Flinchy Snake

[Chris_S]

I just purchased my 14 inch red and black corn snake about 3 week ago and it will not let me pick it up. It is my first purchased snake and I don't have much experience with snakes other than ones Ive found around my woods.

Every time I go near it or move while holding it, it flinches and tries to run away. Is there any way to stop this? I want him to be comfortable with me and allow/want me to handle him.

The details:
I feed him 2 pinkies every Friday
He is captive bred by another snake enthusiast, not a company.
I bought him out of a lot of around 8 other snakes, two were striped.
He has 2 hides, lots of coco bedding to lie in. His tank is made of pine wood thats pretty old (maybe 1-2 years) so probably not much olfactory irritation.
The tank is around 74 at night and up to 90 in the day, usually stays at 80-84 in the day though. The cage is 1x3 feet and 2 feet high. He has plenty of space to climb and slither. The cage is homemade by me and is all wood with a glass front and hinged, screened top with a wooden frame to hold the screen. He has never tried to bite me. I handle him about 2 hours a week, spread out over three separate days, on average.

If you need any more info from me, please ask.

[Nanci]

He's just afraid. The more you handle him, the calmer he should get. With my tiny babies, I find it disturbs them less the quicker I can capture them and remove them from their viv. If I spent time trying to get them to come to me, they would just get into a panic. For me it works best to know where their usual sleeping spot is, lift the hide and quickly scoop them up before they start running. Then hold close and gently- not dangling over the floor. Baby snakes are just afraid of everything- they don't know what your intentions are. He'll settle down once he discovers he has nothing to fear from you.

[Caryl]

Nancy's advice is good. Just keep handling him/her for short periods each day, except of course for 48 hours after a feeding. Some of them gentle down almost immediately. Others take a bit longer, but corn snakes are noted for their good disposition. Once your new addition feels confident that s/he is safe with you, it will relax. In nature, one mistake in judgement about safely often results in death, so the critters are understandably skittish for a while. :)

Some actually get to a point where you can put a hand in their viv and they'll come to you, but don't try that at this point. Grasp your snake firmly but gently at mid-body. Touching the head or tail is scary for the snake. It may help to remove plants, waterbowl(s), or hides before doing your "snake-scooping." If you end up chasing the snake around the viv, it's stressful for all concerned.

Congrats on joining the hobby & forum. Be patient and perservere in handling. It's worth it!