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Handling after feeding - Newbie question

First of all: Great post!

Carinata said:
My personal belief is that most snakes are not very keen on human interaction. Most snakes don't really gain anything from human interaction.
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I agree. Some snakes can be quite keen on interacting (mine are) but that is because they gain something from it - not because they are fond of me.

Carinata said:
Cornsnakes, are by nature docile animals, and usually tolerate handling extraordinarily well. Personally, I don't handle mine very often because they do just fine without it. It is a matter of opinion, and my personal opinion is over handling can stress a snake out and in general handling is not something they particularly enjoy.
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I totally agree. I have been shocked by reading how much some people handle their snakes, especially the young ones and then they can't figure out why it won't eat. That makes no sense to me.

Carinata said:
Snakes in general are not particularly intelligent individuals, they do have the capacity for some primitive learning, but they're not going to come to you for handling. As far as emotions, I don't think they necessarily posses a ton of emotion. I don't believe they can feel something like loss, or elation.
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No, they are not intelligent, but shouldn't be underestimated either. I have no doubt that the have some kind of memory and that will require a bit of intelligence. My corns know what side of the cage I usually open and they will go there and push their nose against the glass at that exact spot to get out. And they have trained me well, because I will sometimes go and let them out then. I don't fool myself, so I don't believe that they are doing that because they want to be with me, they do it because they want to explore and to explore they have to tolerate me, so they do, as I am harmless.

And it makes perfect sense - they are expressing their natural instincts for exploring that could lead to food or mating.
 
I agree. Waaaaay to many peole handle their baby snakes too much. These animals are stressed out, which is why they won't eat. Snakes aren't cats or dogs, they don't need human interaction to do well.
 
Carinata said:
I agree. Waaaaay to many peole handle their baby snakes too much. These animals are stressed out, which is why they won't eat. Snakes aren't cats or dogs, they don't need human interaction to do well.
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I agree. My babies get a brief handling during cleaning and regular overall health inspections. Plus they get a visual inspection or maybe a little finger walk while I check/change water. I can see where constant over-handling of very young corns can possibly cause issues.

To be fair though, I have one 2011 hatchling that always comes rushing out his tub and wraps around my wrist. He will stay there for hours if I would let him. When he gets fidgety, right back to the tub he goes.

Then you get into that zone of what the line is for over-handling. Ugh, what a messy grey area.
 
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The reptile hobby as a whole is not black and white. It's 11 shades of grey (saw a good political t-shirt about that lol). I mean my new Cat Eyed Snakes, I admit I've messed with them waaaaay to much, but now I've just gotta let them settle in. Some baby snakes are curious and do come to see you, it's happened to me before! But it's they grey area of handling too much all keepers have to figure out for each snake they own!
 
So how much would you say is too much handling for a baby corn? I try to handle mine once a day. During the week I take him out when I get home from work around 12:45am. Since I feed him Fridays (well, I plan to feed him Fridays, I've only fed him once so far) I don't usually mess with him on the weekends.

I've read in other places on this forum that once a day handling when they're babies is good because then it gets them used to you early on and what not, which makes sense to me. Honestly, I really really enjoy handling Targaryan, and he doesn't seem to NOT enjoy it... At least he seems to enjoy exploring my hands and around me and stuff. Also, it seems like daily handling would be beneficial to the snake to let him out of the tank, let him slither around, get some exercise other than running around his 10 gallon enclosure.

What is you guys' opinion on how frequently baby corn snakes should be handled? What about when they're adults?
 
Every animal in my collection get's a brief handling session when they get cleaned. That session is them getting pulled out of the tub, checked to general health, and put in a holding tub while their cage is cleaned. Handling once a day is way to much. Try and reduce it to once a week. Baby Corn tolerate some gentle handling but you don't want to over stress it, and make it not want to eat.
 
Some would tell you to handle them 30 minutes a day while you watch TV. That is the advice they give when they sale a snake. While others will tell you to handle less often. 48 hours after eating is a rule as well. You can use the search feature on here and find many threads and many opinions. It is up to you and your snake and how well your snake is tolerating being handled.

Good Luck with your new scalebaby!
 
I sell a ton of snakes and NEVER recommend handling daily. I think it's not good for the animals at all. I would recommend handling weekly. That can increase as it gets older.
 
Yeah I think you have to figure out what works best with you and your snake.

I don't really advocate daily handling of babies/young snakes, but I'm certainly not going to say a rock solid don't do it either.

There are a lot of factors that go in to it. It's not really something that is cut and dry. I just go with what has worked for me in my collection.

As far a "rules" for handling I refer to the pirates old stand-by of "they're more like guidelines anyway..."
 
Carinata said:
But it's they grey area of handling too much all keepers have to figure out for each snake they own!
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Amen to that.
They are all individuals and some can handle much more than others. The tricks is to take the time to get to know them and slowly find out how prone they are to stress.

I can do almost everything to my corns and they never stress but it took me a long time to figure that out. In the beginning I treated them like rotten eggs like they would drop dead if I did something to stress them out. Slowly I pushed the limits and found out, that these specimens are really hardy. And I don't regret my slow approach.

It all comes down to respecting the kind of animal you own, no matter what kind it is and try to let them be what they are. If you want an animals you can cuddle all the time, it is probably better to buy a rabbit or something, because some snakes just don't like it and they should be left alone.

I think that is a good thing to always remember that handling primarily is for YOUR sake and not the snakes. I am not saying that there is anything wrong with handling your snakes, just that it doesn't benefit them much either. If they are cool with it, I'm cool with people handling them - for their sake.
 
From kathy Love book "Corn Snakes, The comprehensivr owners' guide"
Page 33-34,

".........keep early handling sessions to only a few minutes (ten to fifteen...) at a time. later, a quiet extended time together while you watch TV may give it you a time to get used to in a nonthreatrning manner. ...."

This will vary with individual temperaments. But Corns are known to have a pleasant one.
 
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josephamor said:
So how much would you say is too much handling for a baby corn? I try to handle mine once a day.
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Like the others have said, it depends, but I would probably say that once a day is too much. Once a week or every two weeks should be appropriate, not counting the brief handling when feeding. And if I was you, I would leave him alone while he is digesting, it can't be nice for a snake to be handled in that situation. I always wait until they have pooped - the upside to that is that I have never been pooped on ;-)

josephamor said:
I've read in other places on this forum that once a day handling when they're babies is good because then it gets them used to you early on and what not, which makes sense to me.
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It is understandable that you would think that. It makes sense, right? I used to think so as well. The matter of the fact is, that I know a lot of breeders that never handle their snakes while they are growing up and they still end up being docile, calm animals - they simply grow into that behavior wether you handle them or not. Of course except from the rare specimen that will never accept or get used to handling.

I'm not saying that handling doesn't make any difference, but it is a tiny difference. Handling once every two weeks should be enough for the snake still to be used to handling.
 
I don't see the word "daily" in that piece of information you've presented me. Sure 10-15 minutes is fine once a week. As you're snake grows you can handle it for longer.
 
Again, this is my opinion. There is no right answer here, it's up to you to decide what's best for your snake. I've dealt with snakes for over a decade, and this worls well for me. That doesn't mean someone who's dealt with snakes for 20 years has handled their snake everyday and never seen an issue.
 
Carinata said:
I don't see the word "daily" in that piece of information you've presented me. Sure 10-15 minutes is fine once a week. As you're snake grows you can handle it for longer.
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Hmmm don't see once a week either.

With my many years of experince of handling the same snakes that I have had form day one I never had a issue with stress, feeding or anything else from handling any of them. It must be me tho. LOL

They can be handle daily that's why they are very good beginner snakes. but ......this being a newbie thread and maybe not a ...adult. I wouldn't suggest handling or stressing them like kids tend to do.
 
That's a big part of it.

I don't think there is anything set in stone as it were, aside from basic housing/temperature/food needs.

The way you interact is a personal choice, but the stress level of your snake needs to be taken into consideration.

I know big breeders that fed/water/health check and that's it. Are their snakes okay? Yes. That's not to say the hobbyist that handles more often is doing it wrong. It's also not wrong for the pet owner who handles even more often.

You gotta figure out what works for you and your collection.

-----Pardon my missing "s" in many words. I have a bum finger. :(
 
Lennycorn said:
Hmmm don't see once a week either.

With my many years of experince of handling the same snakes that I have had form day one I never had a issue with stress, feeding or anything else from handling any of them. It must be me tho. LOL

They can be handle daily that's why they are very good beginner snakes. but ......this being a newbie thread and maybe not a ...adult. I wouldn't suggest handling or stressing them like kids tend to do.
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Doesn't say daily either ;). I've got years of experience too handle an extremely vast assortment of snakes. Snakes do stress for a lot of handling. How often do you handle your snakes, Dave?

When I was a kid, I did handle my snakes a lot more often and never had an issue. Was it daily? No. I mean all snakes are different, so if you've owned 4 snakes or 5 snakes that's not a very good gauge on how well a species tolerates handling. I've seen Corns that are mean as hell, and I've seen many that are puppy dog tame. As a general rule, Corns are docile, that doesn't mean there aren't exceptions.

Look at my King Ratsnake. I got so much crap over buying her. People told me I was nuts, I wouldn't be able to do it, I was inexperienced. I did fine. Still have her and all 7 foot of her awesomeness. I figured out what worked for her. I can handle her all day everyday. She doesn't care, but wouldn't do that with any other Carinata. She's an exception to the rule.
 
LOL! That's true about the mean corns. I've got a bloodred that I love dearly, but he is a face eater. Poor Foxy thinks his name is "not the face!"
 
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