Settle in time ??

[arachniac]

Hello all ... New to Corns here. I have two hatchling - a amel female, and an Okeetee male. The female is flighty, and the male, well ... he's still pissed I had the herp shop sex him for me!! He's been stalking me in his takn and striking at me everytime I'm in eye sight line of him. I keep hearing "Thwap!" on the tank. They are both eatting great, each had pinks on 9-5 ( in shop) and 9-14 at home. They each have a hide spot on the warm and cool sides. My question is ... how long should I let them settle in before I handle them? I already thought I lost the Amel. the other day, I PANICED! I had just fed them both, and them male was in the feeding box, the female i her tank. I had taken her hide box out, and water dish, so it was jsut substrate. I THOUGHT I locked her lid before I went to change her water, and when I came back ...gone. I paniced!!! I had just moved into a new apartment the other week and there are boxes ALL over ... and my two dogs were running around at the time. I TORE my room apart, and them as a last resort I picked up her tank ...and there she was buried under the substrate hiding and resting after chowing down. I learned lesson # 1 of herp housing ...being obsessive complusive can help you if you do check things two or three times! The Okeetee is like a Velicaraptor. I swear he meticulousy checks every milimeter of his tank for ANY break in the integrity. I even found him half hanging into the females side ( I have the tank with a divider in it since they are just bitties right now ...) However, he had just eatten and got his big gut STUCK. He figured out to back himself up and got out. But, anyways, I'm rambling here ... What I need to know is, what is the best method for taming these guys, and when should I start it? (I've had these corns for just under a week now. and the are babies.) I just don't want them to think EVERY time the tank opens it's dinner time :> My Ball Python and Boa were so gentle from day one, even as babies.

Thanks all!!

[Iris]

They're going to be nervous for a while.
They will probably be most scared of you when you go to pick them up and then once you've actually gotten him or her in your hand they will probably be a little calmer.
You can start handling them now. Don't forget the 48-hour feeding rule (don't handle the snake until it's been at least 48 hours since it ate) and start off with short handling sessions (like 5 mins) every other day or so. Some people say it's all right to handle every day but I prefer every other day with my hatchlings.
Corns are pretty docile and there's no actual "taming" involved IMO. It's just a matter of them settling down and getting used to being handled.
Good luck :)

[whiffin]

OKay, I've only got/had one corn, but here's what I did ... 3 weeks and he's very "tame" :)


My Anery, Suzy, was never violent ... but was very scared. I got him just over 3 weeks ago. I left him for 5 days to settle then started handling him in his viv. He hated it and was scared. I did this every 3 days. Then I started handling him more, and he got more used to it. It was every 2 days at the end. I then put piece of fabric containing my scent into his viv (I would really recommend this), and he ended up sleeping under it! After that he was much tamer so I started handling him for a few minutes daily (except after feedings) and actually got him out of the viv. This was a big step as it calmed him down a lot!

Now, 3 weeks later he occasionally gets scared when I pick him up, but 9 times out of 10 he's fine ... when he is out he'll happily climb all over me, explore, sleep on my lap and burrow in my shirt or pockets. Although he doesn't like other people taking him out of his viv he will happily climb on them, but always seems more relaxed with me. ;)

Now, except after eating I usually handle him for anywhere between 5 and 20 minutes a day. Sometimes I try and put him back and he clings to my hand and appears to want to stay out. After I put him back he'll always stay out and about (indicating that he wasn't too scared).

Oh yeah, one other thing, I always tried to put him back when he was tame, rather than scared. If he went and hid I picked him up and then let him move away slowly. This was, I thought, he'd not think that'd he'd escaped me and that I would have ate him if he hadn't!

This may not be the best way of taming a corn, but it worked for me quite quickly and both Suzy and I are happier :D

HTH

A

[mikeradie]

I only have one corn and its my first. But my little nikki was striking at me and at first I would move my hand then I realized the snake was to small to hurt me so I would keep my hand there. then the snake started to climb on my hand and I had no problem since . I did notice that the snake was a little pissy right before the shedding so I left it alone until it was done. My nikki is so tame now I can hold her head a rub under her mouth with out her running away. I think she likes it ;)

[hurricane1]

hey whiffin,

very nice site, however, i would recommend feeding him elsewhere so he doesnt eat some of the substrate along with the pinkie

i place a brown paper bag with the pinkie and my snake in the warm end of my tank and let her eat, then after she has completely swallowed it, i let her go into the hide to digest