Corn or Milk Snake

About a year ago I purchased a baby corn snake at a reptile show. I no longer own this snake. A few months later, a student brought me a baby snake that he identified as a milk snake. This snake looks exactly like the normal corn snake that I purchased at the reptile show. What are the differences between corn snakes and milk snakes. How can I get a proper identification? Also, besides probing, how can you sex a corn or milk snake. Thanks.

 

it'd help if you could post some pics :-p

 

This is a normal Cornsnake (Picture from Serpenco)-


This is a Milksnake. There are many species/subspecies and variations but this will give you an idea (Picture from Kingsnake.com)-

 

I have a picture but cannot remember how to post. Please advise.

 

Here they are.

 

here is a picture of an eastern milk snake that I found at this website:

www.herpnet.net/.../ eastern_milksnake.html

 

looks like a miami phase corn snake to me

 

yeah kinda looks like a corn

 

Easterns look exactly like corns to me also. To find the real technical differences between these 2, I'm guessing you'd probably have to find a taxonomist or someone that's done some DNA research w/ both species. I think size difference may be one determining factor, but every pic I see of an Eastern, I'm sayin', "Man, that looks just like one of those brown cornsnakes".

reako45

 

that looks a lot like a corn...and did you just feed him, just cuz i saw the bulge there

 

Thanks all. I just fed him a few hours before I took the picture. Do we have any taxonomists that visit this site? That would be interesting to pursue.

 

Are you sure the student didn't mean "milk snake phase" corn snake? Where did they get it? It looks identical to a corn snake. I'm very confused.

 

I have no idea where the student got the snake. Eastern milk snakes are native to my area, but because it was so tiny and I don't think that it is legal to sell native reptile species (I am not certain) I didn't think it was likely that is was a milk snake. He was a donation that came in a 10 gallon fish aquarium with a fish aquarium lid, no lights and peat moss for substrate. I doubt that this student would know about phases of snakes.

 

I found an Eastern that appears to look just like your baby

and


Interesting. They appear to be identical to some corns. I would definitely find an expert :lol:

 

Milksnakes and cornsnakes do not appear identical--there are a whole variety of differences. And yes, some breeders have come up with 'milksnake phase', which have the same patterns as milks do.

For one thing, eastern milks normally have bands that wrap around the top of the snake and stop at the belly line. Aside from banded mots and milksnake phase corns, regular cornsnakes do not look like that.

Another is that cornsnakes have a divided anal scale, milksnakes and kingsnake do not.

The head is another thing that's very different. Corns have a much more distnict head than milks and kings do. Look at the above milk snake and look at it's head. You notice for one thing that the snake has no neck? The body seems to just flow right into it's head?

Based on those two pictures, the snake is a milk snake and not a cornsnake.

 

I said that in another post, Joe, but then deleted it and decided to look up Easterns to double check. I mostly meant the colour and patterning looked the same. But I do know for a fact that milks and kings have no distinctive neck, like corns and rats do. But the pics of Jerry's baby aren't very good ones.

 

Thanks Calas. I took another picture of his head. This is what made me really question corn v milk. I thought he had a more distinct head than the milk. I checked his belly. He has bands on his belly. Do you have a picture of a divided anal scale v a non divided anal scale?

 

Nope, no pictures, but I could take one and post it.

 

That would be good. What do you think of the head? Do eastern milks have any banding on the belly?

 

Sorry about the delay with the picture. Internet has been down.

Do you still have this snake? If so, turn it over and find the vent (cloaca). There is a scale right above that, and that is the anal scale. It's very obvious to see if it's divided or not.

From those pictures it sure looks like an eastern milk. Not sure about the banding on the eastern milks going all the way around----but all those things added together scream milksnake over cornsnake to me.