• 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.

So, how often do corn snakes bite?

Gralena

Gralena

Corn Snake Diva
Hi again....you guys are going to start getting tired of my questions, but I have snakes on the brain 24/7 right now. So, how often do corn snakes bite their owners? (or do they?) I have been told to feed in a separate container, but aside from this do they ever just strike and bite? Is this mainly when they are babies or have you been bitten by your adult corn? Thanks
 
I've been bitten by nervous babies but never by an adult. I've seen pictures of adults biting though. But, if you read about it they almost always are biting people that have been handling mice. :D
 
My two cornsnakes have never bitten me. Actually, of all my snakes, I _think_ the milksnake might have bitten me once the week I got her, because I felt a scratch, but I didn't see her do it. And my tri-color hoggy went through a phase of tasting me to see if I was food, but I started feeding him more and he stopped that.

There are several reasons to feed in a separate container. I don't buy the "your snake will think you are feeding it every time you open the viv" thing. I often handle with mouse-scented hands, giving them a ride to the feeding container, and no one has ever shown interest in biting.

Nanci
 
This is one of them "how long is a piece of string" questions. I will try answer.

Corns generally don’t bite people unless they are stressed out by things such as excessive handling, wrong temperatures etc. They are a little bit more aggressive when they are smaller but they do grow out of it quite quickly but they don’t hurt when they do bite.

When they bite, some will go into striking possession first to warn you. However some will just strike at you with no warning.

Best way to get them tame and not to bite is when they are small just let them bite if that’s what they want to do because they will soon realise you are not food, nor are you a big monster that is about to eat them.
 
My corns have never bit or even attempted to bite. My kingsnake has tried a couple times defensively when I first got him but he was so small barely even felt it happen. I was far more worried that he would hurt himself doing it than any worry about me being bitten.
 
I have handled lots of corns never been bitten by an adult....
But my 4 month old corn nipped at me for backing him into a corner, I guess I scared him...
 
I'm not exactly sure, but I think this little darling bit me 15 times last feeding.time, purely because he's defending himself from the big scary monster who's cooing over him, aka me! He settles down to a slower strike rate once I'm holding him. All my bitey babies have got used to handling over time (so far) so I'm expecting him to settle down eventually
 

Attachments

  • 28a.JPG
    28a.JPG
    26.3 KB · Views: 117
Thanks everyone. I figured as small as the hatchlings are that it doesn't hurt much, mainly was curious if my children were to handle the snake. (they are 12 and 6) My 12 yr old has held snakes and the corn is mainly for him. He would handle it fine. My 6 yr old won't be handling it much, except with complete supervision, but I know it would freak him out to be bit. :)
 
Had Damien a year now, not been bitten once, Sabrina my 5.5ft corn snake has bit me two times, both because she was probably scared, the first time I was checking her mouth to see if it was healthy, and second time was the otherday when she first went blue, she was nearly blind and I went in to change her water, both times she never even broke my skin, and shes like 5.5ft

I really would not worry, when people say the bites dont hurt, they are not being hard faced, they are actually telling the truth rofl :D

most snakes only bite if they are scared, or they are a baby, or if they are adults that have never been handled much,
if you never move fast around your snake or act nervous around your snake, and you handle him/her a lot, (s)he might never bite :)

I agree with the comment before though, its one of them (how long is a piece of string) questions :)
 
Gralena said:
Thanks everyone. I figured as small as the hatchlings are that it doesn't hurt much, mainly was curious if my children were to handle the snake. (they are 12 and 6) My 12 yr old has held snakes and the corn is mainly for him. He would handle it fine. My 6 yr old won't be handling it much, except with complete supervision, but I know it would freak him out to be bit. :)
Click to expand...
I've got one bitey fellow, and unless I actually see him strike me, I can't even feel it. More than anything else, it's the speed of the strike and the little puffy noise he makes (I'm guessing he's exhaling as he strikes) that is startling. The one time I actually felt his teeth, it was akin to being brushed with velcro. As someone else said, I'm more worried about him hurting himself than hurting me. As long as your children don't recoil or fling him (if he actually hangs on) everyone will be okay. Laugh it off so you kids think it's funny and not anything to worry about.
 
Mine have only bit me during feeding time when they missed the mouse and got me, or finished eating and went after me during the time im cleaning the tubs.
 
Nanci said:
My two cornsnakes have never bitten me. Actually, of all my snakes, I _think_ the milksnake might have bitten me once the week I got her, because I felt a scratch, but I didn't see her do it. And my tri-color hoggy went through a phase of tasting me to see if I was food, but I started feeding him more and he stopped that.

There are several reasons to feed in a separate container. I don't buy the "your snake will think you are feeding it every time you open the viv" thing. I often handle with mouse-scented hands, giving them a ride to the feeding container, and no one has ever shown interest in biting.

Nanci
Click to expand...

Ive wondered about that because I handle with mouse scented hands too but like you said its only the ride to the feeding container. I guess with a more aggressive snake it may not be a good idea but mine dont seem to notice or care.
 
None of my Corns bite.. I handle them 4 times a week each
for 20 min at a time & not had a problem..
The only times I've been bit were by my King..
 
Cerberus has never bitten me once and the only time he ever moved like he was going to was when he escaped. I coaxed him out of the wall he was hiding in with a mouse and suckered him into moving right into my hand. I think I startled him when I picked him up. :p He didn't actually bite me, though.

Since I only have the one snake, I can't say with any experience, but from the looks of things, it's very dependent on the personality of the snake. My corn is very, very mellow.
 
diamondlil said:
I'm not exactly sure, but I think this little darling bit me 15 times last feeding.time, purely because he's defending himself from the big scary monster who's cooing over him, aka me! He settles down to a slower strike rate once I'm holding him. All my bitey babies have got used to handling over time (so far) so I'm expecting him to settle down eventually
Click to expand...

Dont tell me your squeezing the snake in the picture O.O
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top