Can corn snake raise their heads?

I was wondering if corn snakes raise their heads off the ground like cobras do? I think that's scary. If they do that, does it mean that they are getting ready to strike?

corn snakes can raise their heads up, but of course they don't have a hood like a cobra, so they're not so scary. Mine mostly do it when they are climbing around, not when they're angry/afraid. It is amazing how much of their body they can support that way. Usually if they are going to strike they will take up more of an "S" shape.

Only when they're climbing? So it means that it's not likely that they are just going to slither in the middle of the floor and then raise their heads for no reason?

It's scary because when they raise their heads it makes them look like they're looking at you. That's why I want to get one of those snakes with ruby-red eyes. That way I won't notice the pupils (It's the reason I don't like geckos, etc.).

well mine tdoes it some times

well some times nicky my corn willl raise up like a cobra and then wiggle around for abit but I think he just like s to show off by saying" look at me arn't I cute" nah I don''t think they do that if there mad maybe thoe

My corn doesnt really do it all that much... like Elaphe said it usually takes up a "S" shape when its about to bight... plus they stare at what theyre about to bight... so if it has that look in his eye... I would wait to hold him another time...

yeah mine only does it when he's trying to reach the top of the tank. He thinks he can make it.
Otherwise he only curls into the "s" shaped defense position if he sees something suddenly move or if he's scared in any other way. He's never bitten me, but when he strikes at mice, you can usually see the attack coming.

Maybe he is looking at you when he raises his head up. Or at least he's looking around. You get a much better view when you do that, and I've seen other snakes lift their heads to look around a bit. How high was he lifting it?

Well they mostly raise up their heads because they want to get a better view or find something up there to climb as they do like to climb trees out in the wild. It's just natural for them to raise their heads up to find something to climb.

just a bit of info some of you might find interesting if you didnt know already,
corns (amongst many other snake species) make that "s" shape with their neck so as to imitate a cobra! In the wild, animals could mistake this s shape for a cobra's hood and not bother the otherwise pretty harmless corn snake!

yeah, whenever i bring my 10 month old baby bro into the room, my amel will raise her neck 7 inches off the ground and level her head, looks like a retarded cobra hehe its only when my little bro comes in, which makes you think they must have a good memory!

Rachel said:

just a bit of info some of you might find interesting if you didnt know already,
corns (amongst many other snake species) make that "s" shape with their neck so as to imitate a cobra! In the wild, animals could mistake this s shape for a cobra's hood and not bother the otherwise pretty harmless corn snake!

Click to expand...

I doubt this. Since cobras are not native to North America and no land animals migrate that far, no animal that will ever see a cornsnake would ever also see a cobra in its lifetime.

Also, I really doubt that a cornsnake knows what a cobra is or does. Since neither the snake nor the other animal knows what a cobra is, this just doesn't add up.

Also, people suggest that corns rattle their tails to imitate a rattlesnake. More anthropomorphizing, I say.

umm ok, thing is its a instinct thing. Most dogs in the UK will never have seen a snake but they are still instinctively wary of them and pat down grass when going to the loo. At some point this trait has been passed down. If you doubt my word then check Hickman et al. Integrated principles of Zoology. I think you will find that I am right.

I agree that it's instinctual, but that doesn't explain why pythons and boas (which evolved before cobras) do this. It is a behavior that was around before cobras ever existed...

Also, I've never seen any other snake lift its head straight up before striking laterally, as cobras do when they are displaying their hoods. In my experience, the S shape is always pointing more or less directly at the target, rather than being perpendicular to it. This allows for all of the energy to be directed that way when they "spring."

It makes a lot more sense to me that the position they take is the one from which they have the best shot. This is the classic "s" position, because they strike by straightening out their neck. I don't see what other position they could possibly take before effectively striking.

rattling...

my understanding of the tail-rattling is that most snakes shake their tails while nervous and that the rattles of a rattlesnake were a favorable genetic mutation that has developed over millions of years. in a geologic time-scale rattles on snakes are quite a new development. the theory is this: snakes shook their tails when they felt threatened.... then ... some of the forerunners of present-day rattlesnakes had a genetic mutation that caused part of their skin to catch at the end and not fully detach. now these incomplete sheds would rattle when the snake shakes its tail. this aided the snake in warning of predators thus becoming a favorable genetic adaptation of the snake. as time went on more and more of these "pre"-rattlesnakes showed the trait and refined it into better and better rattles over a long period of time. as this (the tail-shaking) was a quality (i believe) that snakes as a group posessed before rattlesnakes even evolved, i think it would be wrong to assume that non-rattlesnakes use this behavior as a mimicry of rattlers. following the same vein of logic i would be inclined to agree with serpwidgets on the posture issue as well. i hope this was explained clearly... if not let me know... ---jim

Ok I see what you mean...I guess I shouldnt believe everything I read in books!
What I know for sure (not really relevant to the post but interesting anyway) is that Hognoses (Heterodon spp.) can flatten their necks mimicing cobras and that pipesnakes (along with a few other spp. which Ive forgotton now!) have flattened tails. This distracts potential predators from their vulnerable head area. They coil up, covering their heads and "strike" at the predator with their tail!
Pretty cool huh?!

Oh, so corn snakes don't raise their heads STRAIGHT up, just in sort of an angle? Okay, that's not that scary then. When you all say that corn snakes DO raise their heads, I thought they'll raise straight up like a cobra.

uh well they can raise their heads straight up too! Usually when they are trying to reach something like a branch etc.
How come you are so hung up on whether they can raise their heads? Remember, they rarely bite and when they do its not sore!

'Cause I've heard that when snakes raise their heads, it means they're about to attack. Everybody has said that their bites don't hurt, but I've heard that they've gotten bitten and their fingers bled. Do adult corn snakes have teeth? If so, are they sharp?

i don't think so...

Well, my snakes have raised their heads lots of times, but have never once tried to attack me. Mainly they're looking up. It's hard to see much when you're laying flat on the ground. Sometimes they were looking at me, sometimes they were looking up a branch or the sides of their tanks. So I think you were misinformed about what the raising of the head means. Corns are more likely to attack when they've got their necks in an S-shape. But even then it just means they're nervous, and they're more likely to withdraw and try to hide rather than attack.

I've never been bitten, so I can't tell you how much it hurts. My boyfriend was bitten once by my baby corn snake and said it didn't hurt. She (the snake) was about to escape if he didn't grab her. So he probably grabbed her quickly and suddenly, and at the time she wasn't as used to him as she was to me. I've heard that a bite from an adult corn tends to sting a bit, but not very much. Kind of like a bee sting or something.