I am sick of my Corn Snake

Ever since I got it, last week, its been a hassle! I cannot pick it up! Its just impossible. Everytime I try he just keeps biting me, and today he drew blood! He even trys to bite me when I'm holding it! And today he drew a little bit of blood. Please help, I am really worried that I will never be able to handle it!

You've had it for a week and you've harrassed it enough to bite you repeatedly.

Please imagine a giant monster, one your sure has designs to EAT you picks you up repeatedly and lears on a regular basis. You might bite right?

How old are you? If your sick of the baby after only one week~ then it's best for you and the snake to find it a new home and you should get a pet rock.

Otherwise~ give it some time to mellow out. Give it at least a week of NOT being harrassed before you pick it up. Pick it up slowly, and just hold onto it~ even if it bites. Hold it for about 20 min~ then put it away and LEAVE IT ALONE for a day. Repeat. Over time the snake will learn that you are not imagining a lovely snake snack every time you pick it up.

Yeah, some of the little ones require a bit more patience than others. Sometimes they are jumpy, for obvious reasons, I would be too if the roles were reversed. I think you two just need a little bit of time to adjust to each other. After a few day adjustment period (you know, without handling) and then after you have taken him out for short periods of time daily I'm sure he will mellow out. I have one spunky one that struck almost every time for the first month, but she's a real sweetheart now. Just have patience.

I am sick if it biting me, not sick of the snake. Its just that in the pet shop, it was fine, the owner could pick up the snake with no problems at all! Then he would hand it to me and I would be fine. But then when I took it home, its like it hates me or something! The pet shop owner was even surprised that he kept biting me because he never bit him.

If you give him the proper adjustment time that everyone keeps telling you to, he will calm down some. Just don't pick him up, don't even look at him (except to check on him every now and then because of the whole substraight ordeal) for a week. You might want to throw a blanket over the viv to make him feel more secure too. Just leave some ventilation holes exposed if you do use a blanket.

Changing to a new home is just very stressful for the little buggers. He just needs some "alone time" to adjust. Give him 3 days and then try picking him up again.

I agree with Mary-Beth. You are causing more harmful stress than good. Leave the snake alone for at least a week. He has just gone through a very stressful change in environment, and being hassled by you picking him up all the time is making it worse. I understand that you want him to "get used" to being handled, but you need to give him time to acclimate. As babies, they are very fragile creatures.

Yes but I need to feed him because today I only fed him one pinkie, and I just hate picking him up because its sooo scary when he goes into aggressive stance.

DO NOT PICK HIM UP
He will be fine without food until the week is up!
Also I don't think it's a good idea to feed him anymore right now because he swallowed substraight.

I'd say skip the feeding this time. He really needs the adjustment time, and waiting an extra 3 orr 4 days to feed him will not hurt him, I promise. You should be waiting to feed him anyway if you are still waiting to see if he has become impacted from eating that woodchip. Wait three or four days, then look for poop in the viv and maybe handle him a little bit. If he has pooped, then go ahead and feed him in a seperate container. If he still hasn't pooped wait until he does or else you may make him even more constipated.

Just leave the little guy alone, like it's been said he will be fine for the week on the one pinky you fed him. If you mess with him anymore you may very likely get a regurge which considering the substrate he swallowed could set him up for a very bad day.
Please, leave the little guy alone for awhile.

Ocelot said:

Yes but I need to feed him because today I only fed him one pinkie

Click to expand...

Absolutely what lilJack said...

If you feed him now with how stressed out he is, you have a very high chance of him regurging...which is a whole world of other problems. Just let him be. He'll be fine. He won't starve to death in a few short days.

Okay, but regarding the handling problems, has this ever happened to you, like he keeps biting you?

Imagine you're in a strange world that you've just got used to when all of a sudden that world is turned upside down, you've been taken on a bumpy ride and you couldn't see what was going up, picked up, prodded and pocked and put somewhere completely alien to you with new sounds, smells and sights and THEN this large creature keeps looking and you and picking you up even when you try to hide and you don't know what's going to happen next but all you can do is try to protect yourself in the only way you know how! Is it any wonder this poor little stressed out snake is biting you? He's scared witless!!

Give him at least a week before you attempt any kind of handling whatsoever. The only time you go near that viv is to change the water and even then you do so with the minimum of disturbance to the snake as possible. Otherwise, that snake is becoming more and more stressed with less chance of keeping a meal down and an immune system that's becoming reduced. This isn't a puppy who thinks that the world is automatically going to love them - this is a snake whose natural instinct is that it will be eaten!

With my 1st snake, Rhiannon, she was calm as a cucumber at the store. I held her, the kids held her, she slithered around and we fell in love . . . I brought her home and left her alone for 3 days, then fed her, left her alone for 2 days and then got her out . . . AND SHE FREAKED. She was not the super-calm snake from the store at all! Well, I was a little bummed, but over time she settled back down. It took probably a month before she was totally calm again. Now, she is the most mellow snake ever! My point is, corns are very docile snakes but they need TIME to settle into a new environment. If your snake was friendly at the store, it is because he was comfortable with his environment and the people there. You have to give your baby a chance to settle in. Good luck!!!

And if you don't want him, you can give him to me.

This is my man about 2 years ago, and it went on or about a month

Now he's fine and i trust him to be handled by my 10 year old cousin (under observation, obviousley).

Please leave the little one alone for a week then feed, then wait another FULL 48 hours, then just place your hand in with him for 10 mins, palm up for 2 days so he can get used to you being around, then try and pick him up. If he still rattles his tail or strikes, fine let him, just DO NOT put him back still he has calmed down and has stopped striking and rattleing, reverse pcychology works even for corn snakes.

Best of luck and if you want more details on how i "tamed" the 1 in the pic i'll gladley give you more details.

John

Don't give up. Everyone that responded so far has given you good advice. This snake of yours obviously is requiring a longer settle in period. Let him have his solitude. For the record it took my creamsicle 6 months to chill out, now he's "dog tame" :grin01:

I've never had too much trouble with my adults biting me -except for those I've bought as adult breeders that are a bit jumpy in the beginning - but my new hatchlings (1-2 days old) are the most vicious nasty creatures you'll ever meet. One had been out of the egg for all of 2 minutes when I picked it up for the first time and it kept tagging me like mad until I put it down. I'm selling off most of that clutch so I'll have to handle it and tame it enough to be 'sellable' but for now I'm letting it chill (it is just a baby of course) and get used to breathing and all that and I'll work on in in a couple of weeks.


Back to your snake....

As other people have said, you snake is probably feeling a little overwhelmed by its new environment and all the new smells, sounds, sights and then to make matters worse, a big scary hand keeps reaching into the viv to grab it. Let the snake chill for a week with no disturbances other than water checks and then start with 2 sessions a day of 5 minutes at a time (except after feedings) and build it up until the snake is happy being handled for 30 mins or so. All of my adults that have been with me a while are just lovely to handle as they've learnt over a period of time that they have nothing to fear...as well as the fact that biting me does not deter me one iota.

I agree that you have gotten some good advice from some very helpful people on this thread. Just follow what they say and don't give up. If you give the snake time to adjust and work with him carefully you are likely to find that you will have a good relationship with your snake.

One thing I wanted to mention is that sometimes we forget that snakes don't always see our hands coming. Just because their eyes are always open doesn't mean they automatically see us. If we just reach in there and grab them, they can be quite startled and usually strike or pose to strike -- especiallly if you are timid and keep pulling back.

One thing I do before I handle my snakes is reach in to change the water or clean the substrate until I know for sure that my snake has seen me. Then I gently place my hand near it and pick it up (without looking like I'm scared of it). I don't pull away or act timid. Over time you will see that you can very confidently pick the snake up without being scared, as long as he has had the time to get used to you. Please give him some space/time as recommended and then try again as advised. Good luck.

That's the only defence the little guy has, he is nervous or scared and defending himself. Let him calm down and get use to his suroundings and you will problably find he is easier to handle. When you do handle him be gentle, don't move too fast, don't hold him back when he tries to move and don't touch his head.