• Hello!

    Either you have not registered on this site yet, or you are registered but have not logged in. In either case, you will not be able to use the full functionality of this site until you have registered, and then logged in after your registration has been approved.

    Registration is FREE, so please register so you can participate instead of remaining a lurker....

    Please be certain that the location field is correctly filled out when you register. All registrations that appear to be bogus will be rejected. Which means that if your location field does NOT match the actual location of your registration IP address, then your registration will be rejected.

    Sorry about the strictness of this requirement, but it is necessary to block spammers and scammers at the door as much as possible.

Sensitivity to other snakes?

G

Glenn's Guardian

New member
Hi everyone,

I'm a volunteer at a natural history museum that has two live snakes used for presentations: a 3-foot long milk snake, who is very active, and a 5-foot-plus corn snake, who is very sedentary. Two days ago, I noticed that their behaviors had reversed - the milk snake was absolutely still, and the corn snake was active to the point of agitation. When I came in today, the same was true, but the inertia of the milk snake was so extreme, I asked a staff member to investigate. Sure enough, the milk snake had died, and we removed it from the room. The corn snake's extreme agitation continued for several hours; he was all over his tank. Now he has calmed down, but is still moving a lot for him. The two tanks were positioned so that the snakes could not see each other, but I wondered if the corn snake could sense that the milk snake was dying and then had died, and if this was the source of his agitation? I'm really new to snakes, but I have discovered that I love handling and taking care of them. Thanks for your help.
 
It's more likely a coincidence that they happened to switch behaviors around the same time. The corn snake may be in breeding mode. Typically males are more known for erratic pacing, but females have been known to do so as well.
 
I'm so sorry the milk snake died. Snakes are very sensitive to changes and have a keen sense of smell. It's possible that the corn snake was agitated by the situation. I don't know but there is no reason to believe the corn snake couldn't sense the death. No one can say for sure one way or the other.

I'm glad you enjoy the snakes. Welcome :wavey:
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top