Corn snake questions

[wollywoo]

I have had my little corn snake for a while and it was a bad choice for a first snake. Corn snakes are usually placid little things, but mine didnt read that part, it tends to prefer being very left alone. It's still quite young so heres my question. I have very little snake experince, this was my first, so I have sometimes wondered whether if I gave it to a more experinced person, maybe they could bring it round? It's tried to bite me while being handled before, wasn't hungry and I didnt move quick and I was being gentle. But it has never seemed to enjoy being handled, always tried to hide, so is it just one that doesnt like being touched? It will take a pinkie (pre killed) from tongs and doesnt strike at me when he watches me from his viv.
I could just be thinking far too much, wouldnt be the first time, but I just want whats best for the little guy. Any input would be very helpful!

 

[Mushroom Spore]

Some individual snakes don't ever seem to like being handled, it's true, but I wouldn't surrender it to someone else just yet. Very young snakes tend to be more afraid of things BECAUSE they're still young and small and feel very edible.

Especially since it's small enough that it can't really do any damage, I'd keep trying. No handling before/on/the day after feeding day, and then maybe no more frequently than once every other day at most. You want to handle it often enough to try and make your point, but every day might be too much. Even if only for a few minutes (I wouldn't go over ten minutes at a time for a while), just see if you can build your animal's tolerance a little.

Also don't ever put the snake away if it bites you, or it'll learn that biting will chase the big scary predator away. Keep it out until it settles down if that happens. The snake won't like it, but the "don't let biting get them what they want" rule holds true for most animals, so it should hopefully work here.

You may not be able to make this one cuddly, but maybe you can at least get it to calm down a little by the time it's grown and feels more confident. If not, well, I guess you can invest in a snake hook and make it a display-only setup. Corn snakes that can't be handled will probably be hard to sell, and I doubt a breeder will want it either, but there's nothing wrong with display pets.