The milk snake has a very widespread habitat. In the wild, most milk snakes live in temperate or hot climates. Only a couple of the other milk snakes live in the southeastern part of Canada and a couple live over by the east coastline. The milk snakes that live in the hotter climates also live in the drier climates. The snakes that live in the cooler climates also live in the wetter climates. Some snakes of the mid-east live in grassy plains and green rolling hills, where there is bound to be a population of healthy mice or rats. The milk snake rarely eats other snakes.
The habitat in captivity is very different from the habitat in the wild. The snake lives in a glass cage with a good, strong lid that keeps the snake inside. The cage also has wood chips at the bottom. He has a water bowl of which he drinks from and is fed baby rats and full grown mice. These rats and mice are usually raised and bred for the snakes. In our snake's captivation he is fed every two weeks or as needed. We never over-feed them or under-feed them.
When you think of a slick, fast, energetic snake you might think that no harm can come to it, but snakes that are calm and mellow can be in danger more than you think. That increases their chances of getting eaten by predators. Some of the milk snakes' predators are: owls, eagles, other birds of prey and sometimes other snakes.
Snakes may live alone or in groups. Most scientists and naturalists have discovered that milk snakes tend to keep to themselves. One reason that it lives by itself may be because usually when it finds food it likes to keep all of the food to himself instead of sharing things like little mice with a group of two or three snakes. Also when a snake finds a place to hide from predators he can hide by himself instead of sharing a little space with other snakes
Did you ever think that an animal after laying eggs would leave so that the animal or animals would have to provide for themselves? When the milk snake lays eggs she usually lays them in a dark, wet, quiet place where no one or nothing can bother her or the eggs. She does care about them enough to lay them out-of-reach of hungry egg-eating reptiles. She bears the eggs usually a bit over a month but also remember it varies from snake to snake, depending on how good their life conditions are.
Do you really want to know how the milk snake got its name? Well, before our time some dairymen with a sense of humor saw a milk snake in their barn. They would leave them there because they were known as good mice catchers. After sitting down and getting ready to milk their cows, sometimes they would not get enough milk and they said that the milk snakes must have gotten to them before. Do you believe them?
Other Classifications:
Kingdom-Animalia
Phylum-Chordata
Class-Reptilia
Famly-Colubrids