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Fear

eawndl

eawndl

New member
Ok so it has been quite awhile since I have been on. But I need some help. My baby is just a few months over a year and is very handsome. He has never tried to bite me, well once, but that was cuz he thought I was food, but has been really good.

My problem is that when it is not handeling time and is feeding time, he becomes quite aggressive. This started a couple months ago and its getting to the point where I am afraid to feed him. He is really good at being held, its just feeding that is the problem. Like there has been about 3 times he has lunged at me.

It there anyone who can give me advice on this? I hate being afraid of my baby but my fear is starting to grow and I definently dont want to be afraid of him when he gets to be bigger lol. I know its probably not his fault, its probably my fault, I'm most likely doing something wrong to make him act this way. I just want some advice to see if I can maybe change this behavior (I highly doubt I can do anything) or to get rid of my fear.

Any tips?
 
Buy feeding tongs. My male Amel is by far the calmest snake I have, very friendly. I honestly have never been around a snake which is half as chilled out as him. However, he is NOT friendly toward mice whatesoever. When he smells food, he's on his way, fast! He is also a humongous corn snake with a very long strike distance. There's no doubt I'd probably catch some teeth if I didn't use tongs. He has a strong feeding response (which I don't mind) is all.

Mitch
 
Handle with gloves for a few months. Blocks any kind of odd smell or pheramones that you might be giving off, and gives you a little more confidence.
 
What is your feeding procedure? How often/how much do you feed?

I would suggest feeding once a week, if you aren't. Maybe earlier in the day, instead of evening. I would remove him from his viv and put him into his feeding bin before you get his mouse out.

Then thaw the mouse, feed him in his bin, then give him a good 30 minutes to relax and get out of feeding mode before returning him to his viv. Wash your hands very thoroughly before handling him on the way back!!

If you need to get a snake hook to put him back, that would work just fine. I have some VERY hungry females that will bite first and ask questions later, but once I lift them from their feeding bins, they go back to normal. It even helps to just keep their heads away from me while I pick them up with my hand.
 
Sorry replying so late, busy week.
He is fed in a bin, i use feeding tongs, I wash my hands before and after, I feed once a week, put him in his bin before I pull out the mouse.
He is a really good snake, could he just possibly be becoming somewhat of an agressive eater? Cuz im doing all that you guys are suggesting.
And when I put him out at anytime he is chill, but the moment I put him in his bin, he becomes agressive.
 
He likes to eat :)...Better a corn with a bit of a 'tude that eats well than a passive difficult feeder...
 
Try putting the mouse in the bin first, then add the snake. At the moment, he's put in his bin and is then expecting something edible to come towards him. That might make him more inclined to bite first and wonder whether it's edible afterwards?

Also, what size food is he eating and how often? It's possible that he might need bumping up to the next size and is just extra hungry at each feed now.
 
i just bumped him from 2 fuzzies to one hopper. but i did notice that once he had it down he didnt have any REAL noticable bump. should i maybe try gonig to the next size or giving him two? I was feeding him 2 fuzzies for just a bit to get him up to the next level cuz he was still hungry after one but seemed a little small for a hopper..
 
I switched mine to hoppers when he was 80 grams, but it is alright to start them at 51 grams. I didn't get a scale until later and he didn't seem that big to me at the time; he hit 80 before I knew it. If your snake is still under 50 grams then you could schedule his feeds closer together.
 
My 09 is eating small adults. Whenever I go to pick out the mice, I look at them and think there is no way he could eat something that big, and every time he gets it down no problem. I skipped hoppers completely and went from 2 fuzzies to adults because I just didn't notice how big he was getting or was in denial or something. :crazy01:
If the hoppers aren't making a bump and the snake is still looking for food, try a small adult. If it is tub aggression because the snake thinks that all that happens in there is lunch, try putting him in there and handling him in and around it when it isn't feeding time. Not excessively, but just enough to see if that curbs some of the aggression. He might strike at first, but if that doesn't make food appear, he'll probably give up.
Good luck.
 
Snakes are their most vulnerable while eating so he could be feeling defensive already, then if you lift the lid off and are standing over him or reaching for him he could be reacting to you as a predator.

I would put the mouse in the tub first and wait at least an hour after the snake eats before trying to move him to his cage. That gives a chance for any adrenaline left over from the "hunt" to exit his system. I would also recommend that you carry him in the tub to his cage then tip the tub enough that he is encouraged to move into his cage on his own. Save the handling for when you both are feeling relaxed.

I was afraid of my big corn for quite awhile even though she has never struck at me. Her movements are just so quick and she is a ruthless eater not to mention the fact that she's huge. I fed her in a big paper sack and would put the mouse in first. Sometimes Zade would strike as I was lowering her into the sack and while she was still wrapped around my hand. Freaked me out. I started feeding her similar to the way I'm recommending and it has helped quite a bit. I have no fear of handling her now.

Good luck!
 
Alright thank you guys for the advice. Tonight is feeding night and he knows it, he is roaming around his cage sniffin around. So I guess this is what I am going to do:
cook the mice (Im gonna try and add an extra one and see if he will take it)
place it in the bin, then add him
let him eat his first one and then add the 2nd one if he is still hungry
leave him be for an hour in his bin
then carry him in his bin to his cage and let him crawl out. let hope this works

the things I am pretty much doing differently than I normally do is leaving him in his cage longer and adding the mouse to the bin before him and seeing if he wants more.

Wish me luck! I'll give feedback as to what happens :)
 
If he leaves you with any fingers left with which to type we will be anxiously waiting to hear how it goes. :eek:)
 
Oh and by "cook the mouse" you just mean you are going to heat it up a bit, not cook cook it, right?
 
Ok so the whole putting the mouse in first makes it worse. He can smell it and is roaming his cage anxiously and anytime I try to put my hand in there to get him out, he goes into an S and looks at my hand like it looks good. Even before handling the mouse and before trying to pick him up I washed my hands very well. So I put the mouse back in his packet back in the warm water and am going to wait a bit and try again, but this time put him in first. Sigh....

And yes put the mouse in warm water to cook it lol
 
He might just be an eager eater. Has he ever actually tagged you? You might just have to put up with this attitude come feeding time. In that case, I would suggest getting gloves to put on when getting him out to feed. Though a bite doesn't hurt and you don't really need them for that, I've found them to help keep me calm and from involuntary flinches that can excite and rile up a snake even more.
 
Ok so he is fed. I ended up only having to wait a few after putting the mouse back in the package and leaving him in the cage. But after waiting a few I pulled him out and held him a few to keep him calm and after 10 min of holding him I put him in the bin and put the lid on.
I put the mouse out of the package and pulled the lid off and placed it in there. It took him nearly 30 min to get it down cuz of those darn mouse legs not wanting to fit properly in his mouth. But he got it down. And so I tried the 2nd mouse and he ate that one in a couple minutes flat. He is now sitting in his bin to calm a bit down and I will soon put him in his cage. What I think I might do is just upgrade him to the next size in mice, so go from 2 medium mice to a 1 of the net size up (can't quite remember the name of them) or I may just stick with the 2 medium mice for maybe the next 2 feedings or so, not quite sure.
But thank you guys very much for your help, I appreciate it very much, and it did help alot. Lol
 
Oh and ya he had tagged me once probably about 3 months ago. It never hurt, but was just startling. Itwas my fault cuz I accidently got the mouse blood on my finger and thought that just wiping it off would make it go away, but no lol. So I learned my lesson about making sure my hands do not smell like mice lol.
 
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