difference between cornsnake and milksnake

They are not too big for most potential snake owners and can usually be housed in a standard enclosure. Unlike the coral snake, milk snakes are great snakes for beginners. Similar to the coral snake, milk snakes like to hide, so it is important that you provide your pet with some sort of hiding spot or shelter. Popular options include aspen bedding, reptile bark, and cypress bedding. You can maintain the proper temperature in the enclosure by providing a heating pad.Īs far as substrate, there are a variety of options you can choose from. The temperature of the enclosure should range from around 70º-90° F. Your milk snake’s enclosure should be at least 3 feet long these snakes can grow to be very large and they need an enclosure that allows them enough room to move around. Doing so will help your snake learn when to expect food. Once your snake becomes comfortable being handled by you, you can opt to take it out of its enclosure and put it in a separate tub for feeding. To avoid being bitten, be gentle when handling your snake and take care to support its entire body so that you don’t drop it. However, that doesn’t mean that they won’t be defensive at first. Unlike coral snakes, milk snakes are safe to handle. You should plan to feed your adult milk snake about once per week.

Hatchling milk snakes can eat pinkie mice, or newborn mice, while adults can eat adult mice and even adult rats. Like coral snakes, they eat amphibians, birds, rodents, and other snakes in the wild.

Milk snakes have very similar dietary needs to coral snakes. Image Credit: reptiles4all, Shutterstock Diet You can use the popular rhyme “red touch yellow, kill a fellow” to remember which North American snake is venomous a milk snake’s yellow bands do not touch its red bands, whereas a coral snake will have small bands of yellow touching its larger red bands. With bright red, black, and yellow markings, milk snakes look remarkably like coral snakes and are often confused for them. They are a common breed of snake found throughout the Americas. Milk snakes are a great, non-venomous alternative to the coral snake. They are not recommended for families with children, as children do not always understand boundaries and a coral snake’s bite can be lethal. Suitable for:Ĭoral snakes are only suitable for experienced snake owners. You should also keep the lighting in the enclosure set to normal daylight patterns, about 10 to 12 hours of light with no light at night. Snakes are cold-blooded creatures that don’t eat when it is too cold outdoors, so it is very important that the temperature of your snake’s enclosure is adequate. The temperature of the enclosure should be kept around 77º-90° F. These snakes are escape artists, so you need to make sure the enclosure is secure having a venomous snake roaming around your house could be bad news, especially if you have children or other family members who are inexperienced with snakes. Coral snakes like to hide, so make sure to add plenty of decor such as branches, leaves, and gravel to the enclosure. Your coral snake’s enclosure should be at least 20 to 30 gallons large to give your snake enough room to move around.

As coral snakes have adapted to survive several weeks without food in the wild, it is not necessary to feed your coral snake every day. The mice you feed your snake do not need to be alive unless you are having trouble getting it to eat. You can feed mice to a coral snake in captivity. Like other snakes, coral snakes are carnivores that eat lizards, frogs, birds, and even other snakes in the wild. Image Credit: Luis César Tejo, Shutterstock Diet If you do decide to keep a coral snake as a pet, you should never handle it unless you are trained to do so. Moreover, coral snakes don’t tend to bite unless they are stepped on or handled. However, most humans don’t die from coral snake bites because their delivery system is not very effective. In fact, their venom is considered to be second to only the Black Mamba in terms of deadliness. Coral snakes may be small compared to other snake breeds, but they are highly venomous. Two species of coral snake live in the United States: the eastern coral snake ( Micrurus fulvius) and the Arizona coral snake ( Micruroides euryxanthus).

Difference between cornsnake and milksnake