Is this a Corn Snake?

12 years ago

Found this in the garden this morning, then again later in the afternoon. Decided to catch it and get a picture. What I wanted to get didn't show up very good in the picture. It flattened itself out including its head, made me think twice about how to handle it because when it flattened out its head, it looked like a poisonous snake. I'm sure it is a Corn snake, but some confirmation would be nice. Thanks, Scott.

Sort by:Oldest

Comments (6)

User
12 years ago
No. It is a watersnake.

Assuming you live somewhere in the northern part of a gulf/southeastern state somewhere, it will be a midland watersnake (Nerodia sipedon pleuralis).
Banded Watersnakes (Nerodia fasciata) can look a bit like this as well in some areas.

Either way, it isn't a cornsnake, and it is harmless.
rhizo_1 (North AL) zone 7
12 years ago
Most snakes will take on a defensive posture when alarmed. That head flattening is pretty common behavior.
Related Discussions
need Native plants that can grow indoors
Q
Comments (15)
Though -- as has been pointed out -- this is an ancient thread resurrected by some post necromancy spell, I'll respond. @s8us89ds The OP had expressed an interest in plants <u>native to Maryland</u>. This, then, would translate to winter hardy/temperate plants. Perennial plants native to the northern regions require a cold winter dormancy -- even the evergreens. It is not merely a matter of utilizing "indoor grow lights". It is more a matter of providing the freezing or near freezing temps these plants require to go and remain in a dormant state for 3-6 months of the year. Without it, they decline and die. This makes them unsuitable as houseplants as there is no practical way to provide them with such conditions indoors. (Even bonsai trees -- if species from the "Great White North" are used -- MUST be given a cold dormancy.) Now perhaps it might be possible to selectively breed for a lack of dormancy. However, such a program would take years to bear fruit (so to speak) and would likely result in plants which would not go dormant when reintroduced to outdoor life. This would nullify their usefulness as a way to replenish outdoor natives. Finally, most live plants simply do not work well in vivariums long term. Providing conditions the plant require to thrive (not merely survive) whilst simultaneously providing the correct conditions for animals is surprisingly difficult. Furthermore, animals typically beat the heck out of live plants in the confines of a terrarium in short order. (Think how quickly the grass in one's yard gets killed off in certain spots because of all the foot traffic.)
...See More
Id snake please
Q
Comments (10)
I just made it to the computer today for a brief moment, and what do I find? A snake ID! Love it! Gary, I can't see this picture as clearly as I would like, but I THINK this is a pine snake. I hope Wayne stops by for a quick look to confirm or correct me, but that's my best guess. And for sure, it is NOT anything poisonous, so no worries on that score. It doesn't look quite red enough for our corn snake, somehow, but it does look like a pine, as far as I can tell. Also called a bullsnake or gopher snake. Nice! Marcia
...See More
Need help with plants choices
Q
Comments (1)
I had the same mission for a nature center where I used to work. We displayed freshwater animals native to NY State. The outdoor stuff was relatively easy but the installations were over a long period of time. Indoor displays were another story. I ended up using quite a bit of moss and various small ferns in the displays. Some grasses and sedges did well also. Pocket plantings where the animals (mostly turtles) couldn't trample or disturb the plantings worked well. We made fiberglass inserts that looked naturalistic. We worked in concert with the NYSDEC and were able to field collect native specimens. In addition I used things that would peeter out after a season and then be replaced or more often moved outside to recover. Good wide spectrum lighting for the displays helps. A year after I left a big donor had a garden installed in his own honor... Inoki cypress and some crazy junipers.
...See More
First ever Milk Snake
Q
Comments (4)
Hi Wayne. I was pretty sure it was a Milk Snake. The odd thing about it was the pattern, which is so much more like the "Intergrade" Milk Snake shown on plate 30 in Conant and Collins 3rd edition, or really like a Red Milk Snake. It was awfully large too; I have seen Milk Snakes, and they were rather smaller and had more of the pattern shown in the plate for the plain old Eastern (from the Boone area, collected by Wayne Vandevender). I am wondering if the "Intergrade" happens outside the Mid-Atlantic, and if we have them, or if it might be a rather odd color and pattern variation. Oddly, for all the years I have been catching and chasing snakes (probably over 50), and to live in Milk Snake range, I had never seen one. I saw your page Wayne. A neighbor of mine was proudly talking about her son killing a 5 foot rattlesnake, and I just walked away; I hope she heard me cussing and saying that the snake wanted nothing more than to live another day, and did not want to run into an ignorant human that just liked to kill things (he air guns squirrels and pigeons in the neighborhood; he was talking about air gunning Woodpeckers, and I offered to turn him in - federal crime! HAHAHA!). Ah well, we can only do what we can do...
...See More
kentuck_8b
12 years ago
It kind of resembles a Copperhead.

Were the pupils of the eyes round or elliptical?
User
12 years ago
It does look a little bit like a copperhead in color pattern, but it isn't one. It is a harmless Watersnake.

Using the pupils to identify venomous snakes is fraught with danger. Some venomous snakes have elliptical pupils as do some harmless snakes. Some venomous snakes have round pupils.

What shape are this Coralsnake's pupils?

What about this one? This Western Diamondback is venomous and has round pupils here because it was photographed at night. The pupil shape changes with ambient light levels, just like in a cat.

And here's a harmless species (Texas Nightsnake) with elliptical pupils, for comparison -

This post was edited by FHFchrish on Wed, Oct 23, 13 at 0:07
S.A.McKenzie
12 years ago
This snake is a hypomelanistic Banded Water Snake(Nerodia fasciata); the subspecies will depend on where it was found, as there is a Southern Banded and a Florida Banded. The hypomelanism gene is a co-dominant mutation which greatly reduces the amount of melanin, or black/brown pigment, leaving the other pigments to be much more noticeable. Reptiles, unlike us mammals, have more than one type of skin pigment. It's possible that this is a 'Super-Hypo', which means it is homozygous for the hypo gene, rather than the usual hypos which have a recessive gene for the normal skin coloration, which modifies the expression of the hypomelanism. I actually breed these snakes, and once had a Super-Hypo male that looked exactly like this snake. Here is a pic of him for comparison' [img]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v669/pitbulllady/Snake%20Photos/IMG_1681.jpg[/img]

Here is a link that might be useful:
S.A.McKenzie
12 years ago
This snake is a hypomelanistic Banded Water Snake(Nerodia fasciata); the subspecies will depend on where it was found, as there is a Southern Banded and a Florida Banded. The hypomelanism gene is a co-dominant mutation which greatly reduces the amount of melanin, or black/brown pigment, leaving the other pigments to be much more noticeable. Reptiles, unlike us mammals, have more than one type of skin pigment. It's possible that this is a 'Super-Hypo', which means it is homozygous for the hypo gene, rather than the usual hypos which have a recessive gene for the normal skin coloration, which modifies the expression of the hypomelanism. I actually breed these snakes, and once had a Super-Hypo male that looked exactly like this snake. Here is a pic of him for comparison' [img]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v669/pitbulllady/Snake%20Photos/IMG_1681.jpg[/img]

Here is a link that might be useful:

Is this a Corn Snake?

Comments (6)

User

rhizo_1 (North AL) zone 7

Related Discussions

kentuck_8b

User

S.A.McKenzie

S.A.McKenzie

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US