Newbie- how did our first handling go?

Hi everyone. Just wondering how you think this went/ how we did: We (8 year old daughter and I) got our girl 5 days ago, she's 2 years old, pretty good sized, and used to a lot of handling, including by kids. I know we're a bit shy of the 7 days mark, but figure we could try it as she's been held regularly since babyhood. So we picked her up the way we've been reading and watching videos on- supported the most we could, from the middle of her body.
Held her only about 3 minutes to keep it short. She didn't try to bite at all but definitely didn't seem very comfortable, not lying still at all but immediately stretching way out so that I had to really keep moving my hands to keep her supported. Also really wanted to burrow into clothes and just seemed like she wanted to hide in general. I had held her one other time, with her previous owner right before buying her, and she was a lot calmer. So I think she is still nervous and getting settled in, but am wondering if holding her more often or less often is the answer right now? Just a little confused about this, as it seems that both too much and too little can cause problems.
She'll be due for a first feeding in a few days, and I know some folks say to wait until after the feeding, but again, I know she was used to lots of handling already and had never been a picky eater, so I thought a short handling would be okay.
Anyways, we are super happy with her and looking forward to a long and good relationship. Have never had any reptiles, so this is the beginning of the journey. (Still choosing between Sunset and Marigold for names, both for her red coloring!) Thanks.

A lot depends upon whether you got her complete set up from the former owner. If you did, she will be more comfortable in her vivarium/tank and only needs to become acclimated to the new location visible on the outside of the viv. If she has a new viv and new location too, she needs a little while to acclimate. I would handle her often to see if she is finally settled in, but if she keeps stretching out in flee mode, I'd leave her alone for a while. There's no real hurry, since she will be with you for a long time. Once I feed my corns I don't bother them until they defecate, usually 3 or 4 days, sometimes more. It's funny that people don't give snakes much credit for intelligence, but my corns seem to know me and any odors they perceive on my skin when I handle them. If someone else handles them they aren't usually calm.

Sounds like it went well.
I would say start with 15 min day. Not including day of feeding and 2 days after that. She should be warmed up to you both in a week or 2. Then you can take her out longer. Super cute names. Let us know what you decide on.


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just for general information I am giving you a link to a video I made of myself about 6 months ago with my snake. They usually don't sit perfectly still, but after you've had them a while and they are used to you, they do settle down quite a bit.

(Link) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h_6bUeFh28o

Thanks, everyone! I'm glad to know we did reasonably ok and didn't really mess up. She did poop yesterday, which I figure is a good sign in terms of everything physical working correctly. We'll try continuing to hold her a few more times over the next few days, a little longer than we did today, to see if she calms down. If not, we'll give her longer to settle in. (The setup here is new to her.) Am I understanding correctly? I will definitely check out the video when I have a good internet connection.

Um, yeah, my girl didn't act anything like Rufus in the video! I'll keep working with her and will be so excited when she's that calm...!

Congrats on your new arrival! I just acquired an adult corn myself and have found that after about 15-20 mins or so his activity level does slow down. My guy seems to enjoy being out for about an hour then when I walk up to his tank he's ready to go back in it on his own. Try holding your girl every day til she's due to feed, then leave her alone so she can digest that meal a few days. You also might want to turn the lights down a bit so it's not really bright while you're holding her. Snakes are more active at night. Good luck and enjoy her!

Hi all, just following up for anyone else who had a similar question to mine and is wondering what happened: we kept holding her a few minutes each day, then extended the time to 15 or 20 while moving from room to room in our house, and today she was on me for 40 minutes and got passed to both my kids and was great with it. A big learning for me was to let her "hold on" more than I was before. I was worried she'd fall but now I see she won't just choose to take a dive off my arm!

Ashirah said:

Hi all, just following up for anyone else who had a similar question to mine and is wondering what happened: we kept holding her a few minutes each day, then extended the time to 15 or 20 while moving from room to room in our house, and today she was on me for 40 minutes and got passed to both my kids and was great with it. A big learning for me was to let her "hold on" more than I was before. I was worried she'd fall but now I see she won't just choose to take a dive off my arm!

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If anyone wants to 'hold' any of mine I make sure they are sitting down on the sofa settee and then gently place the Corn /Royal in their hands over their laps . That's way they can old it and guide it gently and it's never going to fall or lash about trying to get a safe grip .
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Yes, I will definitely have any new people sit with her. A lesson I learned as a kid when the neighbor dropped my guinea pig because a fly had landed on her!