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New Snake

J

JBLAZE725

New member
I just got my corn snake about 2 weeks ago and i left him alone for a while so he could get used to his new surroundings. He's been eating fine and all is okay except he only comes out at night so i cant really handle him. I have more access to him now but if i try to get near him h gets into a defensive posture and is definitely going to strike if i get close enough. How do i tame him enough to get used to being handled. Do i just take the bites and say screw it or is there a method to working towards handling him. Also he is starting to shed now so maybe he is more irritable because of it. Anyway glad to be here with all of you who also love snakes and also have more know how than me. thanks
 
Uh Oh

My baby corn snake did the same thing. He only came out at night...But I still handled him during the day. But I found out, that's when he was planning to escape. And that's when he was practicing..Little devil..

So make sure, that the top of your tank or rubbermaid is like....clamped down...so he doesn't escape or anything...
x_x Because mine did escape. But I found him... :crazy02:
 
Another thing

When he gets ready to strike at you..TAKE THE BITE!!!

And when he bites you pick him up. And hold him for a while. Because if you don't handle him, then he'll know that if he strikes at you...The giant warm blob won't hurt him, because it'd be afraid. So If you hold hom more. He'll be like..."It won't hurt me!" And after awile of still being aggresive and stuff...he'll gte used to you.

I sure hoped that helped..x_X
 
Hectorthesnake said:
When he gets ready to strike at you..TAKE THE BITE!!!

And when he bites you pick him up. And hold him for a while. Because if you don't handle him, then he'll know that if he strikes at you...The giant warm blob won't hurt him, because it'd be afraid. So If you hold hom more. He'll be like..."It won't hurt me!" And after awile of still being aggresive and stuff...he'll gte used to you.

I sure hoped that helped..x_X
Click to expand...


Agreed. Try to hold him every day exept for the 48 hour rule
 
Even if your corn is used to you, there's a decent chance they'll only come out very much at night... but to get him used to you, you should do what you can to keep him from feeling threatened. Let him get used to your smell before you pick him up (if he's out of his hide), don't take him out of the hide if he's in it, and try not to have a lot of people in the room or anything when he's out. What I did to get mine used to me was, after dark, I'd get him out of the viv while he was still in the hide. Set the hide and all on your lap or on a table or something, and just let him come out on his own terms. It may take 20 minutes or so, but he won't be nervous when he does (or he'll be less nervous anyway...)
 
Mine did the same thing and would strike at me when I reached in for her. It's an awful big hand for a little tiny snake. One time she tagged me 4 times really fast; felt like a peice of velcro. Like already mentioned by Hectorthesnake, don't put him down if he does bite, he'll realize after a few times that it works. I started using a straightened out peice of metal with a blunt hook to get her out and she welcomed that a whole lot more than my hand. One year later she's tame as can be.

Good luck and welcome,
 
His "strike position" could be just a bluff. Mine did that the first few times I tried to get her out, but she never actually struck me. And once I had her out, she was fine. Try putting a balled up blanket or shirt in your lap and let him crawl around in it; that seemed to help Annabelle feel less vunerable since she had the option to hide and poke out at will. Within a week, her flighty-ness calmed down significantly. And now, six weeks later, she took her first nap curled up on my lap the other day. Very exciting progress. :D The key is definitely regular handling with the exception of those two days after feeding. Annabelle is a three year old adult so she might've drawn blood had she actually bitten me; if you have a hatchling, take comfort in the fact that they're so tiny that their bites don't even really hurt and can't do any real harm. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised how easily most of the calm down. Best of luck and enjoy your new friend!
 
Hectorthesnake said:
When he gets ready to strike at you..TAKE THE BITE!!! And when he bites you pick him up. And hold him for a while. Because if you don't handle him, then he'll know that if he strikes at you...The giant warm blob won't hurt him, because it'd be afraid. So If you hold hom more. He'll be like..."It won't hurt me!" And after awile of still being aggresive and stuff...he'll gte used to you.
Click to expand...

I wish our Nile would get used to THIS "Giant Warm Blob"!!!

:crazy02:
 
Yeah the little young ones can be a bit nippy. Just make sure to pick it up even if it does bite, because if you don't it will learn that biting=not having to be pulled out of the hidebox. You don't want this to happen as the snake will get bigger and the bites will actually be somewhat painful.
 
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