aggressive corn

[Mushroom Spore]

I currently feed 5 small mice to my corn once a week or once every 2 weeks.

Wow. I've heard of people occasionally feeding *two* smaller prey items at a meal, but five? You definitely need to put some serious effort into getting single appropriate-sized prey items in there. Maybe skip feeding one week, then offer a single mouse one size category bigger than whatever you're feeding now. The next week, offer one bigger, etc. Snakes can handle lean times, and getting him nice and hungry should make it easier to train him onto bigger things. Be stubborn! I had to battle my ball python for months to get him from hopper mice to adults, a corn snake should be nothing.

The standard for proper prey size is about 1 or 1.5 times the girth of the snake at its fattest point. Multiple smaller items will have a poor ratio of meat to fur/bone/nails/indigestible stuff. Also, the work involved in getting five prey items through the eating process is probably a lot of wasted energy for the snake.

 

[ScorpDude]

BileDrunk it is an accepted fact that snakes can be and are conditioned to associate the opening of a vivarium door with feeding. Snakes have an (albeit limited) ability to learn and they will soon associate the opening of a vivarium with food. The reason your snakes don't bite is because you handle them, they know that the viv door opening doesn't mean food. Thats the key difference.

Regular (every other day) short ammounts of handling (5-10minutes) aswell as an established feeding routine will stop this snake striking. Also, wash your hands in water (no soap) before handling, this will mean your hands have little or no smell to stimulate any response.

 

[Gigas]

SHH scorpdude, to each his own, lets not make this into another angry thread

 

[ScorpDude]

SHH scorpdude, to each his own, lets not make this into another angry thread

I'm not causing an arguement, I'm just stating a fact

 

[Midnightrdr456]

I have 2 snakes at home that have eaten in the enclosures ONLY for 14 years and 6 or 8 years (honestly forget when i got the corn). And neither one of the associate opening the cage with feeding, when i open it they just sit there calming and i can pick them up with out an aggression whatsoever.

 

[Henry Kane]

BileDrunk it is an accepted fact that snakes can be and are conditioned to associate the opening of a vivarium door with feeding. Snakes have an (albeit limited) ability to learn and they will soon associate the opening of a vivarium with food. The reason your snakes don't bite is because you handle them, they know that the viv door opening doesn't mean food. Thats the key difference.

Regular (every other day) short ammounts of handling (5-10minutes) aswell as an established feeding routine will stop this snake striking. Also, wash your hands in water (no soap) before handling, this will mean your hands have little or no smell to stimulate any response.

Other than bad-attitude individuals or if the case should be that a snake's only human interaction is when fed,

I acknowledged these point in an earler post but it is a good point to reiterate. The key (as we've both commented) is when a snake is used to only being fed when it's enclosure is opened as opposed to it having a variety of interactions to associate with it's enclosure being opened. I should not have sounded too generalistic earlier.
I was reading up on it a bit and I can't speak from experience in the way of Boas and Pythons (Have only kept one...a Rock Python) but it seems that that behavior is most common among those snakes than in corns but this of course does not dismiss that it can happen with any individual specimen or species...without any other interaction than feeding.

Take care.

Gary

 

[Henry Kane]

SHH scorpdude, to each his own, lets not make this into another angry thread

I fail to see where the attempt at an angry thread was made in his post?? :? :?

If i experienced "this" and you experienced "that", then what other conclusion is there than "to each his own"? You, or an aquaintence of your's experience contradicts mine, contradicts the next guy's and so on. Nothing else to say unless we go the "You're lying!" "nuh uh!! You are!!!" route which is the repetitive "stupid arguement" I was talking about.

Take care.

Gary

 

[kerrybr]

Just IMO.......

I have a red rat snake for about 12 years. I got it VERY young. eed it frozen newborns that I had to slit skull to get her to eat them. Has been an exceptional snake- eats well, sheds well, and very docile. It is FAR better to feed smaller prey more often then to try to gorge them on large items. I believe this is one reason for mine great health. I keep her fed, but I doubt FULL!! As for the aggression, several years ago, I had put a hide box and newspaper in her enclosure. It would hide under the paper, vibrate its tail vigoriously and strike. I removed the hide box and paper. The threatening behavior stopped. I keep it in a neodesha without substrate. She has a water dish and that's it. i have kept that way for many years now and no more threats. Just FYI.
Kerry