Scared or aggressive? Help!

[pinkie_muncher]

Hi,
I just got two little corn snakes from a breeder, they are both girls and live together. I'm not sure how old they are but they are on two pinkies a week.
They are very, very different from each other. The breeder told me to leave them for 24 hours before handling, after 24 hours I handled them both, after a little bit of fast moving, they both settled down. One of them always hides under the substrate as soon as I take the lid off or she sees me. I handled her the first day and she calmed down but today she was very skittish and tried to bite me.
Was it too soon to handle them? What can I do to make her less nervous?

Please help :confused:

[ciaralynne87]

Congratulations!! I have read online and in some books that when you first purchase hatchlings if they show aggressiveness or being scared its completely normal. It is sort of a good thing as it shows strength and health in the little ones. Be patient with them and handle them a little each day and eventually they will trust you. After all us humans are giants compared to their little bodies.

[airenlow]

I'm fairly new at this but I think most people on here would say to let them settle in for a week before any handling or feeding. More experienced keepers will be along soon to help you out with your questions. You might want to search for "cohabing" here on the forum...I'm guessing you'll be hearing a lot about it.

[SnakesRule1234]

She's probably stressed because you're co-habing her with the other. You SHOULD NOT house snakes together other than for breeding purposes. Also, 24 hours is not enough time for them to settle down. Give them a couple days.

[ciaralynne87]

I knew about not handling them for a day or two but its good to know to wait a week as I just purchased a new one two days ago. Just take your time and they will come around!

[clipclopclip]

Cohabbing your snakes is not a good idea. You may want to read some caresheets on corn snakes.
some of the reasons include:
1. breeding too young and having a female die in the process.
2. if one snake gets sick, so will the other
3. if one snake regurgitates or has runny poop, how will you know which one is having problems?
4. Corns are not social animals. They will cuddle up together because they are competing for the same good spot in the tank. This will stress them out a lot, even though you may not notice it until they get sick.
5. Although it doesn't happen often, one snake may eat the other.

You really should separate them for their safety and health.

About the aggression, when you rehome a corn snake it needs at least a week to settle in. It sound like your snakes are fairly young. Young corns can be nippy. They usually mellow out as they get older. This is simply a response to your big hand coming in after them. They are babies and in the wild their teeth and their hiding ability are the only things that keep them from being food. Over time they will accept handling better but remember that snakes can't be "domesticated" per say; they can be accustomed to handling but they are always wild animals.

There are some good care sheets around. I would do a search for cohabitating/cohabbing and read for yourself what it can do to your snakes.

Congrats on the new snakes and on finding a site where you have access to lots of good information. I hope your new pets do well!

[pinkie_muncher]

Thank you all for the advice.
I've been reading more and it does seem to be better if I left them to settle in a bit longer.
I didn't know it was so bad to cohabit snakes. I've read that it would be okay, the breeder also said it would be good as they are sisters and we cohabiting when I bought them.

I've also read that snakes might dehydrate if they don't come out of their hide. The playful snake responded when I put her next to the water bowl, however the scared one won't drink

[snakewispera snr]

It wouldn't matter if you let it settle in for a week or 24hrs, it's just a corn thing...Like someone else said, your a giant predator to it so it's scared.....It will settle down one day.....It's worth remembering that snakes only tolerate being handled, they don't really like it. saying that some tolerate it a lot better and quicker than others...LOL
I wouldn't worry about it, it might be worth just opening the viv and putting your hand in and stroking the snake now and again, just so it gets to know your not a threat.....As it gets bigger and more confident having you around it will learn to accept you....
As for the co-hab.......You'll get flamed for that here.....I personally couldn't care less. as they're not my snakes ....I don't keep mine together...(I don't even keep my Boas in the same room as my pythons...LOL)..

[pinkie_muncher]

If any problems do arise I will separate them. However they have lived together since they were born so it would be stressful for them moving and being separated at the same time.

[TWGarland]

pinkie_muncher
If any problems do arise I will separate them. However they have lived together since they were born so it would be stressful for them moving and being separated at the same time.

No, seperating them will likely decrease their stress levels. Corn snakes are solitary animals, what Clipclopclip said was good advice.

and i don't really see the wisdom in waiting for something to go wrong before you seperate them, but thats up to you :shrugs:

[snakewispera snr]

[quote=pinkie_muncher;613726]If any problems do arise I will separate them. /quote]
Bolting the stable door, springs to mind...

[snakewispera snr]

If you must co-habit, Ive been working out a size for the viv you may need.
I think about 6ft square may do it. That way you can have 2 hot hides and 2 cool hides. And down the middle a refrigeration unit to stop them crossing into each others domain. These are only rough sizes...Some of the others on here may know if that would be big enough...

[Susielea]

And if the first problem that arises is that one eats the other, then you won't be able to seperate them :shrugs:

[pinkie_muncher]

Now I'm confused. I phoned the breeder who I got the snakes from and he said he has never had a problem and he has been breeding corns for 30 years. :confused: I really don't know what to do now...

[clipclopclip]

Think about it this way...just because he does it doesn't mean that it would be a good idea for you to do it. There is a large body of evidence to suggest that cohabbing is not beneficial to the snakes and can be potentially harmful. The only benefit of cohabbing is to the owner, who has to buy fewer supplies.

Keep in mind as well that snakes don't show stress how mammals do, so even if you do not seem to see signs of stress they are there anyway.

You can contact multiple reputable breeders on this site that will tell you not to cohabit your corns. Separating them will be better for both animals. You will not see signs before one gets sick or one eats the other..it will just happen one day. There will be no warning.

[snakewispera snr]

Just read the co-hab threads and then do what you want...easy...



Everyone misses the point on co-habing....Where do you stop,.2-3-4-5-6....Because you will probably end up with more than two snakes...Thats a lot of pets, money, heartache to watch fade away, if infection gets in.

Just start as you will have to carry on, with individual controlled environments...

[Susielea]

I'm not saying this to be horrible and I don't want to get flamed but, to "some" breeders, not all, snakes are breeding stock, if they happen to lose one or two a season, it's not nice but they deal with it.

If you lose your beloved pet, because of stress, or another probem that can arise from co-habbing, you are going to be devistated. It can be very difficult to tell if a snake is stressed, expecially for a new owner who has no previous experience.

Most of the hobbiest/breeders I know house their snakes seperate, except for brief periods when breeding.

Another thing to remember, is that occaisionally, snakes get miss sexed, even the best can make mistakes, not too often but it happens. I've seen a couple of threads on here recently, of a female turning out to be male and if it turns out you actually have a male and female, they will probably breed too young and this could cause serious complications for the female.

In the end it's up to you whether you decide to go ahead and co-hab, but in my limited experience, it's better to keep them seperate :shrugs:

Good luck with whatever you decide. :)

[pinkie_muncher]

Thank you for your advice on co-habbing.
I am going tomorrow to get a second home so my snakies can be separate =]