How to Keep Milk Snakes

With some 25 subspecies available, each with different patterning and appearance, Milk Snakes are probably some of the most colourful – and variable – reptile pets around.

The common name comes from an old myth that these animals could milk cows – an impossible feat for any snake! The idea probably arose from their natural attraction to barns as places to hunt rodents; being found repeatedly inside near cattle, might then have given rise to this bizarre and unfounded reputation.

The Milk Snake ( Lampropeltis triangulum) has a natural range which extends from Canada in the north down to Venezuela in the south, with the various subspecies forming distinct local populations across this vast portion of the globe. The most popular varieties to be found as exotic pets include :

• Mexican Milk Snake ( Lampropeltis triangulum annulata)
• Nelsons Milk Snake (L. t. nelsoni)
• Pueblan Milk Snake (L. t. campbelli)
• Scarlet Kingsnake (L. t. elapsoides)
• Sinaloan Milk Snake (L. t. sinaloae)

Striking Appearance

The striking appearance of Milk Snakes has undoubtedly added to their enduring popularity; with their alternating bands of red, black and yellow/white running along their bodies, they certainly stand out!

Although it might on first sight seem a little unhelpful for a hunter to be quite so obvious, there is a point to their conspicuous colouration. They live in the same areas as a highly venomous group of reptiles – the Coral Snakes – and mimicking their brightly banded markings probably ensures that any would-be predators will think twice before trying to make a meal of a harmless Milk Snake.

It’s an effective disguise – known to biologists as Batesian mimicry – but fortunately for the snake-enthusiast there’s a little mnemonic to tell the venomous from the harmless, based on which colours are actually next to each other in the snakes’ sequence of bands:

“Red to yellow, kill a fellow! Red to black, venom lack.”

However, if you do ever go hunting Milk Snakes in the wild, do remember that this only works in North America; down in Central and South America, some venomous species have a different order of colours!

Housing Milk Snakes

Milk Snakes are fairly small animals, typically growing to around 3 to 4 feet (90-120cm) long, so an adult can be comfortably housed in a tank around 30 x 12 x 16 inches (75x30x40cm). It’s best to keep them singly, as the species often has cannibalistic tendencies.

One of the most renowned escape artists of all snakes, a securely fitting lid is absolutely essential since these handsome animals will make it their business to try to find even the tiniest hole – and then they’ll be off!

The choice of flooring is important. This snake is a burrower, so it needs a suitable floor material to allow it to do this, but it’s vital that it isn’t allowed to sit in the damp or it may develop blisters and other health problems. Shredded newspaper is probably the easiest material from the point of cleanliness, but it admittedly doesn’t look very pleasing, so if your tank is on show, you might prefer to use dry leaves or reptile bark, routinely removing anything which gets soiled.

A few hiding places will also be appreciated, along with a water container large enough to let your pet have a soak; snakes have an unfortunate habit of defecating in their water, so be aware and replace it when necessary.

Heating And Temperature Requirements

With Milk Snakes now bred extensively in captivity, it’s not as important to match the temperature to the original geographical “home” of your particular subspecies as it was in the days when most of the specimens being sold were wild-caught individuals. A daytime temperature of around 25-30 degrees C (77-86F) will be ideal, dropping a few degrees at night, with the provision of some hotter basking spots and cooler areas too, allowing your pet to regulate its body temperature naturally. The usual warnings about heaters apply, so make sure you cover them properly to stop inquisitive snakes from getting burnt.

Feeding Milk Snakes

Milk Snakes have a bit of a reputation as fussy eaters, so although in the wild they eat a wide variety of prey, in captivity it is often best to stick to whatever works and not vary things too much. Most captive bred animals will take appropriately sized and well-thawed mice or pinkies and as a general rule, adults will need feeding once or twice a week, while hatchlings and juveniles will require a baby pinkie every three or four days. Most snakes will stop eating around shedding time, so there’s no need to panic when yours do.

Although these attractive snakes are not quite so easy to keep as Corn Snakes, their smaller size and bright colours make them another firm favourite with snake-keepers and as anyone who has ever had one will tell you, they’re definitely worth the trouble!