New corns not calming down.

I have some new corns and was wondering if anyone has tried the "place worn shirt in vivarium" trick to calm a corn down?

My daughters are the snake keepers and I'm just merely a facilitator for them and their new passion, but the new members are just not chilling out.

It's been a week in the new environment and I have been the only one to get them out to test their mood. If the chill, I hand them to one of the girls and monitor behavior closly. The handling events last maybe 5 to 15 min no more than once a day and not after feeding. They are not in blue.

It is not a nippy behavior, but more of an outstretched "I want away" behavior.

I do the hand over hand method and the let them dangle/wrap/crawl on me if they chose. This being very uncommon over the "I want away".

I do not let the "I want away behavior" result in a reward of being put back in their home.

These are Specter Outcrosses, but can't imagine that would be the difference in behavior.

Any ideas to help me improve this behavior would be greatly appreciated as my Daughters are anxious to take control over these as they have their others. The others a bloodred and an amel motley are truly sweethearts.

I would give them some more time to get use to you. Are they babies? Typically babies are more jumpy and most grow out of it.

My baby okeetee is one of the most confident baby corns I have ever met but it still took him a couple weeks to get use to the idea that I'm not going to eat him.

I don't know that if I hadn't started with a yearling I would have as many as I do now. Just this past summer I held and bought my first babies, and even though I had owned corns for a year and a half and read this forum religiously, I was still more nervous than holding a newborn human! My little guy shot out of my hand and I caught him mid-air, but the more you work with them the easier they get.

I have no advice with the worn shirt idea, but it can't hurt! I do know they love to bury themselves in them.

Ours seems to like my fleece pullover. I wear one almost all winter. He works into the folds of it while being held. It is soft and cozy. I try not to control him too much. The more you do, the more they try to run. I let him work up and down my arm. I hold it tight against my side so he doesnt fall.

In my experience, the tendency to try and shoot out of your hand diminishes naturally with age. As they get older, they naturally calm down and will want to hang on to your hand more securely. It's still a good idea to work with them regularly if you want docile snakes for handling, but I wouldn't expect drastic results until they're larger (say, large enough to eat fuzzies for example).

Thanks for the replies.

There is one male who does an almost constant tail buzz while being handled and acts as if he's sizing me up. Lol! Really cute and full of spunk.

Kevin S. said:

In my experience, the tendency to try and shoot out of your hand diminishes naturally with age. As they get older, they naturally calm down and will want to hang on to your hand more securely. It's still a good idea to work with them regularly if you want docile snakes for handling, but I wouldn't expect drastic results until they're larger (say, large enough to eat fuzzies for example).

Click to expand...

^^^^^^^^^^^True dat!

These are calming nicely. They are becoming well acclimated to us and their handling sessions.

These have been with us for about a month now and have made a full transition from wanting nothing to do with being handled to accepting it as a normal thing. No more trying to leap from hands or coiling up tightly while buzzing their tails.

So I'm saying a month of handling a hatchling/juvenile should show signs of improvement.

That's great news. I think it's a combination of regular handling and just growing a bit and getting more confident.

I wouldn't quite call it an advantage..
But another 'good' thing with babies..Is that when they do strike, the can't really do any harm, so it sort of desensitizes you a bit and you are less likely to jerk your hand back (which only startles the snake more)

Being prepared for a bite, and knowing that it won't really hurt (not even from the adult that I had who bit twice during breeding season) Helps you react better.