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Increasingly Bitey Snake

ReggieOkeetee08

ReggieOkeetee08

Daniel
I'm new to the forum, and i cant believe i'm forced to ask this already in my short time being here...

My oldest corn snake, Reggie, has been one of the most interesting and friendly snakes i've gotten the chance to work with, only rivaled by his smaller cagemate, Sarabi. ever since Reggie was little, we had a routine of taking him out: i would open the cage, he would come out to greet me thinking i was about to waive a mouse in his face (if i stick my hand there he'd mistake it for a mouse and strike), so i'd gently bump him with a pair of tongs to tell him he's not being fed, and he'd relax and let me pick him up. if i simply open the cage and grab him, well, i'v never done it but think he might bite.

for the longest time i would feed him inside his cage, until he began eating the river rocks in his cage. so i changed his bedding to aspen and began feeding him outside the cage (especially now that he has a cagemate). i think this is what caused his problems now.

i just tried taking him out using the normal method, and he was relaxed, then just sneakily grabbed the side of my hand, and quickly tried constricting my hand. when i peeled him off, he continued to try to grab my hand, like he thought it was food. it took me and my dad to get him off and back in his cage. idk what did it, but something i changed caused this, but dont know how to solve it...

i havent changed how i handle him
i havent changed how often i feed him

but i have changed:
he now eats two hoppers instead of just one per feeding
he eats outside of his cage, in a smaller critter carrier
i've recently been introducing him to a larger female okeetee, who cant seem to get enough of him, even though he usually just ignores her or brushes her off (i figure its the wrong season). he hasnt seen her in over a week.

could the female he only visited for an hour every couple of days for 2 weeks be causing his behavior? feel free to ask me any specific questions, anything to get my bud back to his friendly self!
 
He might be stressed from having a cagemate.
I would house the two snakes completely separately. Give him som time & see how he does.
 
well, they curl up together, and she's smaller than him... the female he was visiting was bigger than him, but they never lived together... are you sure he would be stressed by a smaller cagemate? when he's left alone, his behavior hasnt changed, its only when i try to handle him... any other ideas?
 
Corn snakes are not social animals. Caging them together can stress them out. They do not cuddle, they are competing for space.

I'm still going with the fact that he's now cohabbed as to why his behavior has changed.
 
if thats the case, then why arent there more complaints of aggressive snakes from people who keep them together? i could try separating them, but they've been together for quite a while, and this behavior only just began... it just doesnt add up to me is all. thanks for the recommendation!
 
If they stay together, be prepared for the smaller snake to end up being in the larger snake's stomach. It happens.
 
And most all educated snake owners do not co-hab. That is probably why you haven't heard more complaints.
 
ReggieOkeetee08 said:
if thats the case, then why arent there more complaints of aggressive snakes from people who keep them together? i could try separating them, but they've been together for quite a while, and this behavior only just began... it just doesnt add up to me is all. thanks for the recommendation!
Click to expand...

Do a search on cohabbing. There's plenty of threads on it.
 
He very well can be stressed by her. Maybe it wasn't a big deal right away because in the wild they can and will encounter another snake, but the constant company of another may have finally gotten to him. I would also tell you the same knox, don't be surprised if one day you only have one snake. From personal experience, my ex got two corns off craigslist in april and they were a pair. The female was over bred, stressed, and bleeding from too much copulating when we got her. She ended up laying eggs (12/15 hatched which is why i had a clutch). The problem is not only that she was over bred, but she was also bred too young. She had also layed eggs in the past, according to her previous owner, so she may have been depleted of calcium too. There really is no good reason to cohab, so my recommendation is to pick up another cage/tub for the smaller one and get her out asap.
 
Did you have the other snake in quarantine before putting her in Reggie's tank? They can transfer infections and parasites. I also would never house my snakes together for any reason. Snakes don't curl up because they like each other, they just want to be in that spot.
 
It seems to have been a food response bite if I'm right, I don't think that would be related to stress. Maybe you smelled like mice in his world. I'd say a snake trying to eat your hand has a great appetite which usually indicates he feels good.

How much is the size difference between them? Over her in Europe many people co-hab, but mostly not pairs, or snakes of different sizes, since the smaller one might get stressed because of the competition for favourable areas with the larger one. Of course some snakes just don't thrive being co-habbed anyway.
 
I really dont beleive the behavior is associated with stress, but i have decided to separate them, since they are in fact different sizes, and it will allow me to work with both snakes better individually... since they will both have their own cages, it will allow me to feed them while their still in their cage instead of removing them. i suspect that removing Reggie from his cage to feed could be the reason he's getting bitey; he may be beginning to associate handling to being fed... i'm hoping its this simple! thanks for the input :D (btw, it did seem like he thought i was food, but i didnt touch anything even remotely smelling like mice, which is why im so confused, lol)
 
If you will start feeding them in their vivs, they will associate you opening the viv with food everytime you do that. You have to build a routine to prevent that from happening....
 
before i started feeding him outside the cage, he seemed to know that when i put the tongs in with no mouse at the end, that he wasnt being fed, so he would relax. it shouldnt be too difficult to re-train him that :)
 
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