Aggressive Corn

Hey there, newbie to the forum here. I'm trying to find out what's going on with my corn snake. I have a 5 year old male corn snake, who I bought from a local reputable breeder when he was 9 months old. He's used to be very timid, but enjoyed being taken out and handled after he got over the whole "being picked up" part.

Recently, I went on a 3-month trip overseas and left him in the care of my roommates. I explained his care and trusted them. It turns out they underfed him a little (but didn't starve him), and they swore they took him out of his terrarium to feed him. I have a plastic tub I use for feeding him. They didn't mention him being aggressive at all. When I came back and started feeding him again, I noticed he was aggressive: he tracks my hand when I come near his tank, goes into strike position if my hands are actually in his tank, and he took a swipe at my fingers after I fed him a few weeks ago. I figured this was because he was hungry, so I've been feeding him once a week - one large mice, two small mice, or one small rat (depending on what the pet store has available).

Tonight while I was feeding him he bit me. I had the mouse in the plastic tub and I had him perched on one of his branches. I was holding the branch with my left hand and getting the mouse out of its container with my right. His head was facing away from my left hand, but he turned and struck my left hand. But instead of letting go after he realized I wasn't a mouse (like last time), he held on and seemed to be 'attacking' my hand. I had to drop the mouse and apply pressure to either side of his jaws and pull him off me. He bit hard enough to draw blood. I put the branch in the plastic tub and he ate the mouse right away.

Now I'm wondering, why is he attacking my hand?? I wash my hands before and after handling him, so I don't think it's because my hands smell like mouse or other food. He doesn't appear to be sick: he eats well, is active in his tank, has plenty of hiding places in his tank and it is in my room where he isn't exposed to unnatural light changes or foot traffic other than mine. If he is stressed, I'm not sure what's causing it. His tank is just the right temperature, he has plenty of substrate to burrow in, he's got branches and rocks to hide in... what on EARTH is up with my snake? Why did he become aggressive all of a sudden? What should I do about his behavior?

very possible your roommates weren't as loving to him as you are... It's hard to find someone to take care of your animals the way you usually do and do everything your way. I know I've seen some of my friends "taking care" of their friends animals, and they were always in a hurry, so they would do things different, not really knowing that it was possibly doing harm.

For a start I'd probably say use both hands on him! If you'd got him out of his branch before getting the mouse out of the tub he might be less likely to strike you.The bite and hold is typical of a feeding mistake, not an aggressive or defensive bite, which tend to be strike, let go, run for it!

He sounds hungry to me. Maybe put him on a five or six day schedule for a few weeks till he calms down? I don't think I'd increase the prey size. Also, I'd have the mouse in his feeding container ready to go before you get him out of the cage, that way he has less time to get excited and mistake you for food. And wash your hands really well after handling the mouse, before picking him up. I'd also handle him frewuently after his two day digestion period- to get him reacquainted with you.

Use gloves to make sure that you don't have an unintentional "hand jerk" when he strikes. This will make him realize that your hand isn't food (food would run away when he strikes, you see) and it will keep you calmer while he gets readjusted to you. Also, that means no more bandaids haha. Once the snake calms down you can remove the gloves. There is no shame in using them!

It does sound like hunger to me too.

Ok, thanks for the suggestions. Someone also told me his tank might be too warm so I'll try a couple things - less heat, more food, better feeding setup, maybe gloves - before I freak out again. It's just that the only time I ever heard about corn snake aggression was when the book/person/website was saying it doesn't exist!

Good to know that the bite and hold is a feeding error and not out-and-out aggression, I hadn't thought of it that way. He'd have to be *really* stupid to think he could constrict and swallow me >.<

another thing to try is to not feed him right away after taking him out, so he doesn't get the idea that getting taken out = immediate food time. Just a thought, anyway.

Firstly, try not to think of a Corn biting as "aggression". A bite-and-let-go is a fear response, and an attempt to make the big scary pink monster go away. I suppose it's not quite as literal as saying Corns aren't aggressive, just that maybe it's a matter of the snake meaning one thing, and humans interpreting it as another. At worst, it's "Leave me alone!" rather than "I'm gonna git you, sucka!".

I agree with previous posters that the bite-and-hang-on is more of a feeding response. My suspicion would be that your roommates have been giving him his food in his tank and keeping handling to a minimum, so he now thinks anything warm that comes into his tank is edible. It's going to take time and patience to get him out of that habit.

Gloves are a good way to go and will help minimise stress all round. If he does bite and hang on again, the safest way of getting him to let go is to run his head under a gently-running cold tap. It's usually just enough of a surprise to make him let go of his own accord. Prising his jaws open - especially if he thinks you're the biggest mouse in the world and he's hit the jackpot! - could accidentally injure him.

I'd keep on insisting on taking him out and putting him in his feeding tub to eat, even if he does bite. Eventually, he will get it through his scaly little brain that his mouse-shaped food will be in there and is not the pink hand-shaped things waggling about in his tank.

You might need a great deal of patience over the next few months while you try to get him over the habit. Good luck & keep us posted.

I think Bitsy hit the nail on the head! You might want to casually ask your roommates about the feeding method they used. You were gone for 3 months and it sounds to me like you have about 6 months worth of retraining to do. One thing to add that I don't think I read above... DO NOT touch the mouse with your bare hand before reaching into your snakes viv with the same hand. You're just setting yourself up to get nipped if you smell like dinner, too.

I did ask my roommates and they swore they didn't feed him in his tank. So... I guess I'll just either have to believe or not believe them. I never touch the mice with my hands. I hate mice. The petstore puts them in a box, and I upturn the box in the feeding tub. I always wash my hands after, so I don't think my hands are smelling like food.