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Crazy Baby Corn

Jeanie_Gordon

Jeanie_Gordon

New member
I just bought a new male corn snake and he's FREAKING OUT. When i got the first (same age) I carried her home by hand and I've carried her with me ever since with no trouble. This little guy seems terrified of everything. I carried him home in a bag and everything. He just won't calm down.

What do I do? Do I let him calm down on his own or should I handle him until he realizes he has nothing to be afraid of? I really got spoiled with such a perfect first snake.
 
I'd say leave him alone--at least for the first week or so. A baby snake in a new environment has got to be terrified. Let him settle in, and then try taking him out for short amounts of time, don't move around a lot, and let him settle in over time. I bought two baby snakes that were absolute SPAZES, but at least one has settled down over time. The other one continues to be a spaz, but I'm giving him time!
 
its a good idea to leave your snakes alone right when you bring them home so that they can get used to their new enviornment. he might also be spazzing from stress. i havent seen a picture of your viv, but you might want to put more hides in there to make him feel more comfortable.

each snake has its own personality, and from what i've read of earlier posts from you, your snow is an extremely laid back and calm corn. The one your just brought home (a beauty, by the way) may be a more active corn.

i'd say to leave your new corn alone for a little while. also, you might try washing your hands before you handle your snake, if you dont already. i have no proof, no any idea if its possible, nor ever heard of an example of this, but it sorta makes sense: maybe your new snake smells your older snake on your hands and is intemidated by it? i know this can be true for dogs, but have never heard of it in snakes. it might be something to think about though. maybe one of the experts can chime in on my theory.
 
Thank you. I have hides in the cage, but he never really uses them. Both young snakes like to curl up between the water bowl and the wall. I have them in the same tank together too. It seems to help. Every time I look in on them, they're curled up together. I love that about corn snakes. :D

I guess I'll leave him alone for a while. that sounds reasonable.

And, or1olesfan, thank you for your compliments on my snakes. :D I love hearing that my darlings are beautiful to people other than myself. Lol. The little one in your avatar is very cute. :D
 
Time and quiet for a few days is definitely the best way to help spazzy babies relax. They need to learn that they're not going to get eaten in their new environment.

Two of mine were total spazzes when I got them. Zipporah would shoot off in all directions at top speed, while Wizard did the whole "I'm really a rattlesnake" thing. Both are fine now, calm and easy to handle. Just be patient with your new baby.

Not to be a downer, but you might want to do a search on cohabbing. Corns in nature live alone except for mating. There are a lot of negatives to cohabbing, ranging from increased stress to cannibalism. The first sign of a problem may be having only one snake in the viv.
 
Your new guy is probably still freaking out because the female is bigger and therefore intimidates him. It would be really good to have them in seperate vivs, so that as Caryl says, you don't end up with just one snake, or none, because one ate the other, regurged the other snake because it was too big, and dies from the trauma.

Not trying to scare you, but as a new owner myself, I've read enough about co-habitation and seen enough horrible pictures that I'd never want that to happen to either of my guys.
 
By the way, the reason that you see them curled up together isn't because they're comforting one another. It's purely competion and establishment of dominance. That's not the best way to calm your frightened baby.
 
like they said, co-habbing (keeping two snakes in the same viv) is a bad idea. some people say they have snakes that they co-hab that get along fine. however, there are just as many (if not more) people who have tried co-habbing snakes and ended up with one snake, that often ends up dying from a re-gurge. The fact that your keeping a little baby snake with an older, much larger snake is not helping.

the "curling up" that your talking about is probably one snake showing its dominance. this would be equivilant to putting a toddler and an adult in the same room, and the adult sits on the toddler. i wouldn't say that was cute. the older snake is just asserting it's dominance over the smaller snake.

this may even be why your snake is freaking out. going back to my metaphore, wouldnt the todler be freaked out, and scared, if the adult was constantly sitting on him and asserting his dominance? of cource. its no wonder your snake is freaked out. in addition to a new, unfarmiliar habitat, its got a big, scary, roommate who is bullying him around and quite possibly could eat him.

i would strongly reccomend you get a second viv. ASAP.
 
The snakes are one inch different in length. I think they're only a couple weeks apart in age as well. And since I've had them together, the crazy one has calmed down considerably. I doubt there's enough difference in size to have any serious effect on them.

And I've done research on co-habbing. Everyone I've talked to personally who has multiple corns say they do much better living together than alone. Mine seem to be very social and both seem to enjoy the other's company.

I don't have room in my dorm for a second viv. I already have the giant tank for my adult and the other for the two babies. If any problems arise, I'll see about getting another viv, but they're doing well together now so I'll leave it as it is.
 
its your choice, but the first problem you may notice is a missing snake. then find it IN your other snake.
 
Your snakes are, of course, yours. We're just concerned about the dangerous situation in which you are choosing to keep them. "If any problems arise" may be too late to separate, because you may lose one or both as a result of this choice.

If it's a space concern, you might consider dividing a tank you already have.

The choice is yours, but the overwhelming recommendation is NOT to cohab for the safety and health of the snakes.
 
I know people who kept hatchlings together with no problems whatsoever. They usually just ignore each other. I thing it becomes more of an issue when they're older and need more space. And never feed snakes together.
 
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