Pueblan Milk Snake vs Corn Snake?

Question

I'm trying to decide whether to get a pueblan milk snake or a corn snake, but I can't find very much info on the pueblan milk snake's personality. How are p. milk snakes compared to corn snakes, and which one would make the better pet?

Answer 1

Pueblan milk snakes are gorgeous animals, and usually available at reasonable prices. However, they have some down sides as pets:

They are very high-strung, especially when young. They thrash around, musk, and defecate when handled. Their speed and agility are amazing. I would have sworn that snakes couldn't jump, until I saw my baby milk snake shoot up out of a cage that was taller than he was long -- I caught him out of the air. They move like little scaly rockets. They are nocturnal burrowers, so you won't see your snake very often. He'll be under the substrate, in his hide box, or just about anywhere else he can stay hidden. Without a good hiding place, stress can kill them. Also, as with all of the milk and king snakes, they are escape artists.

If you want a really beautiful animal that you interact with on its own terms -- enjoying it when it comes out of hiding for a while, and in general treating it more or less like a tropical fish -- a Pueblan milk snake is great. They're easy to keep and they stay a convenient size. However, they're not really a "pet" snake in the sense that a corn snake can be.

Corn snakes are sort of the opposite of milk snakes in terms of habits. Where milks are burrowers, corns are climbers. Where milks are shy, corns can be actually gregarious. Mine knows when I'm feeding the snakes and comes out of her hollow log to watch -- and wait for her own dinner, of course. A milk snake's reaction to being handled is panic: "Something grabbed me! It's daytime! I'm not hidden! I'm up in the air!" A corn snake, on the other hand, is accustomed to daytime, being less hidden, and climbing, so it only has to get over the "something grabbed me!" reaction. I think mine considers me to be sort of a heated, moving tree branch, somewhere down inside her wee little mind.

So, if you're looking for a beautiful display specimen -- a snake you enjoy when it chooses to show itself, or dig up for special occasions -- a Pueblan milk snake (or one of the other subspecies, such as the beautiful Honduran) is the way to go. They're spectacular.

If you're looking for a snake that, while not strictly a pet in the usual sense, comes closer to it than most snakes, one that you can handle and interact with, a corn snake is the way to go.

In either case, if this is your first snake, I'd recommend getting a larger animal, about a year old, instead of a baby. Hatchling snakes can be difficult to raise, especially for the beginner. An older snake will be more expensive, yes, but it's only a small amount when you spread it out over the snake's lifetime, or factor it in to everything else that snake is going to cost you over time. It's far cheaper than the heartbreak of having a tiny snake that won't eat, or just dies on you for some random reason.

Make sure you get one that is accustomed to eating frozen rodents. Your life will be so much simpler when feeding the snake involves thawing a frozen mouse, rather than going over to the pet store to buy one and hoping the critter doesn't drill its way out of the little box on the way home and hide in your car for two weeks. (yes, personal experience there) They're more convenient for you (especially when you need pinkies/fuzzies) and much, much safer for the snake. No snake has ever been blinded, scarred, or killed by a bite from a frozen mouse or rat.

Before you buy a snake of any species, you should buy and read a good book on that species. Spending ten or twenty dollars on a book in advance is cheap insurance; it can save you from spending fifty or a hundred dollars on an animal that is just not right for you. If that happens -- let's say you get a book on milk snakes and decide you'd rather have a corn snake -- put the book on your shelf for the future. Reptiles are addictive, and it's far from unlikely that you'll be checking that book in a couple of years when you get one of the species in question as your second (or third, or tenth) snake.

There are a number of excellent books on keeping snakes out there. As a rule of thumb, you can trust anything from Advanced Vivarium Systems, and people named Love and Bartlett. (there's a husband and wife of each) You absolutely can't trust anything published by T.F.H. I have a book of theirs (old, admittedly) recommending feeding an insectivorous lizard on sugar water, and another which says to feed iguanas three times a week. (for the record, iguanas are grazers like cows -- in fact, their digestive system is very much like a cow's -- and need a steady flow of food to keep their guts working properly)

Good luck!

Answer 2

Both corn snakes and pueblan milk snakes can be a bit skittish as babies. The more they're handled, the calmer they become.

While I like corn snakes, pueblan milk snakes are gorgeous. Rather than the typical mottled coloring of most corn snakes, they're very brightly marked.

Pueblan milk snakes usually max out at around 6 feet, so they'll only be slightly longer than a corn snake. Heat and lighting requirements are the same and so is diet and caging needs.

You can find corn snakes at most pet stores and reptile shows. Pueblan milk snakes can be a bit harder to find at some pet stores, but you're almost guaranteed to find some good ones (and considerably less expensive ones!) at a reptile show. If it were me, I'd go for the milk snake.

Answer 3

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RE:
Pueblan Milk Snake vs Corn Snake?
I'm trying to decide whether to get a pueblan milk snake or a corn snake, but I can't find very much info on the pueblan milk snake's personality. How are p. milk snakes compared to corn snakes, and which one would make the better pet?

Answer 4

Milk snakes are less tolerant of handling than corn snakes. Corn snakes are easy to handle, very reliable feeders, and in general a good pet snake.

Answer 5

Milksnakes are gorgeous, and something a bit more different... At the same time, corns are cheaper, tamer, and tolerate more handling. The care is pretty much the same. If you are willing to put forth an effort to tame a potentially feisty milksnake I say go for it, they are beautiful (The bites don't hurt that much, and you get used to the musking! lol...). In general corns are the best beginner snake though.

Answer 6

you want to go for a milk snake really.. fact- garter will eat mice as well, but they go off foods certain times of the year and onto other stuff, so for a couple of months it make want fish then the next few months it may want mice... some are more awkward than others my opinion- get a milk snake, their alot nicer.. i just hear of people have trouble with garters as they piss, s***, bite and musk all over you... milk snake does a little until tame but garter does alot lol!

Answer 7

I have 3 bloodred cornsnakes, a RTB and a ball python and I loveeee Cornsnakes. Thie'r Beautifull! A corn snake is much slower than a pueblan milk. and is much more docile. I'd go with the cornsnake. Good luck with your choice!
Nick

Answer 8

i think a corn snake is much better they can be handled and are docile (cheaper too). they don't get over 5 feet usually.