Anxiety when feeding

Hello. I know this may not be the best place to ask about this, but i dont know where else to turn to. I have a two year old corn snake, and she's just wonderful. Never bit me, never been aggresive, always eats and overall does very well. The problem here is me. I already sold one snake because of this. But she was also very defensive, and i had some problems with her. Right after i sold her, things got better, but now its returning. It's everytime its close to feeding day, i build up this wierd anxiety about feeding. Like, i feel like something is gonna go wrong, and go over all these worst case scenarios. (deep down i know it's gonna be fine, but i cant think rationally in these situations). I do feed her, but thats with my heart pumping and my hands shaking.
I really dont want to sell her because of this. She means too much to me. If any of you have tried anything like this, i would love some advice on how to handle it.

I just feed the snake every 10 days or so, and if he eats the mouse, fine. If not, I try again 10 days later.

I'm sorry but I don't understand your anxiety. Are you afraid the snake won't eat? Or are you afraid of being bitten in the process?

Both are no big deal. If the snake does not eat, try again a week or 2 later. Snakes can live months without food.

If you're afraid of being bitten, ask yourself this question: "How big can the teeth inside that tiny snake's head be?"

Have you ever been scratched by a cat? A corn snake's teeth are much much smaller than a cat's claws.

And if it's that big of a deal for you, Maybe a pet snake is not the thing for you. Sorry, not trying to hurt your feelings, but some people just shouldn't have snakes.

I understand your anxiety when feeding 100% i my very first corn was a 7year old female who was always on the defensive side, i was that scared i couldnt even hold her as i would jump and flinch when she moved, and i felt scared when i was going to feed her,

the way i delt with the fear was to put on New Welding gloves and pick her up it made it much less scary, after a couple of weeks of holding her with gloves on,

i then picked her up with both gloves on and while i had hold of her i would take one glove off and slowly but my hand on her (away from the head),

then a couple more weeks of holding her with one glove i took the second glove off and built my confidence up,

it also helped to keep inmind that the snake dosnt know any better, they can pick up on feeling, if your calm the snakes calm and so on,

and once i started to pick her up with my hands i always used the same type of soap before i picked her up and the cent becomes familiar to the snakes (i belive this to be true anyways)

Hope this help (if you fail to pick her up keep trying in the same session but dont jurk and shake, its hard at first but welding gloves should help stop this) You will get the hang of it, i now have 12 corn snakes and 2 geckos and a bearded dragon

What do you think is going to go wrong, exactly?

It's not that im scared she'll bite me or anything like that. Im worried about her. And i know it sounds stupid, and it is. But the thoughts going through my head is like what if she chokes, or eats it wrong, what if she bites herself if she constricts the mouse and so on. Holding her is no problem for me either, she's very gentle. But thank you for helping!

hi, i have an anxiety disorder so maybe i can help a little. i haven't had a problem with feeding specifically but i do understand freaking out about stuff that i know is unlikely or impossible.

can i ask what it is that you're worried about when this happens?

one thing that's been helpful for me with pet worries is being prepared for the worst, & knowing that i at least have a plan.

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Originally Posted by Bordlampe

It's not that im scared she'll bite me or anything like that. Im worried about her. And i know it sounds stupid, and it is. But the thoughts going through my head is like what if she chokes, or eats it wrong, what if she bites herself if she constricts the mouse and so on. Holding her is no problem for me either, she's very gentle. But thank you for helping!

Hey there! First of all, no, your anxiety is not stupid. I completely understand. I deal with anxiety, though it's not triggered by feeding my snake, but I understand being anxious and panicky about things that you know deep down you shouldn't be that worried about. When I have panic attacks or am anxious about something, I try to remind myself of the facts. And then I address my fears, and acknowledge that it's okay to be anxious sometimes. Beating yourself up for being anxious never helps. Try to think through your fears - if she does hurt herself, what will you do about it? You'll take her to a vet. Identify a vet that you would take her to, which route you would take to drive there, and decide what you would transport her in. Remember that snakes are hearty animals and have to fend for themselves in the wild, they're built with some pretty awesome instincts about how to feed and care for themselves. Also, pep talk yourself as you're going through the feeding process - you can do this! And when in doubt, talk to a friend or family member, somebody you trust, and feel safe and comfortable with, and just really open up to them. I can't express the number of times I've struggled with issues around my friends and they've been able to help me so much. And then I can help them when they need help and support too! Anyways, I believe in you, you've got this, and best of luck!


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Well- if she can't swallow it, she will spit it back out and try again. She won't choke. The trachea has an opening out in the front of the snake's mouth to prevent that. It's not uncommon for the snake to "butt munch," eat the mouse tail first. This usually happens with pinks and maybe fuzzies. The snake feels the direction of hair growth and finds the hard skull, and then usually eats head first. Sometimes they do eat tail first, and it takes a little longer, but the snake eventually works it out. Also, when you move up a food size, it's a little more difficult for a few times till the snake learns how to handle the larger prey.

Really the only time you see a snake bite itself is if they get into a feeding frenzy and just bite anything. I have a couple that do that. They let go immediately. Only one time ever, in thousands of feedings, have I had a snake start to swallow its tail. It was a cornsnake, with an extreme feeding response. I ran the snake under water and he let go of his tail.

It doesn't sound stupid. When I had a human baby, I called my mom and was like- what if she chokes??? My mom said, she can't choke on milk!! And I quit worrying about it. If you aren't familiar with a thing, it's normal to think of all the things that could go wrong.