tempermental?

[Eclipse]

i have no idea why he's being all aggressive.i feed my corn 1pinkie/week.everytime i try to grab him in his tank he starts to shake his tail,i know what it means.i let him smell my hand bu he still does it.when i do manage to get a hold of him he swivers and stiffens but once hes out of the vivi, he behaves just fine.he never bit me once.hes about a year old i believe.any help.

[Sanebedlam]

How long have you had him? Also if you pull his hide off and reach for him immediatly it will scare him even more. But many young snakes are a little jittery when you pick them up I wouldn't worry about it to much its likely he will get over it.

[ReptileMama4]

Also too, how often to you handle him? If you're not handling him often enough, he won't recognize your scent. My snow corn, Atreyu, rattled his tail once when he was a baby. He also bit me once. But this was because I grabbed him too fast. He's about a year and 4 months now. So now what I do is use a shovel to sift through the aspen till I find him, then depending on how brave I am, I either use the shovel to gently scoop him up or I just place a couple fingers on him gently, then slide them under him and lift him up. He really appreciates this. :)

[Mysfitz]

i had 2 littles ones that were extremely defensive, once in feeding bins if you looked at them(not move closer just look) they would rattle, now that they have plumped up(not really just been fed good)

even the adults i picked up(same time) were pretty defensive mostly when in feeding bins until they adjusted to good feeding schedules.(all of them were on the slim/small side)

at a year old you could be giving 2 pinkies or a fuzzy per meal, check the munson plan, it goes by your snakes weight.

mine are handled usually only on feeding day and now that they have gained weight they are much calmer.
you can even threaten to take the fuzzies out and they no longer rattle at you.

[ReptileMama4]

And if your snake is anything like Atreyu, he'll really mellow out and let you pick up the container he's in while he's eating and let you watch. :)

[Kellogg Cornsnake]

My small Okeetee girl is very defensive as well. Our first encounter together resulted in many bites and strikes. I think she thought she was something inbetween a rattlesnake and a cobra, since she rattled and raised her self up as a cobra would. I found it funny, but I knew she was serious. I felt it was more of a feeding response since this last feeding she didn't bite or strike, and was much calmer with the handling. She ate like a champ, although back in the cage she was nervous, and quickly got into stike mode. It takes time for them to come around, I feel your snake is still adjusting to the new world....give it time and maybe you'll see a different snake. Good luck to you two for the future.

[Eclipse]

well i think i know what the problem is.i used to handle him alot,but lately i hadnt had time to so i stopped.so thats prob the reason.oh and im also wondering how many pinky's should i give him a week?hes about a year old maybe 3-4 ft long.

[Mysfitz]

at 3-4 feet he should be eating small adult mice.

see if you can check his weight.

also you shoulding be feeding him 1-2 items 1.5 times bigger around then him(should see a bulge after eating)

so if he is as big around as your
baby finger pinkies-fuzzies
thumb he should be eating hoppers.

[Mysfitz]

if your only offering 1 pinky, try 2.
then move him up to fuzzies, he will grow faster once on fuzzies.