New Owner Needs HELP!

Hello Everyone!
My names Bryan and i'm new tot his forum. I just received my first ever snake today in the mail from bhp reptiles. She's an albino bloodred corn and is beautiful. When i first unboxed her this morning she was very irritated from the shipment. I opened her container and aloowed her to crawl into out of her container into her vivarium that i had already set up. About an hour later i went to try and handle her and she became very defensive and began snapping at me. Eventually i got her out and she squeezed my finger very tightly. Eventually she became comftorable and i handled her for about 5 minutes before returning her. A couple hours after that i removed her again and she was very relaxed. Then she became interested in my face and as we made eye contact she snapped at me. I quickly returned her back. About an hour ago i found her buried in the aspen appeared to be resting. She was a couple inches to the right of her hide so i though that was kind of weird. Just thought ide put that out there.

What do you all suggest I do about these defensive/nervous actions. Should I handle her as much as possible or let her settle into her new home for a week. I have heard mixed reviews. I already put a sock by her hide so she would get used to my scent. All tips and advice are greatly needed and appreciated. I want to make her new home as great as possible.

Thanks You!

Sorry for all the spelling errors! I typed this up in a rush.

Hi, I don't own a snake yet but have been doing research first, and from what I have read here and in Kathy Love's book it is best to leave them be for a few days to acclimate to the new place, it is pretty stressful going from one place to another n it is probably really scared. there is a good care sheet that has great info stickied to the top of this subforum that I have found really helpful.

Ya ive heard that a one week rule is what a lot of people choose to do. My dilemma is that even BHB Reptiles told me to handle it immediately and so have many others. Thanks for the input!

No definitely let her settle in. I believe you may have misunderstood what some have said about "handling right away". If they are shipped you may want to check that hey are healthy and bright, with no visible signs of stress or harm. Otherwise, they have just been in an extremely stressful situation, and having - what they think - is a predator all up in their business after that, is terrifying!

Leave her be for a week. Don't bug her, just let her settle in, apart from routine water changes. Don't handle or try to feed for at least a week. That is my suggestion and a common one around here from others as well.
Then you may want to start slowly handling, maybe once every other day, for 5-10 minutes, and slowly increase as time goes on. No need to rush things.

Best of luck, and congrats!

Absolutely leave her alone for a week. Just let her settle in and get used to how your house sounds and smells, then start slow, just a few minutes at a time. She'll calm down, most likely, but right now she's terrified, doesn't know you, and is afraid you're going to eat her.

Welcome! I agree with giving her a week to settle in. Then, when you do take her out, scoop her up from underneath and make sure she is supported and let her slither from hand to hand.

How are you heating the tank? Maybe the hide wasn't over the UTH and she was seeking out a warmer place, or it was too hot. Please let us know how you set up the heating system in the viv and how it is regulated.

This would be my reasoning why she was snappy if she had been in the tank for a few weeks or more, but I really think it was from being scared.

Let us know how it goes! And even though not holding her will kill you (I equate it to trying not to eat the last cookie in the jar, SO hard to resist!) just know it is better for her.

Sounds like i should let her settle in! I'll make sure to leave her be because she did seem very nervous around me. My good friend who has been working at a local pet store for many years advised me not to use a UTH because he has had many experiences with reptiles being burned by them. I'm using a heat lamp right but but it is only around 78 degrees by her hide. I'm going to the pet store right now to buy a UTH because of this.

Your friend should be using thermostats attached to the UTH to regulate the temperature, like this one!

And one more vote for leaving alone/letting her settle for the week!

Ditch that heat lamp and got with the UTH - as you've mentioned - but GET A THERMOSTAT! Yes, you need a thermometer to measure (preferably a digital one) but you need a thermostat to control the output of heat! Otherwise it can reach temperatures of 120F or more, which effectively can and will burn your corn snake!

On Amazon search for Jumpstart Thermostats. I use them (many people on here use them); they work great and are relatively inexpensive.

Best of luck!

Unfortunately as much as we all wanna snuggle out new babies I do agree with the week rule I didn't touch either of mine for a week, I did sometimes just check they were ok if I hadn't seen them for a couple of days but wouldn't handle them!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I ditched the heat lamp today and replace it with a UTH. It started to feel really hot so i put some padding over it so she wouldn't make contact with the glass. It seems to be great now! I guess the next thing I should pick up is a thermostat. I will leave her be for the week! Seems like that is the best thing to do. Any other tips?

If it feels hot to you then it is definitely too hot for the snake! Your hand is 98.6° so if the UTH feels hot you know it is probably over 100°! Way too hot! You want the temp at the glass in the middle of the UTH to be around 87° and the top of the substrate to be around 85°. You need that thermostat with a digital probe thermometer hooked up and the temps leveled out before you put the snake in.

One thing you can do in the meantime is get a lamp dimmer from Home Depot. They cost about $10, and they do require more monitoring than a thermostat, but it works well so long as your house temperatures don't fluctuate too much. I'm using one right now until I can afford a thermostat, and it works quite well.