Head flattening

[TWGarland]

Is it true that corns flatten/widen their heads if stressed/when acting aggressive?

i've never heard about this before, has anyone got any pictures of this? Is it to make a predator believe they have venom glands or something?

Also a more general question, but still pretty random hehe, can all snakes musk?

 

[Plissken]

Yes, corns can flatten their heads, though I've never seen it happen in person. I always believed it was in imitation of a cobra - either that or just to make them look bigger than they really are.

 

[BeckyG]

Yes, corns flatten their heads. It is an instinctive defensive response. Weebonilass just posted some pictures of hers doing it.

I don't believe it is an imitation of a cobra, since corns and cobras come from two different continents. A corn wouldn't know what a cobra was, and neither would anything that would be threatening a corn. I think it is just to make themselves look bigger and meaner.

 

[Weebonilass]

ooooooooooh yeah they do It's kind of a wild thing to see. Not an easy thing to get a picture of...

The normal corn head...

The flattened head...

I don't think she thinks... oh, I'm going to pretend I'm a cobra, but she does the same sort of thing. She flattens her head, she rears up and strikes.... repeatedly.

A rattler, at least the ones, I've seen, coil, rattle their tails and strike. The rearing up isn't a trail that I've noticed in them. They get some height during their strike, but they don't rear up.

Some corns will rattle their tails like a rattler, not my girl. She thinks she's a corn cobra, not a corn rattler

 

[Weebonilass]

The point in the pictures, which I forgot to point out, is that the corn head is a lovely wedge shape, but when they flatten out, it takes a more triangle shape, which interestingly enough if more common I think in hots

 

[Weebonilass]

I found a shot of her head when it's not flattened. Notice the difference in the white marking...

Sorry for the blurry pictures, but I blew them up a little bigger so you could hopefully see a little better.

 

[TWGarland]

thanks for the responses! yeah i can see the difference weebonilass.does your snake do that alot then? do you know if its a common corn snake behaviour?

 

[Weebonilass]

thanks for the responses! yeah i can see the difference weebonilass.does your snake do that alot then? do you know if its a common corn snake behaviour?

Well, I just got her on the 3rd, so I've only handled her three times. Twice she's spent most of the handling sessions flattening, coiling and striking... so, yeah, I'd say she does it alot. She didn't offer to bite the first time, yesterday she bit me twice or possibly three times. But I don't think my finger tasted very good, because worked her teeth out of me fairly fast

But to be fair, it may be the camera flash pissing her off, so the next session or two I'll forego any new pictures and see if that makes a difference. If it does, it means that she has a temper like a firecracker

 

[Weebonilass]

To answer your other question, neither of my first two hatchlings did it five years ago and our other two '06 don't do it, so I wouldn't call it a common behavior. I'd never seen it personally until I got Gailleann. Most corns are docile and content to not draw attention to themselves. Even the rattlers I've come across haven't been as agressive as this little she devil

I'm beginning to think I gave her too mellow a name :eek1:

 

[TWGarland]

hehe i see!

the reason i asked was just because i thought the flattening may be a sign of stress or displeasure that you could notice, you know like billowing of the lungs.

But it sounds as if this isnt as subtle as i first thought and is only done when your snake is exhibiting other more obvious signs of stress aswell

 

[Weebonilass]

hehe i see!

the reason i asked was just because i thought the flattening may be a sign of stress or displeasure that you could notice, you know like billowing of the lungs.

But it sounds as if this isnt as subtle as i first thought and is only done when your snake is exhibiting other more obvious signs of stress aswell

LOL Nope, not subtle at all. She makes it very obvious that she's pissed and not happy with me. It's all part of the package. When I held her Friday night, she never flattened and never coiled until she heard my daughter and her friend come in the back door and then she coiled a little, but no flattened head, so I quickly put her away before it escalated into something more.

And actually her strikes when she was out to feed last Monday were at my daughter's friend who has a voice that carries. She was clear across the room, but Gailleann still struck out at her.

Of course, her strikes the day she arrived were at me through the glass when I put her inside her new home.

As I said, I think it may be the camera flash that sets her off, but I won't be able to tell until I handled her a couple of more times without the camera.

 

[TWGarland]

She was clear across the room, but Gailleann still struck out at her.

snake mind bullets maybe? hehe

 

[tyflier]

The first day I had my snake, she did her best "cobra impressions". She actually sat straight up and flattened her head, just like a cobra, while she was in her viv. Pretty funny, actually. This big, bad-ass 15" snake rearing up like that. And she reared straight up, not in the "S" position like the previous photo. I was laughing at that one.

But she has never struck at me, and has never made even a faint attempt to bite. And since the first night, I haven't seen her flatten her head out again. Perhaps it was just a response to her new home? :shrugs:

 

[Weebonilass]

The first day I had my snake, she did her best "cobra impressions". She actually sat straight up and flattened her head, just like a cobra, while she was in her viv. Pretty funny, actually. This big, bad-ass 15" snake rearing up like that. And she reared straight up, not in the "S" position like the previous photo. I was laughing at that one.

But she has never struck at me, and has never made even a faint attempt to bite. And since the first night, I haven't seen her flatten her head out again. Perhaps it was just a response to her new home? :shrugs:

Chris,

That position was taken after she had hit the glass of her viv twice. If you look real close you might be able to see bedding clinging to her head and neck from coming half way across the 10 gal tank. I snapped pictures of her at a higher level, but they all blurred. The S-shape actually makes her faster and would allows her to travel further. Those muscles are bunched and ready to spring... well, like a spring

Lady G, my daughter's first snake, would rattle her tail the first week or so we had her, but after that she was a pussy cat. Kieran and Don Dorcha have never even offered that.

I really hope she settles down. I'd rather not have an Ultramel = Ultra Evil, like Dean's Ultra caramel, but I'll put up with even that if she gives me that 12.50% chance of a charcoal motley

 

[BeckyG]

I think this is pretty common defensive behavior for a lot of types of snakes. The wild garter I surprised in my yard this past spring did the same thing:

 

[Weebonilass]

I think this is pretty common defensive behavior for a lot of types of snakes. The wild garter I surprised in my yard this past spring did the same thing:

Becky,

I'm not so sure. I've run across black snakes, garters and ribbon snakes around here and not one flattened their heads. My gelding gently herded a young black snake around the indoor arena for several minutes until I made him leave it alone. The blacks around here seem to prefer to hold their breaths and hope you'll go away... like if I stay very, very, very still you won't be able to see me

 

[Abcat1993]

I would assume that they do it because it makes thier heads resemble poisonous snakes (the wedge shape)

 

[tyflier]

Well, it increases the appearance of their size, much like the hood on a cobra. When a cobra flares it's hood, it is really just a flattening of the neck and head, making it appear larger and therefore more intimidating to any predator or threat. I would assume a flattening of the head in colubrids is an attempt to achieve the same goal.

Iguanas do it. Fringed geckos and bearded dragons do it. Most reptiles do something that increases the appearance of their size as a self-defense mechanism to ward of predators and competitors, as well as to attract mates. I imgaine it is the same for colbrids...

 

[Infinite]

My little one Raven does this quite a lot, as well as striking and biting.

The first time I picked her up after letting her settle in for a few days I had no problems so I thought I was going to be fine.
The second time she was buried under the substrate so I tried to fish her out but she quickly moved right up against the glass so I couldn't get her from behind. When I put my hand in front to pick her up she went into the "S" shape just the the pic on the first page. I kept my hand there and she kept darting at it. At first I thought "what the hell is she doing?" then I realised she was biting me and I thought "Ah, it actually doesn't hurt, cute little bugger". I never felt a thing, so all people who are worried about being bitten, unless they strike you'll probably never know you were bitten, hehe.

 

[Weebonilass]

I kept my hand there and she kept darting at it. At first I thought "what the hell is she doing?" then I realised she was biting me and I thought "Ah, it actually doesn't hurt, cute little bugger". I never felt a thing, so all people who are worried about being bitten, unless they strike you'll probably never know you were bitten, hehe.

LOL Gailleann must have bigger teeth. I definitely knew I had been bitten, besides the fact that I saw her mouth on each side of my knucke the second time, because it was like I had found some nettles. Didn't hurt per se, but I was rubbing at it for awhile as it stung a wee bit.

When I went to get her out of the bathtub after the photo session, I used a razor to attract her attention so I could get my hands on her Of course, she still bite me, but at least she wasn't striking at me and causing me to jump