Suddenly Savage Svengali

[Lyreiania]

Hi everyone...
My snake is acting extremely unusual; hes become suddenly obnoxious, aggressive and downright hostile. Up until now he has been a sweet tempered, docile creature who seemed to enjoy handling, petting, and being outside slithering on the living room floor; he even had a TV appearance. Dog tame would be a good word to describe this snake who has been extremely and extensively well handled by me, whom I have had since 2006; purchased at the age of two years.

It began after May 18th, 2012, when his cagemate was removed from the 135 gallon terrarium they share because of an apparent skin disorder; that thread is in the health section. He was also fed that day and ate well (5 medium mice). On May 25, I tried to take him out for some quality snake time. And he savagely attacked me; he who has always been so sweet. It was not just a bite, he latched onto my hand and would not let go. I had to soak his head to get him to release. And he has been like this since. Fed again on 6/2/12, (he ate well) his eyes were very clouded over...he has not shed yet, its 6/6 as I write (lack of shedding is starting to concern me). I have tested him with padded sticks, (stroke his back with them) he has nastily bitten them each time. Even considering he is in shed, this is nastier than I have ever seen him, this even is beyond how nervous he was as a new acquisition all those years ago, until he settled.

The temperature in the cage is fine, he has a lovely basin to soak in if he wishes. Substrate is pine shavings. Cage size 135 gallon.

Could he "miss" his cagemate and be stressing at his absence? I know snakes are not supposed to care at all if they have company and some say snakes should be housed alone. But that is really the only change; Svengali attacked me well prior to the start of his shed cycle and hes never at all been aggressive during a shed cycle in the past. I remember how rapidly he tamed when he was past his isolation period in 2006 and was placed with his buddy.

Any thoughts here? Ideas?

 

[Lycari]

Pine shaving are considered hazardous, but I assume he has always been on pine, yes?

Aggressive behavior can be caused by heat spikes. Are you sure your temps are stable?

Does he have enough hiding places?

A "grab and hold" bite is a feeding response; defensive bite are very brief. Something made the snake think you were food. Depending on how you feed him, it really could be almost any similarity there might have been between your hand and a food item or between his situation then and a previous feeding situation.

Snake behavior is still poorly understood; however, corn snakes have not been shown to have any positive reactions to the presence of other snakes except at breeding season (unlike rattlesnakes, who display at least some level of social interaction, recognition of family members, and mother--young attraction on both sides). Even so, I believe on could make the argument that the removal of his cagemate changed the cage environment, and changing the cage environment causes stress. Perhaps it's no so much that he misses his cagemate as that he can smell the other snake, but can't figure out where he is? That would make anyone jumpy, I would think, like being deep in a cave or a dark forest and hearing a rattlesnake rattle or a branch break or a wolf howl. Or when a friend sneaks up behind you and says, "Boo!"