My Corn Is "Potty Trained"

I'm sorry, I shouldn't have brought that up. It's a joke my roommate and I have. It wasn't meant to be stereotyping. Poor Peanut, the troubled and confused snake.

Carinata said:

When I clean adult male Balls at work, I always check the vent

Click to expand...

Thanks for not forgetting to capitalize the "B" in this sentence :bird:

For the record, I don't agree with potty training either. My snakes crap in their containers all the time, usually on the glass or underneath the aspen. One took a massive crap down the side of her tub, it was pretty gross! Their vivs wash and so do your hands and clothes.

But, I think attacking someone because of their habits is rude and uncalled for. It really shows the age of some people and that they weren't taught common courtesy. You can share advice and knowledge without coming across as a spoiled brat. Bethany did so quite eloquently I think.

Something else, I have heard of people potty training their birds. So why not snakes, too? If they are used to being soaked and used to paper towels then it won't stress them out. It's just a matter of acclimating them to that sort of handling.

My snakes have always been fine with me touching them where I need to. Should I need to help them out of a bad shed or whatever, it's like they know it needs to be done and they hold still while I work. I try to handle all my snakes a couple times a week and get them used to being touched. I love having them out, almost as much as they love hiding under my hair. They may not NEED us, but they can be conditioned to trust us and to be handled.

What's the point of having a snake as a pet if you never do anything with it? That doesn't make sense to me at all.

Em Wright said:

For the record, I don't agree with potty training either. My snakes crap in their containers all the time, usually on the glass or underneath the aspen. One took a massive crap down the side of her tub, it was pretty gross! Their vivs wash and so do your hands and clothes.

But, I think attacking someone because of their habits is rude and uncalled for. It really shows the age of some people and that they weren't taught common courtesy. You can share advice and knowledge without coming across as a spoiled brat. Bethany did so quite eloquently I think.

Something else, I have heard of people potty training their birds. So why not snakes, too? If they are used to being soaked and used to paper towels then it won't stress them out. It's just a matter of acclimating them to that sort of handling.

My snakes have always been fine with me touching them where I need to. Should I need to help them out of a bad shed or whatever, it's like they know it needs to be done and they hold still while I work. I try to handle all my snakes a couple times a week and get them used to being touched. I love having them out, almost as much as they love hiding under my hair. They may not NEED us, but they can be conditioned to trust us and to be handled.

What's the point of having a snake as a pet if you never do anything with it? That doesn't make sense to me at all.

Click to expand...

I'm sorry that I think potty training a snake is ridiculous, but that's my opinion. I have been doing this nearly 10 years and I have never heard someone try something so pointless. That's right I'm 17, and totally immature because I work 3 jobs, and get up everyday at 7 and work until 6 or later, 6 days a week. Spoiled because I don't ever ask for money and I pay for just about everything I need. Just because I think potty training a snake is totally useless, and have evidence to support it, doesn't make me spoiled.

You can think whatever you want, but how you share that information shows your true maturity. You can politely say, "I think this is silly and could possibly harm the animal." without coming off like a child who should be watching Power Rangers and not using a computer. And that is true of ANYONE no matter their age... believe it or not but there are some incredibly immature adults who come across this way, too.

Welcome to life, Carinata. It usually requires you or someone in your family to work themselves to death to survive. You usually don't get a pat on the back for it, either. If you're lucky you might get a vacation every now and then.

And I never said you were spoiled. I said that your posts "sound" like a spoiled child because you are often brusque when you need to learn how to present your thoughts politely, no matter how ridiculous you think snake potty training is.

Thanks for standing up for me. I'm sorry that my ways offend some people. I was just simply curious to see if anyone else did it.

Em, I'm sorry but I find this so ridiculous I reacted in an immature way. I mean how can you seriously expect someone to try and potty train a snake.....

Peanut, I think it's fun to discuss and joke about, but in practice I believe it's impractical to truly potty train a snake. I think you could help it to form a habit of relieve itself at your digression, but the issue I see with that, what happens if you go on vacation? You won't be there to help it void and that could cause serious illness, even death. This I think was one of the risks in potty training birds as well.

Carinata, part of being mature is holding your tongue. It isn't always easy, especially when you're the kind of person who tells it like it is, no candy coating, but it is something to strive for. I was probably a little too stern with you, for that I apologize, but my advice remains.

This thread got way nastier than it needed to. I do not purposely try to potty train my snakes. However, if I'm taking one out to be handled or for one of the kids to handle and I notice a cleary visible lump indicating that they will be pooping very soon, I do give them a quick soak which normally does induce pooping in the water. I'd rather have it in the water than on our clothes. While fairly new to snakes, I've got 20+ years of experience with herps, have a well known exotic vet and see nothing wrong with a good soak every now and then. Would I do it daily? No way. Once a week, sure.

solo1979 said:

This thread got way nastier than it needed to.

Click to expand...

Hahahahah yeah it did. I pretty much got called a weirdo...

Peanut Lover said:

Hahahahah yeah it did. I pretty much got called a weirdo...

Click to expand...

I was trying sooo hard not to be insulting! Honest! And come on, we keep SNAKES!!! In our HOUSES!!! We all are pretty much wierdos anyway, right?

But when I take out my babies, I do check their weight, faces, let them slither through my hands, check how they are moving, and then maybe check their vent if I aim to hold them longer so they won't poop on me. But I let them poop in the cage.

Another thing that you might not have thought of too,,,do you check the temp of the water? I would be scared of chilling or roasting my snake without checking temps.

I don't why you would need to have a potty trained snake, but I love my Copper to death she's my baby and if she goes in her tank that's where she goes. I wouldn't want to make any unnecessary stress for her that for sure. If shed out and goes on what ever she is on I'll wash it and that's the end of it. And she's pretty good about where she goes in her tank she almost always goes in the right front of her viv. Right where I can see it. I'm pretty sure that why she goes there. Smart snake anyway. But I jus couldn't see the whole "diaper" thing no matter what is made of. Sorry but it to believe its jus a tad bit stressful. And he would prob go in his tank jus fine if you weren't on him a few days after him eating wanting and subjecting him to poop. And he probably wouldn't care about it in the viv jus as long as you clean it right as you find it. But that's what I think.

I'm not saying this is a good idea and I'm not saying its a bad idea but I think everyone should remember at one point in time snakes were just wild now there closer and closer to being domestic cats at one point were only wild now look at them...
Maybe one day all snakes will be potty traind maybe one day they won't and maybe its to early to start but its life.
Snakes didn't want to be put in cages when people first started keeping them. I'm sure once they were switched to f/t food they weren't happy but that's how they live now and there doin fine.
Humans always have a way to make things change weather its for the better or worse it happens and even tho this might seem rediculus now a lot of things seemed rediculus at one point (such as landing on the moon )
Again I'm not saying I think its a good idea or a bad one but it is an idea and since its not going to kill anyone and as long as the snake seems happy that's all we want right?

Happy snakes?

Cats are much more intelligent than snakes. They don't have the intelligence to determine humans are good. They can acclimate to a certain extent, but they will never be truly domesticated. To say snakes are like cats, is just silly.

I'm having such a hard time understanding why this is such a big deal?

Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't it encouraged to handle snakes, especially young ones, fairly often over short periods of time to ensure they adapt to a more "tame" disposition? I'm not saying breeders take the time to hold each and every little snakey, but those who purchase corn snakes as pets are generally encouraged to hold them regularly as long as the snakes aren't showing signs of stress (illness, shedding problems, less of appetite, etc.)

But seriously, why is it so bad for an owner to simply look at a snakes vent? I can almost always get a good view of my snakes vent while he's crawling around my hands.... It's not as if the OP is forcing something into the vent (like "probing" which may be necessary in some cases, but seems like it would be extremely stressful if someone tried to do that to me!!! LOL)

The only thing I have to say is that a bath every week may be overdoing it and could eventually dehydrate your snake or dry out their skin...

My snake is not "potty trained" (I don't think a snake can actually ever be "trained") But I have noticed he has a tendency to defecate out of his viv if given the chance. It is my belief that snakes are extremely clean animals and do not wish to soil their living area if they can avoid it. Holding a snake over a towel, or the occasional dip in a room temp bath once a month or so is not going to do any harm to the snake. Baths may be a bit stressful in some cases, but then again the more the snake does it, the less stressful the situation becomes. However, allowing a snake to defecate outside of their viv, during normal handling sessions is no more stressful than any other handling session....

This is a natural response and the snake is not being forced to do anything. Snakes will use the bathroom in the water because they want to, and because it is obviously much cleaner and leaves less of a sent behind (which could attract predators). They are in no way being forced to do anything. And if the OP wants to kid around and refer to this as a potty trained snake, then so be it.

We should be more worried about the people out there who treat their snakes like nonliving objects and abuse them, instead of criticizing an owner for "snake diapers" when all they are doing is trying to care for their snake the best that they can...

SO in closing, maybe cut back on the bathes a little bit. If you don't want him to poo on you while holding him, just handle him over a towel during this time. Good luck to you and I hardly think this is such a big deal as some people were making it out to be!

First of all, after a handling session a snake will void, while your handling it, your helping it to loosen up the stuff that comes out the other end. Yes, new keepers are encouraged to handle their snakes, but handing causes stress to some extent. It's fine top observe a snakes vent, and to make sure there are no issues, but the constant observing and poking, will stress a snake to no end. It is not good for the snake at all. Snakes don't care about how clean their environment is. The reason they poo in their water dish is because it is like a laxative to them, a water bath moves along the crap. There are only a few species of snake that show any sort of intelligence, those being Asian Ratsnakes and many Elapids. These snakes have been know to be able to ID their owner, build nests, and show some sort of primitive intelligence. Other than that, snakes aren't very intelligent. Personally, I think the more you neglect a snake the better it does. The less you handle them, move them around screw with them, the better they do. Sure clean the cage once a week, change the water twice weekly. But if you don't bother the snake, usually they do so much better. I know this is a cornsnake forum and the people here are very pro snake attention. I have worked and do work with a huge variety of snakes, and this is what I see.

The way I'm reading this, she didn't "potty train" the snake. She noticed a pattern in his behavior - the snake would defecate outside of his vivarium instead of in it. Since it was doing this already, she started looking for the classic "warning signs" of incoming poo by looking at his vent (not poking at it, looking) a few days after a meal (typical "poo time"), and if said signs were observable she either soaked him or had paper towels between her and the snake to prevent getting her shirt redecorated. The snake "potty trained" itself, she's just taking steps to not get pooped on.

So I really don't see why anyone would have a problem with any of that. To find what she's doing wrong you'd have to believe one of a few things:

1. "It's wrong to handle your snakes frequently." You can debate all you want on that topic. Regardless of what you believe though, I seriously doubt you're going to find many people that agree with you considering many of us are hobbyists that enjoy interacting with snakes in our collection.

2. "It is bad to soak a snake." I don't really see how a periodic soak is going to negatively impact the health and well-being of a snake, unless it shows strong signs of being stressed out by it. I can think of more arguments for it having the potential to be a healthy activity in moderation.

3. "It's bad to let a snake crawl around in paper towls." If that's the case, then I guess we need to get rid of paper substrates, or allowing them to crawl through towels/blankets/clothes, or any of the other things I've seen many snakes enjoy crawling through regardless of whether or not I put them on it (hoodies and shirts are favorite hiding spots for some of mine).

And really, arguing the finer points of moisture lost in a formed stool? If the stool is at the vent, it's processed, it's done. It's ready to go out. Very little moisture or anything will continue to be absorbed by the body at that point. And even if it was a "net loss", most snakes I see soak drink quite a bit of water. I think he'll be fine.

All she's really "guilty" of is handling her snake a lot. She doesn't force the snake to not poop in it's cage - I'm sure she doesn't put it in time out if he does it. It just poops outside because it's handled often, and we all know that getting them to move around is going to get those juices flowing anyway.

Personally, I think the more you neglect a snake the better it does. The less you handle them, move them around screw with them, the better they do. Sure clean the cage once a week, change the water twice weekly. But if you don't bother the snake, usually they do so much better. I know this is a cornsnake forum and the people here are very pro snake attention. I have worked and do work with a huge variety of snakes, and this is what I see.

Click to expand...

I do not believe this to be true as a rule. I believe that it is true in some circumstances. I have some snakes that get very stressed out by handling, and I have some that exhibit no fear whatsover and will tolerate just about anything. I treat them as individuals. I handle some of them only as needed, making sure there needs are maintained and handling them on occasion, usually just for feeding and cleaning and such. Others I have out frequently, I even let children handle under strict supervision in my efforts to educate neighborhood kids and parents about them. All of them, regardless of temperament, seem to be equally healthy and thriving. In fact the ones that are somewhat "fearless" and do not seem to mind being handled at all seem to have more solid feeding and shedding habits. However I will also point out that most of my collection prefers not being handled, even if they're not necessarily aggressive, so it goes both ways. Neither of these observations should be taken as a general truth - my collection is but a minuscule percentage of all of the pet snakes out there, so it is nowhere near enough to determine a "rule".

1. "It's wrong to handle your snakes frequently."- Snakes by nature, don't like humans, and in captivity they tolerate us at best. I am a hobbyist, but I do this full time as well. Snakes don't enjoy our company. Handling them stresses them, they do much better if not bothered. Does handling once a week hurt them? No. But daily handling will stress the animal.

2. "It is bad to soak a snake."- That's not what I said. I soak snakes at work on a daily basis. It helps hydrate the snake. Frequent soaking, induces the snake to void before it's ready, which can negatively effect the animals health.


3. "It's bad to let a snake crawl around in paper towels."- I didn't say that either? She said if she thought the snake was getting ready to go to the bathroom, she would hold it between two paper towels until it went, which to me sounds really crazy. You can't tell me that isn't stressful on the snake. You can't tell me that is something no sane reptile keeper would condone...

My snake has retained feces for weeks at a time. Once he is put into a water bath, he will dispell them immdiatley or within a few minutes. I've also had times when he was due to defecate for quite a long time. He spent a few minutes in the water, and nothing happened. He then later would decided to use the bathroom on my hand, arm, carpet, etc. Water doesn't work as a "laxative". Snakes are not like some rodents, which have no control over bladder or bowel movements. They can defecate/musk/etc. at their own will...

Snakes may not like their humans, but they are pets. They do tolerate us, and they do it quite well obviously... otherwise healthy snakes don't just drop dead from the stress of being handled properly. If you're so against handling captive bread reptiles, why would you be in the buisness of breeding, raising, and selling reptiles as PETS where they will have continuous huiman contact and handling. Don't get me wrong, I love snakes to no end, but it's just a snake. They're not so delicate and complicated. They eat, breathe, drink, poop, smell, avoid predators, live...

Also, carrying a small baby corn in a paper towel isn't that big of a deal. I'm sure the OP makes sure the paper towel is secure, and the snake might actually prefer the more secluded, darker evironement of the paper towel to being waved around 5 feet above the ground clinging to the hands of a human...

The snake is healthy.. quite obviously eating meals, and I'm sure the short soaks it's recieving have been nothing more than beneficial towards the animal (especially in shedding). All your talk about stressing the snake and disbilief of why a snake keeper would care for an animal different that you do really has no evidence to back it up.

You may have been raising reptiles for years, but so have many other people on here. Each person has their own way of caring for their animals and that doesn't mean that only one person can be right. I'm sure you could pick and prod at every owner on this site and find at least one thing they have done that could possibly have caused stress to a snake. In my opinion you're really coming off as someone who feels they "know it all" I don't see any sick or endangered snake in this situation, so why you have decided to attack another person's way of doing things baffles me..

xStaticSnow said:

My snake has retained feces for weeks at a time. Once he is put into a water bath, he will dispell them immdiatley or within a few minutes. I've also had times when he was due to defecate for quite a long time. He spent a few minutes in the water, and nothing happened. He then later would decided to use the bathroom on my hand, arm, carpet, etc. Water doesn't work as a "laxative". Snakes are not like some rodents, which have no control over bladder or bowel movements. They can defecate/musk/etc. at their own will...

Snakes may not like their humans, but they are pets. They do tolerate us, and they do it quite well obviously... otherwise healthy snakes don't just drop dead from the stress of being handled properly. If you're so against handling captive bread reptiles, why would you be in the buisness of breeding, raising, and selling reptiles as PETS where they will have continuous huiman contact and handling. Don't get me wrong, I love snakes to no end, but it's just a snake. They're not so delicate and complicated. They eat, breathe, drink, poop, smell, avoid predators, live...

Also, carrying a small baby corn in a paper towel isn't that big of a deal. I'm sure the OP makes sure the paper towel is secure, and the snake might actually prefer the more secluded, darker evironement of the paper towel to being waved around 5 feet above the ground clinging to the hands of a human...

The snake is healthy.. quite obviously eating meals, and I'm sure the short soaks it's recieving have been nothing more than beneficial towards the animal (especially in shedding). All your talk about stressing the snake and disbilief of why a snake keeper would care for an animal different that you do really has no evidence to back it up.

You may have been raising reptiles for years, but so have many other people on here. Each person has their own way of caring for their animals and that doesn't mean that only one person can be right. I'm sure you could pick and prod at every owner on this site and find at least one thing they have done that could possibly have caused stress to a snake. In my opinion you're really coming off as someone who feels they "know it all" I don't see any sick or endangered snake in this situation, so why you have decided to attack another person's way of doing things baffles me..

Click to expand...

I love reptiles, which is why I am a realist. I know that my handling of the animals may cause some stress, which is why I try and do it as little as possible. I don't know it all, but I love the animals enough to pursue a deeper knowledge of reptiles, and know that from my experience and the experience of others, handling is stressful on snakes. Baby corns, can drop dead from stress, and I have seen it happen. And yes, water is like a laxative for snakes. Water that is lukewarm will help the snake to void if it is trying. I don't know it all, and I certainly am not picking at someone, but I have heard a lot in my 10 years of keeping reptiles, but this is just the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard...