My daughter had a corn snake. It lived in an aquarium with a screen cover locked on (to prevent escapes, which she had done). We used a variety of insets, from newspaper to shavings and specially made carpets. She ate frozen mice from pet store (depending on size of snake what size of mice) and crickets. When she had escaped we didnt find her for three months. She was very skinny but survived. If you feed the snake too much, it can develop sickness such as weak bones as well as internal problems. We fed her a mouse every Saturday. The crickets were dumped into tank and she would eat crickets when she got to them.They need water, something to climb. stuff to hide under and heat (a lamp or heat pad). Heat to raise temp. (reptile) and hiding to not get too hot.