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Turtlez

New member
Dear Friends,

I have had baby Mythos for about 2 weeks now. I have tried everything to get him to like me. I have taken out his plants as suggested, and added more hides, I have put scraps of my old t-shirt in the hides to get him used to my scent, and I only try to handle him every few days. But still, everytime I try to take him out, he is so scared of me. He coils up, and then s-curves, and then when I go to pick him up, he runs away, and I have to chase him. When I get him out, he is better, and lets me touch him just fine (pet his head and all). Yet, he never stops slithering around, like he doesnt like me. He doesnt want to stay near me it seems. Last night was the first time he actually stopped slithering all around, and sat on my lap (even though it was brief). Are all babies like this? I think he is about 5 weeks old. I want him so much to not be afraid of me anymore :( Do they settle down as they are older? I dont want him to bite at me when he is older. Any suggestions?

Also, he wont let me give him a bath. I tried putting him in the large fake stone dish i got him and he ran out super fast. The water is warm, since its in his house. I took it out of his house, and tried to put him in then, but still no avail. He is going through a shed, and shed most just fine, although a few spots are still comming off. He didnt even try to soak himself. I bought Bio-mist, which is an all natural skin conditioner for when they shed. But when I take him out to spray it on, he hates it.

I love him so much, and I dont know what to do. Please help me :(

-Meg
 
He sounds pretty normal for a baby snake....

that is what they do. He isn't unhappy, although he is scared. The only way to get him to relax is to keep handling him. As he gets older, he will calm down. Just keep handling him on a daily basis for a few minutes, except for the 48 hour post feeding time.

A lot of snakes don't like baths. What I do when one of mine has a bad shed is to take the "kritter keeper", put about 1/2 inch of cool water in it, put two paper towels down in the water, then I put the snake in there, and put another paper towel on the snake. It ends up like a big wet sandwich with a snake filling. The wetness and the extremely light pressure help to make the stuck skin slide off. Put the lid of the kritter keeper back on to make sure the snake doesn't escape and leave him in there for about 15 minutes.

sue
 
Instead of giving him a bath, you can try just misting the whole cage with water from a spray bottle while he's in shed. I've never heard of Bio-mist, and it may be good, but so many of the products they sell for reptiles in pet shops are a complete waste.

Anyway, corns like to explore. Even the tamest corn snake will keep moving most of the time while being held. They just aren't like boas or some other snakes who want to coil up and sit still on you. Just give him some time to get used to you. You can try putting a piece of your clothing that you've just worn in the cage to get Mythos used to your scent. I know it sounds strange, but a sock is a pretty good thing to use. It's not too big, and we have scent glands on our feet. They even use the sock as a hide sometimes. :)
 
you describe my snake perfectly, turtlez, it's just a baby thing, the one sugguestion I do have is that when you want to give him/her a bath do it in a larger tub then put your hand in the middle for a place for her to excape too, that's what I do and she seems to handle it better... and try handling your snake later in the day when corns are normaly more active, then it won't be such a shock to her (from being woken from a nap ect...)

I wouldn't take your snakes behavior to personaly after a while of handling she/he'll calm down and be more of a lap snake :)
 
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