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Confused and need help

P

Paulm4095

New member
Hello i got my corn snake on tuesday and left him for a bout 2 days to relax. When i try to take him out of his cage and put my hand in he is soo shy and always curles up in a defencive strike position. If i touch him he runs as fast as he can to hide and burrow but the second i have him out of the cage he is fine and he will walk around my hands but getting him out is such a struggle. I was wondering an explaination and if this happens to anyone else and how long it lasted. I have been handling him about twice a day for about 5-10min each. I have been taking him out of this postion using a stick to get him out of the positon. Please help any advise or experience really helps.
 
First off, 2 days is rather short to start handling the new arrival, a week is better than 2 days and this may be a big part of the problem right there, it is stressed to the max.

While this isn't a feeder thread I will try to give some experiences anyway.

I have a few "skittish" hatchlings that do the same as you are describing. After I leave them to settle in for a week I then start out with short handlings of about 3-5 mins a day. Ignore the strike pose and they will learn it does them no good to try to "bluff" you. It takes some time to get them used to being handled at times, so be patient.

I got a sub adult some time ago that was very skittish, she is now a sook and does not mind being handled now, but it took several months to get her to this stage. Just be gentle enough not to hurt the snake, but firm enough that they don't base jump from your hands. Give them time to de-stress after handling.
 
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