My Snake HATES being held, advice?

[eggdrop]

My ghost corn, Houdini, hates being handled. I've had him since fall of '03, and he's still less than a year old. My boyfriend and I are the only ones to hold him, the only other people he's been around were the store employees (I should note they specialize in reptiles and are NOT like a chain pet store, they took good care of him as far as feeding, interaction, etc.).

He had a very stressful experience when we first got him (he regurged, then had shedding problems, temporarily escaped and was chased but not touched by the cat) so we didn't handle him much for that first month or so to cut back on his stress level. He's had no eating or shedding problems since, but he HATES being held. He generally doesn't try to bite, but he thrashes violently when held. We've been very patient and calm with him and have been working with him for a while now, holding him for short sessions on a regular basis, but his behavior only seems to get worse or stay the same.

Any suggestions on other things I should try? Will he always be like this? He seems content except when he's picked up, he has plenty of space, his tank is kept at the right temperatures, he always has fresh water and he's fed on a regular basis, kept clean... I don't know what else could be stressing him out, I guess maybe he just will never like being picked up, but I worry about him. Thanks in advance.

 

[leia]

I'm very new here, and only have one corn, so I'm no authority on the topic.

How are you holding the little guy? Are you gripping him behind the head to restrict his movement and biting? Because I've seen that for handling other kinds of snakes, especially biting ones.
Corn snakes don't like that. For them, especially as little guys, it's easiest to just hold your hand out, and let them climb around like you are a branch or something. Just have the other hand ready in case he is about to fall.

If you are just supporting him and letting him explore, rather than grip him, then I have no idea.....

 

[CAV]

I'm going to start a war, but then again I don't name my snakes either...

My Snake HATES being held, advice?

Don't hold him??

Although I say that half-heartedly, I am serious. You have just described the actions of 90% of all corn hatchlings. Remember that Looney Tunes cartoon about the Snowman and his pet named George? “I’ll stroke him, and pet him..” Most owners seem to have a similar desire to shower their young corns with affection, but I digress. My point is that if the snake doesn’t enjoy it, why force it to endure the activity?

I generally don't even try to handle hatchlings until they are 8-12 months old. Why? Because they don't really seem to enjoy the experience! Think about what is going through that poor snake’s mind: "I'm really small and this thing is really big. I'm not going to sit here and see if it intends to harm me."

Personally, I have not witnessed any positive or negative benefits from repeatedly handling young snakes. The funny thing is that every one of my snakes that is older than 12 months is perfectly docile! (O.K. except for that female Silver Queen, but she is just evil. :dgrin: No amount of handling is going to change that!)

My point? Enjoy looking for now, save the snuggling for a time when the snake is big enough to be comfortable with the extra attention. Of course this is only my opinion.

 

[Joje126]

I think I have to agree that maybe not handling the snake is probably a good idea. I have a small ghost corn in the same situation who has also had some regurge problems. The hardest part is that she is the smallest and most adorable of my three, so she is of course the one I want to hold. I've tried to transfer my urges to hold her over to my other snakes (and other assorted pets) for now, and am just preparing myself to fight any taming battles once I know shes big enough to deal with me

 

[eggdrop]

As far as how I'm holding him, yes I know they don't like, I do hold him the "correct" way you describe. I am not very experienced either, but I do have a couple other corn snakes living with me that don't mind being held at all.

As far as just not holding him... it's an option but I guess I don't see how his being a little bit older/bigger will make a difference in how he behaves when I pick him up. I know that you probably have much more experience than I do, so I'm not trying to argue, I guess I just don't get why he'd wake up one morning, a year old, and suddenly he'd be able to conquere his fear then? He already falls in that 8 month range, and I think he's a good size for his age, and eating fine, he hasn't regurged since that first week home.

My concern is that if I don't even try to hold him that he'll become more hostile, to the point I personally won't be able to pick him up to feed him. His health and well being are important to me, so if just not touching him would be the best thing to do I guess I'd have to do it, but it doesn't seem like not handling him for months is going to help him be more tame in the future. The reason I got into corn snakes is their docile nature, I love the time I spend with my other snakes and they don't seem to mind it one bit.

Thanks all for all the input so far!

 

[rachel132002]

As said leave him be for a little while but then when you try handling him again try handling in the tank, just supporting his body that way he'll feel secure in his little home and get used to you holding him and when he calms down a bit try bringing him to the top/front so hes almost out but not and he'll probably be a bit panicky then but as beore acclimatise him to this and then eventually bring him out, if he's stressed anyway open space will frighten him more.

Don't know if this will work for certain but it's worth a shot?

Rach

 

[PhilD]

Eggdrop, newbie here too. My snake was a little skittish when I first got him, but he is settling down now. I have him in one of those little plastic cages, and sometimes I just take the lid off and wait for him to come out exploring on his own volition, picking him up only when he is actually climbing over the sides. You'll need patience if you try this, it's best to do it while watching a movie or something as it can take a while

If it's any consolation I have noticed quite a large change in behaviour over the 2 months I have had mine. When I first got him he would come out every night and explore every nook and cranny of his new home. This lasted about 2 weeks. Then he went through a phase where he ignored his hide and hid burrowed in the aspen instead. Now he curls up in his hide, and recently in the morning I find him lieing on top of it.

What I'm trying to say here is that I wouldn't consider his current behaviour as fixed.

Good luck with your snake.

 

[Neumann]

Greetings,

We have two snakes: An Anery and an Okeetee. Our Anery is as mellow as a critter can be and has been since we brought him home. On the other hand, our Okeetee was a very skittish hatchling from day one. She would always flee when I went to pick her up, rattle her tail and sometimes give me a false strike (mouth closed). She was also very head shy.

We purchased our Okeetee in October 03. I didn't handle her for the first two weeks other than to feed her, and when I did start handling her I was very consistent about it. I always handle her at about the same time of day (5-6PM). I started with 5 minutes a day for the first week to ten days, then 10 minutes and then 15. I rarely handle her more than 4 times a week for 10 or 15 minutes at a time. It's only been in the last 3 weeks that she seems truly relaxed when being handled. In all the time prior to this she's been consistently nervous at least part of the time.

Now she's very mellow when I handle her and the only time she exhibits any real nervous behavior is after a feeding when I place her back in her viv. I don't know if this change to mellow is from our handling her, if it's because she's growing larger/older or a combination of the two. Her change from freaked to mellow has been a slow transition. She seems the most mellow when handled a couple days after a feeding.

Here are a few of my handling tips:



1) It's not natural for snakes to be held, so you have be respectful of that. Their behavior is a clue to how well you're doing.

2) When you pick your snake up, come in from the side and pick it up from the bottom not from above. How well you pick them up will in part determine how relaxed they will be when you hold them.

3) Be consistent and don't constantly pick it up 2 or 3 times a day and handle it. Once a day is plently.

4) When not handling your snake or performing keeper duties, leave it alone. They're shy and prefer peace and quiet.

5) When handling, don't try to hold back your snake, let it move about your hand and arm freely. Gently guide it along.

6) No petting. It's just wrong.

7) No handling after a feeding for two days.


I hope this helps. Good luck!


Cheers,
Jason

 

[CAV]

I guess I just don't get why he'd wake up one morning, a year old, and suddenly he'd be able to conquere his fear then?

In short, corns mellow with age. For the most part, adults are very easy going and tend to not display aggressive behaviors. There are of course exceptions to any rule. My experience has been that the belief that snakes will become grumpy hand biters if not handled regularly as hatchlings is just not true. (I'm not basing this on the behavior of one or two animals, but on more than 100)