Head to head
Corn Snake vs Milk Snake
Both are slender, harmless North American rodent-hunters that top the list of good pet snakes, and beginners often mix them up. The corn snake is a ratsnake, orange or red with black-edged blotches down the back and a black-and-white checkerboard belly. The milk snake is a kingsnake, usually ringed in red, black, and yellow or white, a colour scheme that copies the venomous coral snake. Under the skin they hunt and behave in noticeably different ways.
| Corn Snake | Milk Snake | |
|---|---|---|
| Group | Ratsnake (Pantherophis guttatus) | Kingsnake (Lampropeltis triangulum) |
| Pattern | Bold blotches on an orange to grey ground; checkered belly | Rings of red, black, and yellow or white |
| Range | Southeastern and central United States | Southeast Canada to northern South America |
| Mimicry | None; pattern is camouflage | Batesian mimic of the venomous coral snake |
| Diet | Mostly rodents and birds; a strong climber after nests | Rodents, lizards, and notably other snakes |
| Temperament in captivity | Calm, tolerant of handling | More flighty and active; a persistent escaper |
| Housing | Standard; tolerates cage-mates poorly but not aggressively | Must be kept singly; will eat other snakes |
| Conservation status | Least Concern | Least Concern |
Corn Snake vs Milk Snake: common questions
How do I tell a corn snake from a milk snake in the wild?
Look at the pattern. A corn snake has large, squarish blotches with dark borders running down a reddish, orange, or brownish-grey back, and if you can see the underside it is boldly checkered in black and white, the feature that gave the snake its name. A milk snake is banded, not blotched, with rings that encircle or nearly encircle the body in a repeating red-black-yellow or red-black-white sequence. Milk snake bands can resemble a coral snake, so in the southeastern United States people use the rhyme about red touching black versus red touching yellow, though that only works for North American species.
Does the milk snake really drink milk from cows?
No. The name comes from an old belief that these snakes, often found in barns and around dairy cattle, sneaked milk from the udders of cows at night. In reality a snake cannot suckle, its teeth would not be tolerated by any cow, and its stomach could hold only a tiny amount of liquid. Milk snakes hang around barns because barns are full of rats and mice, which is what they are actually eating. The myth was persistent enough to become the animal common name.
Which snake is easier to keep?
The corn snake, by a clear margin, which is why it is the single most recommended beginner snake. It is calm, rarely bites, adapts to a simple enclosure, and almost always feeds without fuss on frozen-thawed rodents. Milk snakes are equally harmless and no harder to feed, but they are more high-strung, they move around and probe for gaps constantly so the enclosure must be genuinely escape-proof, and their taste for other snakes means you can never house two together. Both are excellent, long-lived pets when captive-bred.