Habitats of Wild Corn Snakes

Corn snakes are one of the most popular pet snake species, but they are also found in the wild in the United States. They are a small and nonvenomous snake is colorful with red and orange banded coloration, and the corn snake constricts their prey to kill it before eating it.

  1. Geography

    • Corn snakes are found in the southeastern United States, with the north and south boundaries of their natural habitat being New Jersey and Florida, respectively. They are also found as far west as Texas, and are one of the most colorful nonvenomous snakes native to the United States.

    Habitat

    • They are found in areas where their prey frequents, including barns, meadows, forests, springs and rocky hillsides. Corn snakes are most likely to be found on farms or in abandoned houses where there is a high rodent population, but they also eat lizards and frogs and may be found in coastal or wetland areas where this prey lives.

    Etymology

    • Corn snakes get their name from being found in corn fields and buildings used to store corn. Because the corn attracts corn snake prey such as rats and mice, the corn snake would be attracted to these areas to feed on these small rodents. In the wild, corn snakes will frequent areas close to humans if there is a high rodent population to feed on.

    Winter Habitat

    • Corn snakes go through a hibernation process in the winter, called brumation. To do this, they will find shelter in their natural habitat such as logs, caves, tree stumps or rock crevices. They will remain in this shelter while the weather is cold from December to February.