The most popular choice of pet snakes are Corn Snakes.http://www.reptileknowledge.com/articles/article16.php If handled throughout their lives, they are a lot of fun to play with, curious and lively. A corn snake habitat is easy to create, and how to care for corn snakes is also simple.http://www.mahalo.com/how-to-care-for-corn-snakes Corn snakes make a wonderful, delightful pet reptile — perhaps the best pet snake in the world. exoticpets.com: [1]

Rodent eating constrictors are referred to as Rat Snakes. The corn snake is a type of rat snake. amazon.com: [2] It is sometimes called a Red Rat Snake.

Always select a glass aquarium or reptile tank. It's easier to clean. Substrate or bedding can be shredded paper, newspaper, or a variety of others available where reptile supplies are sold. Provide a "hide" which is a corn snake retreat. Also where it will sleep. A terra cotta flower pot is ideal. Corn snakes need warmth. Place a stick-on heating pad underneath the glass aquarium. anapsid.org: [1] If placed in the aquarium, it may become too hot.

Please see How to Care for Corn Snakes for a more indepth description.

When you buy your corn snake at the pet store or reptile breeder, usually when it is a baby snake, handle it first before you bring it home. If it has not been raised to be accustomed to human hands, it may strike out. Then it's not much fun. Make sure your pet snake wants to climb on your hands and fingers. Most do. We are "endothermic" or warmblooded, and reptiles are "ectothermic" or coldblooded. Warm fingers resemble little corn stalks.

Because of their temperament, corn snakes are frequently used by professional reptile handlers during reptile birthday parties, classroom visits and school enrichment programs. The Reptile Familyreptilefamily.com: [1] is one of these organizations, and the baby corn snakes on this page will grow to be handled and loved by countless people during their enriched lives as "working snakes."

First, never feed your snake in its vivarium. It will associate the habitat with food and you as well. It's a great way to get bitten, even if you do not smell like a rodent.

What do corn snakes eat? Especially if you start when they are babies, corn snakes do not need live prey. Even the most knowledgeable herpetologists regarding feeding your corn snake advocate "prekilled prey."hubpages.com: [1] Buying frozen feeder rodents, the smallest size first, is your best bet. These are newborn mice, also known as "pinky mice" or "pinkies." As the corn snake grows, so will the size of the rodents you feed it. "Fuzzies," then "Small Mice," and finally "Adult Mice."

Take the snake and place it in a separate reptile feeding container by itself. Take the defrosted rodent, warm it with warm water and dry it, then drop it into the container with the snake. Many corn snake owners use paper bags for this purpose. It gives the snake a sense of security and privacy while it swallows its prey.

Corn snakes have great appetites and do well in captivity, rarely refusing to eat. If a snake is just about to shed, occasionally you may need to wait a day or two until after the shed before it will accept food.

Give the snake some time. Look to see that the rodent is about half way down the snake, then put it back in its vivarium. Do not handle for 24 hours while it digests.