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My new corn snake

S

Shumpert

New member
Hey guys, I got my corn snake about ten days ago. I have fed him one time and he ate it after wandering for only a couple minutes so i was pleased with that. He is not even 4 weeks old. I have taken him out twice and loved playing with him. The first time he was very fast at first but calmed down and seemed to enjoy the interaction. He has become more comfortbale with his home but i still have a couple questions.

1. He is still nervous to stay out and explore when i come into the room. Anything I can do to help him feel at ease when i am around. Typically how long until he will be comfortable.
2. When he is out and roaming at night time i have been leaving the lid off so he wont go and hide while i take it off. Ill put my hand in the tank and try to get him to slide into my hand on his own but he wont. He gets scared and goes and hide for a couple min. Ill come back several minutes later and try again but he does the same thing. After this ill put the lid back on and let him do his thing. When and how do i get him to want to come out and play with me.

Any suggestions on how to build this relationship? Thanks for any help.
 
Snakes aren't like cats or dogs. It is an exceptional few that appear to show an active desire to be handled. Some grow extremely tolerant of it, and others never become accustomed to it at all.

Leaving the lid off your tank is an escape waiting to happen. Your snake will eventually become used to the vibrations of the lid being removed.

Do remember that your snake is a tiny tiny baby and the world is a huge and scary place. Someone once mentioned here that cornsnakes are rather similar to terrestrial "guppies"... everything under the sun eats them. Thus, your snake is going to hide when big things come around until he learns that the big things aren't going to try to eat him.
 
Alright thanks, yeah he still very small. I can tell he has grown though since i got him. I guess it just takes more time than i originally had thought. How long would you say it takes on average for baby corns to get used to me?
 
Shiari's point is that even when they are very used to you, they're still going to follow their natural reaction when you initially go to pick them up--and that is to hide. I've had Chad for a while now, in the months, and he still likes to pretend the tail he leaves sticking out of his hide is invisible when I come into the room.

When he's bigger he may feel less threatened, but don't expect the kind of greeting a puppy would give you at the door. :) Still I think snakes can be very comfortable with you the longer they're around, and you have lots of time. Your first couple experiences sound like the right way to go. As long as he's eating and healthy, handle him a little while every day and the "omg big godzilla coming to eat me hide hide hide" reaction may wane over time (months to years, at least, I should think).

Good luck!

Shiari said:
Someone once mentioned here that cornsnakes are rather similar to terrestrial "guppies"
Click to expand...

...my maternal hormones sort of went on overdrive when I read that and it made me want to protect poor Chad from the scary world. LOL
 
Liam, Abrina, and Torandre are my three that do not hide when I come to pick them up. But I expect that's mostly because towards the end of each quarter I cease getting them out to handle them, and just get them out to feed them. Thus they now think "lid opening... FOOD TIME!" and pop their heads out of wherever they are hiding at the time. I'm very lucky they don't try to eat my fingers... especially since I like to hand feed these three.

The others, whom I handle regularly, vary from OMGURGUNNAEATME!!!!! to "Bah. Picking me up again? How booooring." My snow has never gotten used to being handled. My bloodred, Essan, is fine for being picked up but invariably acts like it's the end of the world to be held. Inranahe is still flighty to pick up but settles down quickly while being held. Dier couldn't care less what I do to her. And my new little nameless snake is still in the "eekgonnadie!" stage. Of course, at a whopping 6 grams, she's allowed to be a bit of a freak.
 
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Just keep handling the snake for short periods of time. Eventually they will realize you aren't going to eat them.

I also agree that leaving the tank lid off is a bad idea. It's very easy to get distracted or fall asleep and "poof", there goes your snake.
 
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