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17 week old con snake

M

Mjdbutter

New member
I have just got a 17 week old hatchling corn and she is incredibly jumpy while being handled, I understand the reasons why obviously not alot of human contact from the shop I bought her but I wondered how long this tends to last and if anyone has any tips to calm her down. Many thanks Mitch
 
Every snake is different they all have their own personality. All I would do is handle it frequently for short periods of time and gradually build up the length of time it is out of its viv. Obviously make sure you dont handle it for 48 hours after it has been fed. Persevere and you really should see results quite quickly.

Kindest regards

Habistatman
 
They tend to get more confident as they grow. As 'Stat said, the key is patience and gentle handling. The snake will eventually learn that it's safe when you pick it up - could take weeks or months, each is different. Remember that in the wild, everything would be out to eat it!
 
I got 3 2010's on april 23rd and they are already starting to calm down. I have only held them 4 times so far and they are getting much better. Just work through the initial freak out and let the snake run though your hands for a few mins, then put it back. I have been thinking I might post a video on handling new younger corns.
 
rosewood said:
. I have been thinking I might post a video on handling new younger corns.
Click to expand...

That's a great idea. I'm sure many new owners would benefit from it. Seeing something demonstrated instead of just reading about it sure makes things easier to understand.
 
That's what I thought too, I see so many posts on here where people ask if the sporadic behavior of hatchlings is normal. Which of course it is, and so many dont know how to deal with it or feel nervous doing so. I guess I will spend sometime taking vids holding my own corns on saturday :) I will post a link to this thread saturday night!
 
Thankyou i knew that it was normal behaviour and was not worried but my male normal i had from a year old and he never had a problem with handling so i just wondered how long she would take to calm down. many thanks mitch
 
rosewood said:
That's what I thought too, I see so many posts on here where people ask if the sporadic behavior of hatchlings is normal. Which of course it is, and so many dont know how to deal with it or feel nervous doing so. I guess I will spend sometime taking vids holding my own corns on saturday :) I will post a link to this thread saturday night!
Click to expand...

I was about to post a thread on this same topic. I also recently got a 2010 corn and it is extremely skittish. I had snakes growing up and now bought a corn for my children. It's eating fine but any attempts to handle it cause the snake to run and hide. I am gently picking up the snake and holding it in it's cage at this point. It seems like in order to make the snake stay in my hand I would have to either hold it forcefully, or continue to dig it out of it's hide and keep picking it up until it gets tired. This sounds too stressful to the snake to me. I'd love any advice on how to proceed. Thanks!
 
Just pick up the snake no matter how much it fusses. It will actually become calmer faster if you take it right out of its home. Once it realizes your not out to kill it it should calm down enough that it will slither from hand to hand at a reasonable pace. I will probably make a vid tonight and make two more tomorrow, one of me holding each of my newer girls.
 
Well I was having huge issues trying to upload vids to my site so that I could send you all a link and I finally figured it out! Anyways it took me a while to do that so I didnt get around to the vids tonight but will do some tomorrow.
 
rosewood said:
Just pick up the snake no matter how much it fusses. It will actually become calmer faster if you take it right out of its home. Once it realizes your not out to kill it it should calm down enough that it will slither from hand to hand at a reasonable pace. I will probably make a vid tonight and make two more tomorrow, one of me holding each of my newer girls.
Click to expand...

That makes sense. I was trying to hold it inside it's tank because I didn't want it to jump out of my hands. It might help to remove it from it's tank quickly so it doesn't have anywhere to go. I'll give that a try tonight. So far it hasn't attempted to strike, but it has curled up and rattled it's tail against it's water bowl. I'm not afraid of getting bit, or having it poop on me.
 
rosewood said:
Well I was having huge issues trying to upload vids to my site so that I could send you all a link and I finally figured it out! Anyways it took me a while to do that so I didnt get around to the vids tonight but will do some tomorrow.
Click to expand...

Thanks! I look forward to viewing your vids.
 
Heather thats a good video and a really well put together site.I had a lot of experience with pythons before i got my corn snakes and what really suprised me about corns is just how fast they can move and the unexpected jerky movements they can make. It might be worth mentioning this in your video as these things can catch you out when you first start handling them.

Kindest regards

habistatman
 
I`ve found that even no contact works. He hardly ever gets handled. They calm down once they get used to their enclosure and you walking by to look or feed it or clean his enclosure and give fresh water. It`s his home and he accepts it now and seeing me. He was wild caught and would rattle and bite for the first month or so. Now that I`ve had him for 2 yrs. I just go and pick him up every month or so and he`s fine with it..
 
Nice post. You did it exactly right. I live in s. fl. where cornsnakes used to be common. They are not so common anymore due to habitat loss and the cold freeze we had last winter. I don`t condone catching and keeping wild ones but I feel I saved the one I have now from death because he was crossing a road in a populated area.. He`s a beautiful specimen..
 
Thanks guys! Once my corn eggs hatch I will do a couple of vids with the craziest of the bunch for those of you who have particularly sporadic corns ;)
 
rosewood said:
Ok I did two videos just a few min ago, they are linked to my site, here is the URL:

http://rosewoodcorns.webs.com/apps/videos/channels/show/2987411-corns

Hope it helps!
Click to expand...

It's strange, my corn, about the same age as saga, doesn't and hasn't ever acted like yours (well okay except once when she had moodswings lol)... I have her out now, she moves cautiously, slowly moving along my hand and my desk, she has never "zipped" out of my hands, and will often just sit in my hand for the first 15 minutes of my handling her... I wonder if it's because I pick her up when she was sleeping sometimes? but even if she's been out and about for a bit she still acts very cautious...

When she had a strange mood the other week, I was playing with her on the bed (she likes to climb in the blanketfolds), and I guess I scared her by touching her tail, she zoomed off and fell off the bad =S caught her, but. I touch her tail all the time when handling and normally get no reaction, so it caught me off guard, but she seems to be back to her abnormal self :) heck, I've even turned her upsidedown and she was slow to right herself (though I think that was partly cause she was pretzel'd).

very confusing to have a snake that acts differently than most corns, but i'm glad shes so easy to handle. I showed her your vids and told her to take notes anyway ;)
 
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