Albino corn snake Introduction
Albino corn snakes are beautiful and relatively easy to care for. Albino corn snakes, also known as the Albino Corn Snake (Lampropeltis triangulum elapsoides) are characterized by their pale white skin with dark markings. Albino corn snakes are often mistaken for Burmese pythons due to their coloring, but they’re not related in any way!
The Albino Corn Snake can be found in Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, and other Midwestern states. They like habitats that provide plenty of warmth and humidity during cold periods when their food supply becomes scarce. They can grow up to four feet long or more!
Albino Corn snakes are popular and they are affordable so they’re great for most beginner pet owners.
If you’re looking for a simple quick table/list for care here you go
| Diet | Small to large mice depending on age |
| lifespand | 15 to 20 years (sometimes longer) |
| size (adults) | 3 to 5 feet long |
| tank size | 40 gallons MIN ( 120 recommended) |
| Temp | Cool 70-77 degrees Fahrenheit Warm 80 – 85 degrees Fahrenheit |
| Humidity Needs | 50 to 60 percent humidity |
Albino corn snakes are great for beginners because of their ease of care. Most reptile owners will need to make an adjustment if its their first reptile ever but once you get the basic care requirements down you will see that its quite easy to keep them stress free and happy
Keep reading and i will talk about habitat, feeding, and and care needs and also where to buy one if you want to buy one online
How much is an Albino corn snake going to cost
where do corn snakes get their name?
These guys like to hang out in corn farms. They have a pattern on their underbelly that mimics a corn like pattern. They also like wetlands as well.
albino corn snakes are known as a color morph which means its selectively bred to keep in captivity. People want to own these snakes at home simply because they look awesome. They are cute snakes!
Sometimes farmers will get these kinds of snakes to help with rodent issues in their fields. Since albino corn snakes have simple diets its a breeze for them to eat.
Appearance and color
albinos have red eyes as seen in the picture above. They look cute though!. They are a bright orange color and they have nice orange and reddish patterns on them too which makes them nice to look at and you’ll be able to find them in their cage pretty easily.
Albino corn snakes are albinistic, meaning they have a complete lack of pigment. This is because albinism is caused by the absence or malfunctioning of an enzyme called tyrosinase. Albino corn snakes also have red eyes and pinkish skin and may be either male or female.
Albinos can not produce melanin which causes them to appear white with pink blotches on their belly scales
They are albino because they do not have any black pigment in their scales, so instead this area will be white with dark brown markings
The albino gene that makes the snake albino cannot be passed on to it’s offspring in eggs as it is recessive, so if albino corn snakes have albino babies, it is because albinism skipped a generation
The albino gene can skip generations because albinism also occurs in other reptiles like amphibians and birds.
Sometimes albinism will skip several generations before appearing, but eventually albino corn snakes will appear
The chance of an albino corn snake being albino is one in about 20,000.
in case you didn’t know Most albino animals are unable to produce melanin. Melanin is what causes color in your skin, eyes and hair
Albino Corn snake size
The albino corn snake is a small reptile that grows to an average length of 3 feet. They are non-venomous, and therefore harmless to humans.
Albino corn snakes can grow to be between 5 to 6 feet long some can grow bigger and some will be smaller. These snakes start out at a couple of inches in length, so they grow fast!
They have more slender bodies and they wont weight a whole lot compared to other snakes.
These snakes are a lot thinner than most other snakes. You can have a 3 to 4 foot snake and it will be really thin compared to some other snakes that are the same length.
Albino corn snake Lifespan/expectancy
Albino corn snakes can live up to 20 years which is shorter compared to other snakes
just make sure you care for them and keep their enclosure in excellent condition. sometimes you can expect them to live even longer than that but just keep your expectations realistic
Albino Corn Snake Care/Husbandry Guide
Albino corn snakes are so awesome. They don’t require much need at all. Some other kinds of snakes need everything to be just perfect for them to do normal things like shed their skin properly.
albinos are good to go!
The rest of this guide will go into their enclosure care and how to set up their tank and will also go over food needs
always remember this golden rule. Always try to replicate their natural environment as much as possible. The heat and humidity, the food and how they might hunt. what might they hide behind? think as deep about these things as much as possible.
Enclosure Size and Habitat
For a newborn snake (hatchling) don’t bother getting a tank that’s too big because it will actually intimidate them more than anything else.
If you have a small bin that will work just fine. You can actually get a plastic bin from the dollar store that will help you out until the snake grows big enough to require a tank. Decorate the bin with some wood, branches and something so they can hide from you. like i said before they are quite thin and small until they grow to adult size
When the snake gets to juvenile size (after 6 months) you can get a 10 gallon tank to put them in. What i have done in the past is when i move them into a new tank because they’re getting older i rearrange their enclosure. I will change where their hide is. Obviously the tank is larger but change things up for them
When your pet gets to adult size i would go with a 40 gallon tank at minimum.
The best kind of enclosure is going to have a lot of variety. i like having rocks in my reptiles enclosures. You can use branches, Rocks, small pieces of wood, Big bark pieces. If you’re on a budget you can actually use pieces of cardboard as well.
This is where you can exercise your creative side. You can easily move things around and shift things to where you like. albino corn snakes like to explore when they want to so don’t worry about stressing them out too much.
You can get habitat stuff here
One thing about these snakes is they do like to climb things. so when you purchase your decor make sure you grab something that they can climb on.
The best kind of enclosures in my opinion are PVC and wood. You can get glass for these guys as well and it will work just fine.
Heating and lighting for Albino Corn Snakes
the best part about these snakes is they don’t require any kind of lighting. Some reptiles require UVB lights but albinos don’t need that.
The one thing you will need is heating. Now sometimes a basking light is required but with these guys its totally optional. You should have a heating pad.
Albino corn snakes like to have heating underneath them. So having the pad under the tank will work wonders for you.
Use this range for heating
- cool side should be 77 degrees Fahrenheit
- warm side should be 80-85 degrees Fahrenheit
- The hot side should be around 90 and you will need a basking like to do this if you opt to go this route but its optional.
Substrate
Aspen shavings are great for albino corn snakes. You can also get cypress mulch, coconut fiber and a soil mixture.
stay away from wood chips. You don’t want your snake inhaling the small particles and causing respiratory problems. Stay away from sand too!
one thing many owners have questions about is how to keep the tank clean. You should clean poop and stuff like that as often as you can within reason. i don’t think you should be watching the tank 24/7… your snake will be OK. However when you change the water or you have a little time to do some house cleaning go ahead and do it.
With all that being said i think its important to focus on keeping the tank sanitary and clean from a bacterial standpoint. if the substrate is too moist bacteria and fungus can grow from that. so once a month you should take everything out and clean it and let the substrate dry out.
Change the snake bedding once a month as well
Water
Use a large water dish. This will help with humidity and obviously the snake will need to drink. sometimes you might see your snake just hanging out in the water 🙂
Humidity
You’re looking to keep the humidity level around 65 – 75 percent. Your home sits around 30 to 50 percent. You will have to mist the tank and keep water inside the tank. PVC tanks keep the moisture nice and high so consider that if you want to do less work in keeping the moisture high
The best thing you can do is make sure you have a substrate the holds onto moisture well. i mentioned that above so i wont repeat myself here.
Albino Corn Snake Diet
Albino corn snakes usually eat frozen thawed rodents. Make sure you thaw out the food before you give it to your snake and also make sure you only give them food that is as big as the thickest part of their body
you can thaw out the rodent in warm water if you like and it will be best for your snake when its about the warmth of your skin
You don’t want to be giving your snake live rodents like some people will recommend because the scratches and bites can lead to infections. This is what happens in the wild yes but your corn snake will be able to eat it just fine.
Albino corn snakes are constrictors. they will kill their prey by squeezing them to death.
When feeding your snake use a pair of tongs. They will sometimes jump out to grab the food so be very careful. To stimulate constriction you can wiggle the food and you can actually make it look like the prey is alive to maximize their need to hunt. The more alive it looks the more they are going to enjoy hunting for it.
The type of food you can give your snakes are
- rodents
- Small lizards
- frogs
- birds
Feeding Schedule
Baby snakes (hatchlings) are going to eat every 5 – 7 days. Feed them live pinky mice because they will need to adjust to frozen thawed mice for later feeding
Juveniles will only need to eat once a week and you can give them a small mouse once a week. Again make sure they aren’t too big for your albino corn snake. They are thinner snakes so it might be a little bit difficult.
Adult snakes can be fed every 8 to 10 days. feed them a medium to large sized mouse
you can give them a chick once in a while to provide them with enrichment to their diet
Give your snake ONLY meat. They are carnivores.
Health Concerns
Keeping the enclosure clean is the most important thing you can do to keep your snake happy and stress free. Air out the substrate, clean the water, clean the inside of the tank every month to ensure bacteria and fungus aren’t growing.
Its easy to get lazy and think “next week ill clean the tank” eventually your snake will get sick and you’ll need to take them to the vet which will be expensive.
Albino corn snakes are pretty hardy reptiles so you don’t need to worry about them being too sensitive.
most of the time reptiles have to worry about the same few things such as
- mouth rot
- lesions on the skin
- respiratory issues
- discoloured skin
- open mouthed breathing
- bloody diarrhea
- loss of appetite
- wheezing when breathing, sometimes a clicking sound. sounds like someone with asthma
if you see these things take them to your vet as soon as possible. They can get sick fast so be careful
Handling
albino corn snakes are chill!
that’s the best part of owning these snakes
They are active snakes and love to move around a lot so don’t be afraid over handling them too much but do keep in mind that over handling is a thing. If you snake shows signs of stress let them be free. (in the cage of course)
baby snakes are going to be afraid of you so they may nip at you but they will trust you pretty quick. Make sure you’re patient. Take your sweet time with your snake and they will love you for it. They will be awesome companions if you take good care of them
The best way to actually handle the snake itself is to act like a tree
They will move around you. Don’t be afraid of them, stay calm and move slowly. when they start trusting you they will just hang off you without being afraid
Don’t squeeze them tight. Make sure you tell your children this if this is their first reptile. Sometimes kids can be too intense so make sure they know to go slow and be calm and gentle.
Summary/conclusion
Albino corn snakes are awesome to own and great for beginners. They are docile and calm and require very little specific care. You can grow up with these snakes and they can become your best friend.
Take your time and make sure they are properly cared for and you will be rewarded with a best friend for many years
Good luck with your Albino corn snake!
