Snow Corn Snake: Enjoy The Lightshow Of Gray And White!

Yes, snow corn snakes! Nope, they are not a different species of corn snakes but just one of the flowers in a large bouquet of corn snake morphs. Snow corn snakes are exquisite looking and to know more about how they look and what they eat, you have to keep reading friends!

Corn snakes are abundant in different parts of North America and are popular world wide for their docile nature. Production of corn snake morphs did not start yesterday– in fact morphing began as early as late 1900s. Can’t wait? Let’s deep dive into the world of snow corn snakes.

Snow Corn Snake: Physical Description, Lifespan And Much More!

Corn snakes have a large array of morphs and snow corn snakes are one of them. The wild-types and the common corn snakes can be found in the wilderness of the southeastern parts of the United States. Snow corn morphs, however, are bred within a controlled environment and cannot be found in the wild. Nevertheless, there is a lot to know about them!

Source:@missysmenagerie

What Do Snow Corn Snakes Look Like?

Snow corn snakes, as the name itself is self-explanatory, are white corn snakes with shades of gray and purple. They may have other colors dancing on their exterior sometimes. Let’s get to know them up close and personal, and appreciate the nuances.

• Snow With Yellow Shades: Anery corn snakes and amelanistic corn snakes, when bred, could produce snow corn snakes with yellow shades. Caramel corn snakes and albino corn snakes can also produce babies with attractive yellow markings on them.
  Anery corn snakes have two types, Type A and Type B. Type A’s, mating with other morphs, may produce corn snakes with yellow in them, whereas Type B’s will not. Hatchlings produced as a result of these breedings will be of a different color than their parents (discussed later), but once they mature they grow duller and may have yellow markings on the head and belly.
• Snow Motley: Motley corn snakes will produce eye-catching spots and stripes on the corn snake’s body, unlike the usual saddles that are present in almost all corn snakes. Adult snow motleys may be white with yellow spots, with yellow shadings on the head, neck and belly.
• Belly: All corn snakes, morphs or wild-types, flaunt a checkerboard pattern on their belly that look like corn kernels. In the case of the yellow snow corn snakes, the squares formed in the checkerboard pattern are yellow and white, exactly like corn kernels. In the snow motley, however, the squares in the checkered pattern are almost white.
• Head: On the heads of these gorgeous snow corn snakes, you may find white bars running from the eyes extending toward the cheeks. They may also have white spearhead markings on the top of the head which is quite characteristic of corn snakes.
• Size: Generally, corn snakes grow anywhere between 2 and 6 feet, and snow corn snakes are no exception. Snow corn snakes are not found in the wild. In captivity, they may overfeed, since they have the tendency to eat beyond satiation point, and may become quite large.

What Do The Eyes Of Snow Corn Snakes Look Like?

The color of the eyes depends upon the proportion of the specific gene expressed. If the gene from the anery parent gets expressed more, offspring will have black eyes or dark brown eyes, with dark gray eye-rings. However, if the gene from the amelanistic parent gets expressed more vividly, the babies may have red or pink eyes.

Source:@fawpeia.snakes

Why Do Snow Corn Snakes Look Like They Do?

Snow corn snakes have a white body with gray, purple and yellow tones. They do not possess any dark coloration, nor do they have any bright orange or red. There are reasons behind this.

Most snow corn snakes have a genetic condition called amelanism where their body fails to produce sufficient melanin. Melanin is a pigment that gives the black color to an animal’s body markings, pupil of the eyes, fur or feathers on mammals and birds, and so on and so forth. This condition is due to a recessive gene mutation, and though rare, may occur anytime.

Amelanistic corn snakes look a lot like the wild-type corn snakes. They have lots of orange and red hues but no black coloration anywhere. Their bodies are largely white with bright, orange saddles, adorned with ornate range markings on the head. On the contrary, they may also have bright orange bodies overall with white rings to accentuate their beauty.

Snow corn snakes may have another genetic condition known as anerythrism which they may inherit from their anery parent. This condition is caused by a recessive gene mutation and causes the snake to not produce any yellow, orange or red pigment. If their parent was an anery Type A, there will be a slight chance of having yellow markings when they grow up.

Snow corn snakes may have one or both of the genetic conditions. If they have both, they will neither have black, nor red or orange on their body. As a result, they will be mostly white with gray and purple hues, and when they mature, may have faint yellow markings.

How Do Snow Corn Snakes Make Babies?

Like most other corn snakes, snow corn snakes brumate or molt first before they copulate. They brumate during the winter season and mate during the spring season. Females leave a phero- mone trail which the males pick up. More than a couple of males compete to mate with one female. Impregnated females lay eggs a month later. They lay about 12 to 24 eggs.

The eggs are laid in secluded and moist spots, away from any kind of intruders. Females incubate their eggs for about a couple of months. After the babies hatch, females do not linger but leave the babies alone to fend for themselves. This is a gruesome aspect of the snake reproduction process. However, baby snow corn snakes are independent right from the very beginning. They proceed to have mice and rats a few hours after hatching.

What Do Baby Snow Corn Snakes Look Like?

Baby snow corn snakes completely metamorph as they grow older. Hatchlings are primarily white and pink, and it is mainly because their bodies cannot produce melanin (black pigment) and erythrin (red pigment). They may also appear as light pink with beautiful white saddles. They look pink because the blood vessels are more visible due to lack of pigments.

So where do the yellow shades come from? If one of the parents had been an anery Type A, the babies will grow some yellow markings or shadings as they grow older. They may have red pigment as well from the amelanistic parent but it gets duller as it matures.

The hatchlings have pink or golden brown eyes, depending on which parent’s gene got expressed more strongly. The babies are usually between 10 and 12 inches long. If you want to know more about baby corn snakes, you might want to stop by here.

Source:@ultimateexoticsreptiles

How Long Do Snow Corn Snakes Live?

Corn snakes, in general, may live for 6 to 8 years in the wild. In the wild, they battle natural disasters, food crises, predation and many other limiting factors. However, in captivity, if well taken care of, they may thrive for 15 to 20 years!

The same is true for snow corn snakes. However, there are times when hatchlings may give up on their life within a few weeks. Healthy adults that have always eaten and molted well, suffer a spontaneous death. These situations, though rare and tragic, may happen at times.

Care-Sheet For Snow Corn Snake!

Snow corn snakes look absolutely amazing and they are also easy to take care of as pets. Right after hatching, they get habituated to eating frozen thawed mice without creating any fuss for fancier food items. However, they do tend to eat even after they are full– watch out for that!

The first feeding trial should be done with the help of tongs or other tools, and definitely not with your hands since they may bite. This is mainly because you emit a smell they are not yet familiar with. And do not worry, their bites do not hurt much! After 48 to 72 hours, you can start petting it, handling it, and even feeding it with your own hands.

If you have brought home baby snow corn snakes, get a 10-gallon tank or vivarium for them. For adults, a 20 to 30-gallon case would be better. It is always advised to house each adult corn snake separately since they are competitive. Gift a thick substrate to your snows because they love to bury and explore. Aspen shavings would serve this purpose effectively.

Ornaments such as caves, trees, logs of wood are great to keep your snow corn snakes enjoying their habitat. The idea is to try to mimic their natural environment as closely as possible to which they are innately drawn to. The basking side of the vivarium should be between 85 to 88°F, while the cool side could be between 80 and 80°F.

Snow corn snakes must not be exposed to direct sunlight or prolonged hours of artificial or natural light since they may not be able to produce melanins. Also, keep the vivarium clean at all times to prevent skin infection and mite infestations. In addition to all these, it is best to avoid feeding live prey, especially to hatchlings, since they may suffer jaw injury.

How Much Do Snow Corn Snakes Cost?

Snow corn snakes are a rare morph and cost anywhere between $150 to $200. However,  they are much more affordable than the scaleless morphs or Palmetto morphs.

Anery corn snakes, however, fall within the range of 50 and 60 dollars. Amels could be bought for 40 or 50 dollars. If you want to know more about corn snake morphs price, visit here.

FAQ

Snow corn snakes may look like some other snakes, so being able to identify them may prove to be useful. Let’s take a look at some FAQs.

Q: Are snow and albino corn snakes the same?

Ans: Albino corn snakes could have bright colors like orange and red, but they do not have black on them. However, snow corn snakes are quite subdued or pastelly, and do not have red or black colors on them. Hence, no, both their genetic makeup and looks are different.

Q: Is snow corn a separate species of corn snake?

Ans: It is not a separate species. It is just a morph that could form due to gene mutation, or breeding different morphs together.

Q: Is there any venomous snake that looks like snow corn snake?

Ans: Yes, there are in fact certain white snakes that are venomous and look a lot like our harmless snow corn snakes. Take the white cobra, for instance. They are white from head to tail-tip and are dangerously venomous. However, body length will give them away. They could be as long as 10 to 12 feet, whereas snow corns cannot grow above 6 feet.

Another example of a white venomous snake that resembles snow corn snakes is a snow western hognose. They are white from top to bottom and are extremely adorable especially when they pretend to be dead when held. They are only mildly venomous. They are small creatures between 2 and 3 feet in body length.

Thoughts

Snow corn snake is a morph of corn snakes and they can be produced by inbreeding and induced gene mutation. They look fabulous owing to their body color which is primarily white with gray and purplish hues dancing everywhere. They also grow yellow highlights later.

They are a rare morph and cost a fortune, but more affordable than the scaleless morphs of corn snakes. Snow corn snakes, just like other corn snakes, are super adorable both by looks and by temperament. People love to keep them as pets in their house of animal reserves.