creeping pets are better to settle in a terrarium with a volume of 70 to 100 liters. The maintenance and care of the maize snake requires constant attention to the condition of his home.

Substrate can bemade from pine shavings, crushed bark, coconut chips, clean gravel. Paper is also used, but it should be changed, depending on the level of contamination, at least once a week. Pet stores have special artificial coverings for the corn snake terrarium.

Lighting is best equipped with fluorescent lamps. It is worth considering that, despite the need for lighting, the terrarium should not be under the sun's rays. It should be equipped with a place where the temperature will be maintained at 28-30 ° C, and the so-called "cold corner", where the temperature will need to be maintained within 24-26 ° C, with a decrease at night to 21-23 ° C. It is not so easy to achieve this, but it is essential to do it for a comfortable life.

Rules for the care and maintenance of maize snake requires the presence of a drinker inside the terrarium with several clean snags (from the roots). Snakes often crawl to a watering hole, and can even defecate in a drinking bowl. Therefore, frequent water changes are an important and indispensable condition for the proper maintenance of this reptile. Of course, tap water will not work. Firstly, it always contains one or another amount of chlorine, and secondly, it is hard and contains many impurities harmful to the reptile.

You need to monitor the level of humidity. To maintain humidity in the terrarium, spraying with a spray gun is carried out several times a day. To facilitate this task, automatic rain installations are installed. It is also necessary to monitor the water temperature, it should not fall below 23 C. Peat moss can be planted in a shallow bath,which accumulates moisture for the snake.

Multiple keeping

You can keep several snakes in one terrarium, provided that it has sufficient dimensions for this. In order to avoid clarification of relations between males, they usually lodge one male and two females. But you need to know that after wintering, it is better to transfer the male to another terrarium.

Feeding snakes is also best done separately. Many factors in good glass house care affect how long corn snakes live. It is necessary to carefully monitor the humidity during the molting of the snake so that the skin does not peel off in pieces. It looks unaesthetic.

When and how to feed the snake

Feeding the maize snake at home occurs every 5-7 days, that is, once a week. More or less often - the number of rodents issued depends on the age and size of the snake. Usually, the red rat snake, in accordance with its informal name, is fed with small laboratory rats, mice.

Some prefer to dilute the reptile's diet with slaughtered, frozen day old chicks. Frozen food is pre-warmed to room temperature. But still, most prefer to buy rodents or breed them for food on their own. To some extent, this is a concern for satisfying the hunting instincts of the pet.

Also, the main condition for the correct maintenance of the snake is the presence of clean water in the drinking bowl in the terrarium. It needs to be changed frequently. In the diet of a rat snake (maize snake) it is necessaryadd calcium, eggshell. But concentrated vitamins can even harm. They should not be given without consulting a specialized veterinarian.

How the snake eats

Reptile owners are often not too sentimental about the fate of rodents in the process of feeding their pet. Sometimes, on the contrary, they watch the hunt with interest.

As soon as a mouse or a rat is lowered into the terrarium, the snake evaluates it for some time, and then makes a swift, lightning-fast throw into the victim's head area and immediately wraps its body with the rings of its tail, trying to immobilize and strangle it. As soon as the rodent stops escaping and becomes limp, the snake begins to swallow it slowly, gradually, carefully so as not to damage its insides.

His jaw and throat widen, and he kind of pulls himself over the body of the dead animal, like a sock on his leg. This can last from 10 to 12 minutes. To be more confident in the safety of he alth, that is, in order to avoid injuries, the snake can be fed with frozen mice or day old chicks. In order for him to grab the prey, the dead mouse is held by the tail with tweezers and moved a little in front of the snake's eyes. Being hungry, he will definitely grab her.

Don't throw food on the floor of the terrarium. The snake will most likely swallow the mouse along with particles of the substrate. After digestion, this will lead to blockage of the digestive tract, and death for the reptile will follow. Can be thrown onto a clean surface free of foreign objects.

Aftermeals, you can’t touch the snake or even externally irritate it for 3-4 days. This can affect digestion and, as a result, he alth in general. There are many cases when newly minted owners of snakes did not take these recommendations into account. The snake they took in their arms (after the meal) regurgitated all the food and subsequently got sick for a long time.

What if it bites?

Most beginner owners of this type of reptile are worried: is the corn snake poisonous or not? What happens if he bites while feeding? You can immediately calm down. This type of snake is absolutely safe, even if it can be provoked to bite. It is possible that he is able to grab a person, but this does not pose a he alth hazard, as well as other pets (except for rats and mice).

The bite of a snake is no more painful than a needle prick. Another thing is if, instead of a harmless snake, a poisonous copper-headed muzzle was sold to a person. They are easy to confuse for the layman. The cottonmouth is a very venomous snake. It differs from the corn snake in the shape of the head, and its color is lighter, there are square spots, which the snake does not have.

In order to prevent a situation in which the host is bitten by a snake, you need to understand that these are not mammals that mostly live in groups and have an instinctive need for social relations with relatives. Reptiles have a completely different warehouse of intelligence, by the way, very limited. They have no emotional attachment to the owner.

Snake's taming ability

Most reptiles do not experienceattachment to a person. Few become truly tame. People did not breed domestic creepers, specifically shaping their character. The Maize Creeper, bred for generations in captivity, has a mild temperament. But you should not expect affection from him, like from a dog or a decorative rabbit. It should be remembered that despite the fact that these reptiles have long lived and even breed in terrarium conditions, they remain wild animals.

If the owner really wants to hold the snake in his arms, you need to do it right. It should be understood that this process does not bring joy to reptiles. Therefore, all movements must be smooth. The snake should not be scared, the reaction will be appropriate. Gently, at a distance of about half a palm from the head, one hand is substituted, and with the other hand they are taken closer to the middle of the tail. The snake should take the hands as supports. Therefore, in no case should you compress the body, otherwise an instant reaction adequate from the point of view of the snake may follow.