uh oh

I didn't handle my corn for maybe a month or more ( I had bronchitis for longer than 1 month) so i mainly handled my ball python because hes just more fun to hang out with.

now hes completely scared of me.

should I handle him every day for a few mins to get him used to me again?

when i touched him in his terrarium he kept going into strike mode, but i waited for him to calm down a bit before picking him up (something i learned from steve irwin lol!)

when i handled him he was thrashing a lot and trying to get away from me a lot.

I handled him for maybe 1-2 mins then put him back.

and he is not in shed.

Maybe look him over and see if he hasn't been injured from slithering over a sharp point that you may have missed on one of his hides or decorations? Is it possible you missed the "drab" time in his shed cycle and he has cleared but hasn't shed yet? I'm not saying you didn't notice either of these I just don't know.

If none of that is right then handling him a little each day should get him used to you.

BTW, I like the Steve Irwin thing. LOL

Had that problem too but now i handle 2 times a week and he's back to calm again so it might very well go away with some handling again.

oh my god im going through a rough time right now with things in my life out of my control and i almost sold my corn...

fate would have it that the couple people who wanted to buy it from me.. the deal went bad and i never ended up selling him

ive just been so stresed lately and i just felt like getting rid of him..

well tonight i had a BREAKTHOUGH! i decided to handle him again tonight but first i played the band Gwar (he likes gwar for some reason!!!) and i decided to be really patient with him and try to relax and now i held him and he didnt thrash around but still acted a bit funny.. huge step for charlie!

im so happy!!!!

Good to hear!

I'm just telling you this because it has worked for me, I'm not saying it is the best option. I've found that it works really well to pick the snake up with an external object. My snake is comfortable when I hold him but is a little scared when I reach into his cage to pick him up. What I did was I took a wire hanger and bent it so it became a straight piece with a hook at the end.

Next I took the hook end and bend it so it was between a "J" and an "L" shape. Then I covered the hooks point with some tape so it wasn't sharp. After that, I took the straight end and bent it so that it formed a handle. It works like a dream for picking up my snake and he doesn't seem to have the same reaction as when my hands go into the cage and try to scoop him up.

no that sounds like a great idea.. would like to get a proffesional snake hook someday, not too good at making it myself. sometimes i have trouble handling my snakes, like when my ball was sick recently it would have been great to have a snake hook, because he was jumpy and scared.