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Temperate terrestrial snake

Milk snake

Lampropeltis triangulum

Kept the same way as the California king snake, gopher and bull snake and corn snake, so they share one kit: the same heat, light, and humidity, sized to the animal.

Build a milk snake setup See the gear
Photograph of a Milk snake
Photograph by The original uploader was BillC at English Wikipedia ., CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

Care sheet

What it needs

We have taken these figures from published sources and are still checking them against our own experience. Treat them as a guide, and ask us before you buy.

Basking surface
29 to 32°C Measured on the surface the animal lies on, not in the air.
Daytime air
21 to 29°C The cool end, away from the lamp.
Night air
21 to 23°C
UV index at the basking spot
0.6 to 1.4 Zones 1 to 2. Crepuscular or shade dweller, thermal conformer
Humidity
40 to 60%
Daylight hours
13 h in summer, 11 h in winter
Winter
Brumation Torpid for weeks, through the winter.
Where it lives
Forest floor, Rocks, crevices, or burrows, Grassland or savanna
Adult length
35 to 175 cm
What it eats
Carnivore
When it is active
Nocturnal
How it lives
Terrestrial
Typical captive life
15 years
Longest recorded life
23 years A record from the literature, not what to expect. Most animals live well short of it.

Our reading of the literature, not veterinary advice. Animals vary, and so do rooms, so take these figures, and any setup the builder puts together, as a starting point, and ask a reptile vet about your own animal. Where the figures come from.

From the catalogue

Gear that suits a milk snake

Chosen for temperate terrestrial snake. The setup builder puts the whole kit together, sized to the animal, with the reason for each piece.

Build the whole kit

Same care group

Kept the same way

Where it comes from

Canada (Ontario, S Quebec), USA (N Texas, W Oklahoma, C/W Kansas, E Colorado, and SC / SW Nebraska, Illinois, Minnesota, Michigan, Iowa, Missouri, Tennessee, Arkansas, N Louisiana, N Mississippi, N Alabama, N Georgia, N South Carolina, N North Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia, Kentucky, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, Ohio, Maryland, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont, S Maine) Mexico (Coahuila)

Breeding: Lays about 4 to 12 eggs (up to about 20) once a year; eggs hatch in about two months.

Where the figures come from