The name of this snake gives everything away. As soon as you see one, you will understand why it is labeled as “blood red.” The deep, dark red coloring gives this snake a unique and vibrant appearance, hardly seen in other species of snake.
The Blood Red Corn Snake is a morph of corn snake which, itself, is a North American subspecies of Rat Snake. The “Blood Red” part of their name comes from their vibrant, red coloring. The “Corn Snake” half is attributed to their common presence around stores of grain and corn where they prey on the mice and other rodents that use those stores as food. Nowadays, the Blood Red Corn Snake is a common pet snake to own due to their docile and agreeable nature.
If you are a person looking to purchase a Blood Red Corn Snake, an existing owner looking to learn more, or just a curious researcher, read on for more details on this red beauty. We will be covering everything from genetics and coloring to diet, care, and fun facts.
Blood Red Corn Snake Colors
As the name suggests, Blood Red Corn Snakes have a vibrant, red coloring. The shade of the red can vary, from deep and dark to light and fluorescent.
Many Blood Red Corn Snakes are amelanistic, or amel, snakes. This simply means that they lack the pigments responsible for dark coloration on their skin. Due to this pigment shortage, they, instead, have vivid red coloration.
Another noticeable characteristic of Blood Red Corn Snakes is their absence of ventral checkered patterns due to a recessive gene they carry.
Blood Red Corn Snake Genetics
The Blood Red Corn Snake is a unique morph of the corn snake species. This simply means that the Blood Red Corn Snake possesses a specific genetic combination that gives it its blood red coloring.
What genetic combination might that be? Blood Red Corn Snakes are said to originate from a breeding of a Jacksonville, Florida and Gainesville, Florida strain of corn snake. The selective, diffused (lack of patterns) breeding of this morph has given it the solid red color it is named for.
How Much is a Blood Red Corn Snake?
Purchasing a Blood Red Corn Snake can cost you anywhere between $100 and $800 USD. These costs can vary depending on the availability of this morph in your area and the pricing discretion of your local shop.
It is important to remember, though, that purchases do not stop after this. You will need to spend more money on a properly-sized terrarium for your pet to live in and all the necessary additions to make it habitable, food, care, heating, and other miscellaneous expenses are all things to consider when buying a pet snake.
To ensure you are buying the proper habitat for your pet snakes, check the size of the terrarium and the type of substrate you will use.
Your Blood Red Corn Snake’s tank should be at least ten gallons for a full grown adult. Buying anything smaller will be unnecessarily restricting its living space. Be sure to keep the tank at the right temperature (70 to 85 Fahrenheit) using a light, undertank heating pad, or heating cable.
You should line the bottom of your snake’s tank with either Aspen or Cypress shavings. These offer the best texture and absorbency. Avoid scented or aromatic shavings. Snake carpet and newspaper can do the job in a pinch but do not stand up well to your snake’s tendency to burrow. You should always avoid using sand since it can be ingested easily and get into other orifices, causing health problems.
What Do Baby Blood Red Corn Snakes Look Like?
Corn snakes, in general, are known for the distinctive, corn-looking pattern they sport on their sides and underbelly. Blood Red Corn Snakes, as adults, are known for being diffused, or not having these patterns.
When they are first born, though, Blood Red Corn Snakes have this uniform pattern on their sides. As they age, their colors become more red and the pattern disappears.
Besides this main difference, the other noticeable disparity between adult and baby Blood Red Corn Snakes is the intensity of their coloring. Baby Blood Red Corn Snakes have more muted, darker red coloring. Adult Blood Red Corn Snakes have a uniform, intense, vibrant red coloring.
Blood Red Corn Snake Shedding
Shedding in snakes is a very common thing. This is the same for corn snakes and goes for Blood Red Corn Snakes as well. Especially as your snake grows up, it will need to shed its skin periodically to properly mature.
Your Blood Red Corn Snakes will shed its skin about once every few weeks. A healthy shed will result in their skin coming off in a fairly uniform piece. If your Blood Red Corn Snake’s skin comes off in pieces that might be a sign you need to increase their enclosure’s humidity.
You can put in a piece of damp moss or something similar to aid in healthy shedding. When their shedding time concludes, though, be sure to remove the moss to avoid any extra bacteria or mold building up.
Blood Red Corn Snake Facts
We brought you some cool facts about Blood Red Corn Snakes to make your experience of owning one more knowledgeable and enjoyable:
- Blood Red Corn Snakes are one of the few morphs of Corn Snakes that do not exhibit the trademark patterns and marking on their sides and underbelly.
- Blood Red Corn Snakes have the ability to climb trees and like to burrow: under rocks, logs, or any other cover.
- Corn snakes have proven to be beneficial to humans in their hunting of mice and other vermin that contaminate grain stores and crops.
- Sadly, due to their coloring having them often confused with the poisonous copperhead snake, Blood Red Corn Snakes are often killed.
- The Blood Red Corn Snake, though significantly smaller, kills its prey the same way a boa constrictor does, by slowly squeezing them to death.
- The Blood Red Corn Snake is a nocturnal animal, preferring to burrow under the cover of ground debris during the day.
- Foxes, bobcats, skunks, opossums, and weasels are some of the most common natural predators of the Blood Red Corn Snake.
- Blood Red Corn Snakes have been known to mate for life and lay around two to three eggs per year.
How to Breed Blood Red Corn Snakes?
Breeding a Blood Red Corn Snake can be relatively easy to do. Most Corn Snakes take a sixty to ninety day period to get ready for breeding. This period is usually called a brumation period. After the brumation period in a cool place with little sunlight, the male and female Corn Snakes do their business. The eggs, about twelve to twenty-four of them, are laid about a month after fertilization and are then abandoned by the mother.
To ensure the proper mix of genetics happen to result in a Blood Red Corn Snake, breeders usually use a mix of a Gainesville and Jacksonville , Florida strain of Corn Snake.
Blood Red Corn Snake Morphs
Although Blood Red is already a morph of Corn Snakes, you can mix their genetics even more to get further color and pattern variations. Here are some of the more popular morphs popular to get with a Blood Red Corn Snake:
- Snow Corn Snakes– these morphs will have some lighter yellow and white blotches thrown into their coloration. As hatchlings, they will have some pink blotches as well, but these will disappear as they age.
- Blizzard Corn Snakes–a stronger version of snow, just like in nature. This morph is on the whiter side but maintains it red eyes.
- Pewter Corn Snakes– this morph has a silvery-lavendar tinge to its coloration, dulling the vibrant red a Blood Red morph has.
- Butter Corn Snakes–this morph has some buttery yellow tinges thrown in to spice things up.
- Plasma Corn Snakes– a grayish-purple coloration is added to the blood red theme in this morph.
- Opal Corn Snakes– this morph is similar to blizzard morphs color-wise but with pinkish and purplish accents
- Granite Corn Snakes– as the name gives away, this morph is usually gray-tinged but with some pink highlights thrown in for some fun
- Fire Corn Snakes– the fire morph is very similar to the regular blood red morph, but the red in the fire morph is even brighter.
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