• Hello!

    Either you have not registered on this site yet, or you are registered but have not logged in. In either case, you will not be able to use the full functionality of this site until you have registered, and then logged in after your registration has been approved.

    Registration is FREE, so please register so you can participate instead of remaining a lurker....

    Please be certain that the location field is correctly filled out when you register. All registrations that appear to be bogus will be rejected. Which means that if your location field does NOT match the actual location of your registration IP address, then your registration will be rejected.

    Sorry about the strictness of this requirement, but it is necessary to block spammers and scammers at the door as much as possible.

So, what are the odds I can tame him?

Emily1188

Emily1188

Smells Like a Rat
Ok... I've got an '06 "male" that I got from a girl who was moving. Now, he's healthy as a horse, eats great, sheds regularly, etc. But he is NASTY. Tail rattling, hissing, striking - all the good stuff.

I feed him in his tub on a paper plate, because getting him into a feeding tub would be interesting.

He hasn't always been this way. When I got him in January '08, he was fairly docile, and I handled him maybe every other day. He bit me the first time that summer(ish) kind of "at random"... I was handling him and he chomped on my hand. Every other bite has been similar, he was being handled, and struck suddenly. Obviously, I've been handling him less since then, because I don't generally care for being nommed on.

To be honest, the issue is that weighing him would be like a rodeo, and so are other things, like when I simply want to look him over to check his basic health. He flails, bites, poops, the whole nine yards. God forbid I ever want to have him probed or needed to help him slough off part of a shed, eeek. The biting, well, it's not fun but it's certainly not the end of the world - I'm more worried he'll flail right out of my hands and escape.

Now, my snakes are pets. They live in my dorm room with me, and I enjoy handling them. But, I knew when I got a reptile, that there was no guarantee it would be buddy buddy with me, so he has a home with me for the rest of his life (although if a good home came up that wanted a nasty, yes, I would rehome him). That said... does anyone have any suggestions on taming the beast? Should I just suit up (gloves and long sleeved shirt) and hang on?

Thanks guys.
 
He isn't going to get any tamer if you don't handle him. I have a biter. I've found that she is more ammenable to handling when _she_ comes out, rather than when I dig her out of her hide. With your guy, though, he sounds like he just doesn't like it, or is afraid, or whatever. I guess I'd take him out every day, and only put him back when he is behaving nicely, such as coiling around your hand and staying, or hanging around your neck, or doing Cornsnake Treadmill. Actually, that might tire him out and take away some of his excess energy! And are you feeding him enough/often enough??
 
Nanci said:
And are you feeding him enough/often enough??
Click to expand...

I've been giving him one adult mouse every seven days... in his form home, he was slightly underfed, though. I definitely do not bother him when I know he's hungry (like the day before feeding). ;) I am going to do my best to get a weight on him ASAP.

I definitely think he is afraid, rather than belligerent.

I'm going to look up the corn snake treadmill right now.
 
Cornsnake Treadmill is hard to explain. I should make a video! Ok, this is going to take a minute...
 
the more u handle him the calmer he'll be. ware gloves so u wont react.. that rewards his unwanted behavior when u pull back, flinch or put him away. there not dogs.. and cant be trained but he needs to understand that biting wont get him what he wants. that when hes calm ull put him back.

I take in alot of rescues. about 60% of my collection were wild like that.. it takes time. patience and love. thats all that can do it. and he will settle in time. don't give up. it may take months.. but hes will come around no need to give up :)
 
Crimson.Dawn said:
there not dogs.. and cant be trained but he needs to understand that biting wont get him what he wants. that when hes calm ull put him back. )
Click to expand...

Actually, modifying behavior through consequences is training. ;) Anything with a brain stem can be "trained" to a certain extent.

Thanks Dawn and Nancy, I appreciate the feedback. I am going to wear gloves to prevent flinching when I attempt to handle the beast tonight. I am glad to hear that you've had success taming them down, Dawn.

And thank you for the video Nancy! I really appreciate that. I'm going to study it a couple of times. Btw, Pepper is very pretty.
 
WELL, I'm officially the biggest wimp EVER. I feel like a huge idiot right now, but I'm happy idiot.

I put on gloves and a long sleeve shirt and just reached in and grabbed him, and do you know what he did?!?!?!

Nothing. :rofl:

He was really, really good! Like, his old self. He didn't even coil when I moved my hand near his face. I ditched the gloves pretty quickly. He did constrict my hand pretty well at one point, and of course he pooped everywhere. He flailed a little bit but he settled down. I even draped him across my neck at one point!

And he's even just gone clear from blue for his shed, so he could rightfully be a little pissy... but he wasn't.

Of course, I was poop scooping his tub afterwards and he was rattling away - just so I know who's boss still. ;)

I'm going to keep a record of when he's handled on iherp... so far, so good.

Once he sheds, I'll get some pictures, and weight(! most importantly) on him.
 
Roy Munson said:
The chances are slim to nothing... and slim just left town.

But seriously, take the advice you've been given. :)
Click to expand...

LOL, thanks Dean. I still cannot believe what a big stink I made over it, only to get him out and have him act totally docile.... :dunce:
 
My adult corns hardly ever are satisfied with just one mouse when they are hungry. All usually do at least two, sometimes 3 or 4. Then they usually aren't hungry again for at least a week or even longer depending on season. It seems during summer they are hungry more often & shed more often whereas during the winter they went several weeks without being interested in food.

The key I've found to handling and taming snakes is the same as with any other scared animal, time, patience, and making them feel safe while you let them learn that they can trust you. Moving a snake to a feeding container to eat, is one thing that is helpful in teaching the snake to associate being picked up with a positive event. In my experience, snakes usually get irritable and want to be left alone in their hides when they are getting ready to shed. They cannot see very well during a shed. I also think that the shedding skin irritates them or itches, because two snakes who have had problems with their sheds, both eagerly rubbed themselves against my fingers when I was using my fingernails to gently lift and pull the skin remnants off them. Both of them even rubbed their faces on my fingers and removed their eyecaps.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top