Not all snakes are nocturnal, it is dependent on the snake species.
Snakes are very well adapted to their environment and sleep when hunting is going to be less successful more often than not.
A good way to find if the snake is a nocturnal species is their eyes.
99% of nocturnal species have eyes which are not round during daylight hours.
They look like a line down the eyeball as a pupil, daylight snakes tend to have circular pupils, just know this will really help you understand what type of snake you’re seeing.
Most people assume that corn snakes are nocturnal snakes, but they are actually (crepuscular).
This is a twilight snake; there they do not have a regular sleeping habit. These snakes will hunt when they feel and rest when they need. It is common to see corn snakes in the wild and as a pet active during the night & day.
There are three main types of snakes that we are going to use and are as follows:
- Boa constrictor – Nocturnal
- Hognose – Diurnal
- Corn Snake – Crepuscular
Boa Constrictor (Nocturnal Snake)
The boa is a snake that will rest during the daylight hours and rarely will be seen during the daylight hours.
Though they do occasionally appear during light hours, more than 90% of the time a boa constrictor is more active during the night.
This is usually due to when the prey becomes more active, and the snake follows suit.
Hognose (Diurnal)
A hognose is the complete opposite, it is still a snake, yet they are found more often during the daylight hours.
Hognoses rarely will move during the night; this is thought to be due the snake being small and be open to attack by larger predators during the night.
Another reasons for hognoses are the temperature regulation and they adapt to what is environment provides.
Corn snake (Crepuscular)
Firstly, a crepuscular is an animal that comes out in the twilight hours, but also is regarded as a night and day animal.
Corn snakes tend to sleep when they feel like it and are active when they are hunting. For this snake there is not a pattern of sleep more than just when they feel the need to rest.
If you have a pet corn snake, you will notice that there is no consistency with when your corn snake is moving around their enclosure, and if you were confused as to why a nocturnal snake was moving during the day now you know why.
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