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Husbandry and Basic Care General stuff about keeping and maintaining cornsnakes in captivity.

What are corn snake teeth like?
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Old 06-16-2018, 02:05 AM   #11
Twolunger
When snakes are in a defensive mode they may rattle their tail and rear up and strike. But they usually bite quickly and release, often more than once. It almost sounds like Steve thought your son's hand was food. When that happens they may bite and hold on, and sometimes coil on the hand too. I've had it happen infrequently, and just lift the upper jaw with my finger nail. If you pull the corn off you may make things worse. The teeth are small, but sharp, and usually leave a nice impression on your hand with blood.
 
Old 06-16-2018, 12:14 PM   #12
albertagirl
Hoosierneals, try watching after a meal, they will usually "yawn" to realign their jaws. This gives a really nice view of their teeth. But you will need to be pretty close to see them, their teeth are pretty tiny.

AlexLou, if your snake doesn't let go immediately, it's generally pretty safe to just wait until they do. I have never had a corn snake bite and hold, but one time my ball python missed the mouse and grabbed my hand. Even with nice warm flesh in his mouth and the smell of food everywhere, he let go after about 2 or 3 minutes. But I had a q-tip ready to soak with alcohol and let him get a sniff of it, as I've heard that works in case they absolutely refuse to let go. Any kind of pulling is likely to cause damage to the snake, and since there's very little damage a corn snake can do to you, I suggest just waiting it out.
 
Old 06-16-2018, 01:22 PM   #13
Karl_Mcknight
here's a cute video of a King snake that has bitten a guy and is hanging on. It's a feeding response as most King snakes are stronger feeders than corns. This video shows how to remove a snake that "Won't let go" and although it depicts a King Snake, it works with corn snakes and others as well.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FNxMg5O-Be8&t=150s
 
Old 06-16-2018, 02:52 PM   #14
Twolunger
Quote:
Originally Posted by Karl_Mcknight View Post
here's a cute video of a King snake that has bitten a guy and is hanging on. It's a feeding response as most King snakes are stronger feeders than corns. This video shows how to remove a snake that "Won't let go" and although it depicts a King Snake, it works with corn snakes and others as well.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FNxMg5O-Be8&t=150s
I really liked that video, and the king snakes can reach an intimidating size. I always wondered how you put them together during mating season, since their diet includes other snakes. I was visiting my son after he took his kings out of brumation and I asked him about it. He said the males typically go off feed a bit during that season, as there is a greater urge taking over. He had me open one of the rack containers to see a mated pair of kings. I opened the container and told him I only see one snake. Sure enough, the male may have mated with the female, but he also ate her.
 
Old 06-16-2018, 05:54 PM   #15
Karl_Mcknight
Many of the King Snakes are quite small. The Cali King rarely exceeds 4 feet, and there are several others in the 3 foot size. The Eastern King aka "Chain Snake" and the Florida Brooks and the Mexican Black are among the larger capable of 8 foot lengths but rarely getting that big. I had a Cali King for a long long time. She was very sweet and was almost 5 feet when she finally passed away. (I always thought she was one of the Largest Calies I had ever seen.)

A lot of folks don't know, but Corn snakes are direct cousins of King snakes and can even interbreed with them producing several other morphs often referred to as "Jungle Corns." Corn snakes will also eat other snakes, and I've seen photos of such. It's really never a good idea to cohab 2 or more of any Colubrid, but a lot of people just can't be reasoned with and have to learn the hard way.
 
Old 06-26-2018, 02:25 PM   #16
DeuceRon
Quote:
Originally Posted by albertagirl View Post
Hoosierneals, try watching after a meal, they will usually "yawn" to realign their jaws. This gives a really nice view of their teeth. But you will need to be pretty close to see them, their teeth are pretty tiny.

Yes, I've noticed that he yawns like that. Didn't know why though. Thanks!
 
Old 07-03-2018, 06:42 PM   #17
DennisP
>> Here's my question: How to you stop the snake from biting, once it's teeth are in. Do you let it realize "oh, this isn't food" and let it release, or...? When Steve bit my son, I, instinctively (I guess) tried to pull the snake off. In hindsight I see my son would've been (and is) fine, but I could have really hurt Steve.


You are insightful, I like you

Snakes will eventually figure out that "You're not food" after biting you. Its actually more of a "I can't swallow this, this way." than a conscious "You're not food", but... same thing ultimately.

If they are biting at you defensively or out of fear, they usually let go right away. So, chances are if you get bitten and they hang on, they thought there was food there.

The best way I've found to get them to let go is to:
A) Don't panic. Don't pull back or pull the snake off.
B) dribble a little bit of water over their head. They find this annoying and usually let go pretty quickly.

Corn snake teeth seem like they are little hooks to me, so if you pull the snake off, you risk breaking some teeth (and also potentially hurting yourself more).

I realize that its a very human reaction to pull back and away from the owie, but if possible, I find just dribbling water over the head to be a quick and easy way to convince them to let go normally and reduce injury to both of you.
 
Old 07-03-2018, 07:08 PM   #18
Karl_Mcknight
Quote:
Originally Posted by DennisP View Post
>> Here's my question: How to you stop the snake from biting, once it's teeth are in. Do you let it realize "oh, this isn't food" and let it release, or...? When Steve bit my son, I, instinctively (I guess) tried to pull the snake off. In hindsight I see my son would've been (and is) fine, but I could have really hurt Steve.


You are insightful, I like you

Snakes will eventually figure out that "You're not food" after biting you. Its actually more of a "I can't swallow this, this way." than a conscious "You're not food", but... same thing ultimately.

If they are biting at you defensively or out of fear, they usually let go right away. So, chances are if you get bitten and they hang on, they thought there was food there.

The best way I've found to get them to let go is to:
A) Don't panic. Don't pull back or pull the snake off.
B) dribble a little bit of water over their head. They find this annoying and usually let go pretty quickly.

Corn snake teeth seem like they are little hooks to me, so if you pull the snake off, you risk breaking some teeth (and also potentially hurting yourself more).

I realize that its a very human reaction to pull back and away from the owie, but if possible, I find just dribbling water over the head to be a quick and easy way to convince them to let go normally and reduce injury to both of you.
Look at the video 2 or 3 posts above
 
Old 07-03-2018, 07:42 PM   #19
DennisP
> Look at the video 2 or 3 posts above

Yep, that works! Sorry I wasn't able to look at the video; was at work at the time.

If a sink isn't nearby I just get water from their water dish and dribble it on their head and that often works, too. Its all a matter of how much you can keep your wits about you.
 
Old 07-05-2018, 10:07 PM   #20
chris68
Some think eyes may taste good. Had a unique perspective of a large corn snake's throat. With gentle help he let go...
 

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