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11-21-2020, 10:39 AM

My family finally got a corn snake a few weeks ago. She is about 3 months old. I did a ton of research beforehand and I think our husbandry has been good. Temperatures seem correct, humidity seems fine, etc.

She has taken 2 meals and it has been 3 days since her last meal so we figured it was time to handle for the first time. She usually burrows all day and then roams the enclosure at night so we waited until about an hour after her light went out to try to handle. It did not go well.

When we went to handle she was stretched out lounging at the back of the enclosure and looked to be asleep. I used a pen to stroke her mid body to make sure she was awake. Once awake I reached in the scoop her up and as expected she got flighty and quickly slithered away hiding behind the clutter. So we waited a few minutes to let her come back out so we wouldn’t corner her. She came to a nice open area of the enclosure but as soon as I went to pick her up she immediately went into a strike pose and tried to strike anytime I got close. At this point it was obvious she was stressed and she remained it the strike pose the entire time I was there. At this point I gave up as I wasn’t sure if I should just take a bite and force the handling or just leave her alone since she was so stressed.

Is there anything we can do to make this a more pleasant experience for us and the snake. We don’t want to stress her for no reason but all resources we can find on handling seem to just say leave a stressed snake alone or just to force the handling. But there is no good in depth info it usually just says pick it up mid body and cornsnakes aren’t biters. So we don’t really know how to handle this type of situation. Everywhere just says more handling will calm them down but we currently can’t even get her out. Please help us

Just a note. I’m not worried about a bite I’m sure it won’t hurt. I’m concerned with stressing the snake or her getting hurt if we try to force the handling while she is repeatedly striking. I have considered trying a hook to get her out and hoping she calms down but she is a little snake in a big cluttered enclosure so I don’t know if I can hook her and get her out when she is flighty.

I really appreciate any advice.

11-21-2020, 10:39 AM	#1
Newowner89	Handling problems. Please help My family finally got a corn snake a few weeks ago. She is about 3 months old. I did a ton of research beforehand and I think our husbandry has been good. Temperatures seem correct, humidity seems fine, etc. She has taken 2 meals and it has been 3 days since her last meal so we figured it was time to handle for the first time. She usually burrows all day and then roams the enclosure at night so we waited until about an hour after her light went out to try to handle. It did not go well. When we went to handle she was stretched out lounging at the back of the enclosure and looked to be asleep. I used a pen to stroke her mid body to make sure she was awake. Once awake I reached in the scoop her up and as expected she got flighty and quickly slithered away hiding behind the clutter. So we waited a few minutes to let her come back out so we wouldn’t corner her. She came to a nice open area of the enclosure but as soon as I went to pick her up she immediately went into a strike pose and tried to strike anytime I got close. At this point it was obvious she was stressed and she remained it the strike pose the entire time I was there. At this point I gave up as I wasn’t sure if I should just take a bite and force the handling or just leave her alone since she was so stressed. Is there anything we can do to make this a more pleasant experience for us and the snake. We don’t want to stress her for no reason but all resources we can find on handling seem to just say leave a stressed snake alone or just to force the handling. But there is no good in depth info it usually just says pick it up mid body and cornsnakes aren’t biters. So we don’t really know how to handle this type of situation. Everywhere just says more handling will calm them down but we currently can’t even get her out. Please help us Just a note. I’m not worried about a bite I’m sure it won’t hurt. I’m concerned with stressing the snake or her getting hurt if we try to force the handling while she is repeatedly striking. I have considered trying a hook to get her out and hoping she calms down but she is a little snake in a big cluttered enclosure so I don’t know if I can hook her and get her out when she is flighty. I really appreciate any advice.