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Baby corn snake behavior

Cornpone

New member
Hello all! Noob here - I have been keeping herps for 30+ years but amazingly enough, had never kept a corn snake until just recently. I got a nice juvenile female about 2 weeks ago and have a question about her behavior.

As we all know, juvenile snakes are usually much more jittery and hyper than adults. But this little girl is exceptionally calm! She is quite healthy, has good weight and is an excellent eater so no problems there. Its just that I'm surprised at her calmness. When I pick her up she just curls her tail around one finger and gently explores my hand for awhile before settling down.

Obviously I am NOT complaining about this. But I am curious to see how many others have had this experience with a youngster. What percent of corn snake juveniles would be calm? It will be interesting to see what she is like when she matures given that she is so mellow already at such a young age!
 
Hello and Welcome! Where did you get her from and how old is she? It is possible she was handled a lot previously. I have to say that mine was also mellow as a baby, she was active, but never darted around.

We'd love to see a pic of your little girl! What is her name?

Once again, a big welcome! Feel free to ask any questions!
 
Hello all! Noob here - I have been keeping herps for 30+ years but amazingly enough, had never kept a corn snake until just recently. I got a nice juvenile female about 2 weeks ago and have a question about her behavior.

As we all know, juvenile snakes are usually much more jittery and hyper than adults. But this little girl is exceptionally calm! She is quite healthy, has good weight and is an excellent eater so no problems there. Its just that I'm surprised at her calmness. When I pick her up she just curls her tail around one finger and gently explores my hand for awhile before settling down.

Obviously I am NOT complaining about this. But I am curious to see how many others have had this experience with a youngster. What percent of corn snake juveniles would be calm? It will be interesting to see what she is like when she matures given that she is so mellow already at such a young age!

Hi there Cornpone! Or Noob, that is. How ya been?

:welcome:

(I love to be the first one to use that new emoji in a thread, BTW! But it sure says it all, no?). Congrats on your new acquisition! Glad to hear she has a great temperament. Maybe her previous owner did you the favor of assimilating her towards humans? Hope so, anyway, because a calm & cool hatchling or juvie WITHOUT having been conditioned is not a sign of an optimal response to its environment. If most or all snakes were "sweethearts" from the time they were hatched, they most probably would not have survived long nor had their respective place within the animal kingdom's food chain! A skittish and jumpy hatchling is a good sign that it possesses the survival skills necessary for at least one or two hatchlings to survive out of each clutch produced in the wild. However, in captivity, now that we're on the topic, I WONDER whether or not that this particular trait is a liability (?). Food for thought, at the very least!

But back to your little sneaky one, once a hatchling or juvenile - or even an adult, for that matter - is conditioned to handling by its owner or humans, in general, they become pretty calm. Well, MOST of them, anyway. Out of my 3 adult corns, the two males (Bozo & Chili-Pepper) are extremely docile and Chili even likes it when I rub the back of his head and neck! But the female, Lilly, can be skittish, jerky, or even totally evasive, depending upon a number of variables. She even sometimes rattles her tail, especially if I have to go after her by going under a hide or if I'm trying to remove her from her viv when she just doesn't wanna come out to play! This may just be a part of her character or "animality" (still nowhere NEAR used to that word yet daddio!), but also may have to do with the fact that she was cohabitated with Bozo & Chili for the first 8 years of her life (I just recently separated all of my adult corns back in April of this year as per the advice of daddio and a couple of other members here who provoked me - politely and not like bulls in a china shop! - to conduct some research on cohabbing corns where I discovered that what I always believed, based upon what I was told when they were sold to me, was not necessarily the truth nor was it in the best interests of my animals who I have always loved dearly. Since that time, they all seem fine, even noticeably gaining some weight. In retrospect, Lilly was probably harassed, especially during mating season but I mistakenly thought she was okay when she hid in a log the other ones couldn't fit into (I know I'm not the SHARPEST knife in the DISWASHER but as many of you may know, it doesn't take me an HOUR & A HALF to watch 60 Minutes!). Also, I would have SWORN they were "cuddling" together, due to the availability of multiple places to go in the large cage I had for them which Lilly occupies solo presently, until I discovered what one herpetologist reported as them possibly competing for the most optimal spot in the enclosure! Self-reflection isn't worth a damn if you can't be honest with YOURSELF! Being one who always encourages others to be open-minded, I had to practice what I preached and do the right thing, thereby separating all of them, where they now all appear to be doing just fine!

To get back to your question, I have never had a hatchling that wasn't jumpy or skittish from the very beginning of handling them. For the most part, they have ALL tried to dart or jump out of my hand during the first few sessions of handling them! You wouldn't have even FATHOMED that they would have become the docile, extremely calm animals that they have eventually become as adults (speaking about my adult males). As I said before, Lilly will probably always be jumpier than her male counterparts, but even SHE eventually becomes somewhat comfortable during handling sessions after the initial shock of her being removed from her enclosure. Ozzy, my yearling, is jumpy at the start, but quickly calms down and as he is still youthful, will occasionally be much more energetic as he flicks his tongue and sees how far out of my hands he can get. None of my corns just sit there, as ball pythons tend to do. But that's just a part of their nature.

Hope this answered your question somewhat. I'm not one to economize on words! LOL! :shrugs:
 
Hi, and thanks for the great welcome! I'm guessing my girl is 3 or 4 months old. Got her at the local Petco - I know the folks there and they take good care of the reptiles. My little one is the last one left from a batch of corn snake babies, so she had been handled to some extent. I know they mentioned that they also thought she was very calm for a youngster.

I agree, a calm unafraid temperament would probably be a bad trait for a wild hatched snake! Being skittish keeps them alive long enough to grow up. On the other hand it's a GREAT trait for a pet snake. Corn snakes have been bred in captivity for so many generations now. It would probably be a mistake to call them "domesticated" but over the generations they have been selected for both appearance and temperament. The temperament selection might not be as intentional as selection for appearance but it still occurs as many snakes have been used for breeding that probably wouldn't have survived in the wild (behaviorally I mean).

As far as I can tell my baby corn snake is "normal" coloration. At least she's not an albino or anything like that. Her orange pigment is just starting to come in so it will be interesting to see how she turns out.
 
Welcome, Cornpone! :wavey:

Your little one sounds great. I love normals. I hope when you get a chance you can share a pic. Does she have a name yet? Shes young enough I'd still call her a baby, but it's inexact terminology at best. Congrats and best wishes.
 
You know, I don't usually name reptiles. I guess it's because they don't really respond to names the way dogs or cats do. That doesn't mean I don't view them as individuals - I really do! - it's just that they don't seem to "require" a name. Just my own little quirk. I'll try to get a good pic of her.
 
You know, I don't usually name reptiles. I guess it's because they don't really respond to names the way dogs or cats do. That doesn't mean I don't view them as individuals - I really do! - it's just that they don't seem to "require" a name. Just my own little quirk. I'll try to get a good pic of her.

Hey there Cornpone! How ya been?

Don't name your snakes? That's a new one to me. So what you call them or how do you refer to them, as "the snake?" What if you have more than one and they look alike? :eek1: YIKES! Do you say things like, "the snake in the smaller viv bit me today, dang it!" Or "the fat snake isn't eating today!" Isn't it better to say, "George isn't out of his hide yet, I wonder what's going on with him?"

Actually, I'm just messin' with ya, I really don't care if you name your little sneaky one or not. It's just that those of us who do name our snakes tend to see them as important components of the family as opposed to those of us who don't. Just my own little quirk. :duck:

Just sayin'. :my2cents_01:

BTW, do you have any pix of the little sneaky one? perhaps some folks here can suggest a moniker based upon his appearance? Just a thought.
 
Most of my '16s are still flighty as can be, though my hypo lavender keeper is fairly calm, possibly having inherited her dam's temperament. My 30-100g snakes are typically flighty until they're in hand, with one exception who will probably require gloves to handle in adulthood.

I can't imagine not giving my snakes a nickname, even when I eventually have over 100 (oh yes, that day will come), even if it's like...Toaster and Chair because I've run out of interesting names.
 
I think it may have something to do with the fact that I think more in pictures than in words. So when I am thinking of a particular snake (or other pet) I am usually visualizing. And, I try to get ones that don't look identical to each other and/or are different genders. For example there is the normal corn snake female I have mentioned above, and also I just got a male lavender c.s. hatchling. I have a male/female pair of western hognose snakes but can tell them apart from their markings. They are like family members though. I have mild autism so my brain views things a bit differently.
 
. . .I can't imagine not giving my snakes a nickname, even when I eventually have over 100 (oh yes, that day will come), even if it's like...Toaster and Chair because I've run out of interesting names.

My sentiments exactly! I used to have a dog I called "dog" because, well, he just looked like a typical DOG! And another I called Dee-Oh-Gee for s similar reason. Point being, ya gotta call them something if you have any type of relationship with them.

BTW, cornpony, I also have been fortunate enough to be labeled with a number of axis I disorders, hence my own online moniker, but give it a name, right? Just because we have something that is supposed to circumvent, undermine, or otherwise inhibit our level of social functioning, my motto has always been that of St. Nunzio of Flatbush Avenue, who always said, "A rolling stone . . . er, can give ya a HELLUVA BRUISE!" or something like that! I may have some serious disorders by psychiatric standards, but I am NOT one to be defined by them. Have you ever read Dr. Thomas Szaz' "The Myth of Mental Illness?" Not like he was just some quack who didn't know his stuff, but he was the chair of psychiatry at Syracuse University and was an iconoclast in the field of mental health (see: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Szasz). Being a mental health professional, as well as a patient, I discovered early on that looking at both sides of the coin is the best way to know most of the angles in this field, which is more of an art as a "soft" science. Just sayin'. Sorry if I brought this WAY off topic, as I sometimes tend to do, but what the hell! Gotta keep it interesting, no?

Ok, now what were we talking about? (I guess you can add ADHD to the list of axis I's!! LOL!). :headbang:
 
It is not unusual for people to not name snakes. I couldn't imagine it for myself but to each their own.

Funny story. I was a Reptilefest and I saw a woman cleaning up after her carpet python. It was a beautiful animal. So I asked the snake's name. I got a, "I don't name my snakes," in a tone of voice that made me think, "sorry I asked."

I've found it is not uncommon among those with large collections. Of course they have names, but they are more like "the 5 year old female ERO I got from SMR". I think it's nicer to give them pet names, but some folks see it as anthropomorphism. So to each their own.
 
When I picked up my snow stripe, she was as mellow as could be (same for the previous normal snow I had years ago). At the show, the breeder let me hold her and she wrapped around my wrist and just hung out. To this day she is one of the snakes in my collection I go to when someone wants to hold a snake, or someone who was fearful but curious (my friends daughter...she fell in love with my rubber boa, and was always curious about holding my snow stripe but nervous to do it alone, so I took her out first and then she was brave enough to hold her). I wouldn't let anyone hold my bloodred though...she's a snot. My lavender can be a bit nippy initially but once he's out he's pretty good...squirmy but not nippy.
 
It is not unusual for people to not name snakes. I couldn't imagine it for myself but to each their own.

Funny story. I was a Reptilefest and I saw a woman cleaning up after her carpet python. It was a beautiful animal. So I asked the snake's name. I got a, "I don't name my snakes," in a tone of voice that made me think, "sorry I asked."

I've found it is not uncommon among those with large collections. Of course they have names, but they are more like "the 5 year old female ERO I got from SMR". I think it's nicer to give them pet names, but some folks see it as anthropomorphism. So to each their own.

OK, so I guess I am an anthropomorph. Is that a word? Or anthropomorphistic. Yeah! Both of those things!

It might be totally appropriate for folks to NOT name their snakes Dollysmom but if that woman were to answer me in a tone of voice like you described, I'd have asked her why she DIDN'T name such an animal of unparalleled beauty. After all, does she think hers don't smell as bad as her snake's? :eek1: I don't think so!!

In the immortal words of Testicleeze, "A bird in the hand . . . er, will get you pretty dirty!" :eek:
 
Lol, Axis. Choose your battles, grasshopper.

Had she been abusing the snake, I would have called her out on it, but her not naming her snake and being a little snippy about it? Not so much. Besides the woman was in the middle of cleaning up a massive python poo. As much as a person loves their snake, that's sure to put someone in a, for lack of a better word, poopy mood. I'm not sure how I would have intracted with another human in the middle of that task, lol. And I do mean MASSIVE!
 
Lol, Axis. Choose your battles, grasshopper.

Had she been abusing the snake, I would have called her out on it, but her not naming her snake and being a little snippy about it? Not so much. Besides the woman was in the middle of cleaning up a massive python poo. As much as a person loves their snake, that's sure to put someone in a, for lack of a better word, poopy mood. I'm not sure how I would have intracted with another human in the middle of that task, lol. And I do mean MASSIVE!

OK, gotcha. Gotta cut some slack for those havin' to clean BIG piles of snake crap! (And ALL of us here know how that can even put cat sh** to shame!). However, one can also state that if someone can't stand the smell that they should stay outta the bathroom, no? Just thinking about the Golden Rule here. There's NO reason to take a bad attitude out on another person, ESPECIALLY YOU Dollysmom!

Just sayin'. :my2cents_01:
 
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