Male corn gone crazy?

[Mister Internet]

Hey all,

I have a healthy, HUGE male Okee corn, Kathy Love stock, who i've owned since he was a neonate... he's about 4 years old.

So, recently I got quite a surprise when I removed him from his cage for handling... he hung out on my arm for a bit and then slowly slid his head along my arm. He stopped about halfway down my lower arm, turned his head to place his nose on my arm, and then slowly opened his mouth and started walking his jaws onto my arm as if it was a friggin thawed rat.

No malice, no defense... it wasn't a "strike" at all. He just seemed to think my arm was a tasty treat.

So I let him mellow for a couple of weeks, and tried it again. I even washed both arms up my shoulders in soap, twice, and then applied a liberal dose of Purell antibacterial gel. The only thing my arm smelled like was a hospital. Same exact result... nosed up to my arms, and just latched on and started chewing on my arms as if it was a thawed prey item.

So... anyone every seen this before? The only thing I can think of is that he hasn't eaten in about 6 weeks (new baby, life happens), but he has always had fresh water every three days. Just haven't had time to do the thaw process, yada yada. I've been doing this a long time, and I know a thinning snake... he has always been fed VERY well, and he is still quite stout. So please, no emotional thrashings about me abusing my snake, I'm not interested. What I *am* interested in is finding out if anyone else has had a male corn go kind of bonkers like this... if the consensus is that hunger might play a factor, then fine, but he's about as emaciated as Rosie O'Donnell at this point. Like I said, he isn't "attacking" my arm, he's just mouthing over it like it's a dead prey item that he wants to eat, but that he's aware he doesn't have to constrict.

Like I said... weird stuff. Thoughts?

 

[johnharper]

A few of my california kingsnakes are like that sometimes especially my lavender albinos I never know what to expect with them. Its probably a feeding response.

John

 

[Cirith Ungol]

Only one of my corns does that ON prey items, the other two strike, but nothing like that on me. It would be interesting to hear from you what he does a couple of days after you've fed him, if he still does the same.

 

[crpy]

I own several corns and yellow rats that I do presentations with. I have a corn that did the exact same thing at a show but it was on my hand up to my wrist, it is a male.
Interesting thing now that you made me think of it, I was handling the other corn and a yellow rat, one male( corn) the other female(yellow rat).



At the time I thought he just smelled something on me and wanted to eat, as you know rats snakes are piggies. I had a young one eat my entire finger in front of a customer.

This SLOW bite thing has happened in the past but not walking up the arm.

You must just taste like chicken

 

[Mister Internet]

Heh... well, he's getting fed tonight to rule out any "he's just hungry" issues. I have no idea why he would think I smell like prey even if he was STARVING, but hey, what do I know. When I'm starving, I don't eat my wife... we shall see.

 

[UrbanJungles]

Let's just say snakes operate on a more "primal" level when it comes to feeding.

What you describe is quite commonly referred to as "exploratory feeding" and it's no doubt a relic of fasting your snake. When some snakes are hungry they will "nose" up on something warm to see if it's edible...this usually happens in almost "slow motion" and is wierd to see. Your wrist gives off a fair amount of body heat and must have seemed overly attractive to your hungry snake.

Some rodents mask the scent of their young and this is how snakes Mostly colubrids) try to detect them, it's almost as if the snake is using some form of underdeveloped "heat pits" to track potential prey (a sense that is highly developed in more advanced boids and pitvipers). This is most common in pitupohis (bull/pine snakes) that routinely feed on entire litters underground but I've seen it in other colubrids as well.

feed him!

 

[crpy]

Let's just say snakes operate on a more "primal" level when it comes to feeding.

What you describe is quite commonly referred to as "exploratory feeding" and it's no doubt a relic of fasting your snake. When some snakes are hungry they will "nose" up on something warm to see if it's edible...this usually happens in almost "slow motion" and is wierd to see. Your wrist gives off a fair amount of body heat and must have seemed overly attractive to your hungry snake.

Some rodents mask the scent of their young and this is how snakes Mostly colubrids) try to detect them, it's almost as if the snake is using some form of underdeveloped "heat pits" to track potential prey (a sense that is highly developed in more advanced boids and pitvipers). This is most common in pitupohis (bull/pine snakes) that routinely feed on entire litters underground but I've seen it in other colubrids as well.

feed him!

Yeah thats it Mr. I , your snake thinks he a big retic,lol.

True though not many people consider colubrids having heat sensing ability but they do.

 

[reverendsterlin]

could be he's a horny boy, I've noticed some weird behavior with adult males that disappeared once they got some (until the next year lol). Just a thought.
Rev

 

[UrbanJungles]

could be he's a horny boy, I've noticed some weird behavior with adult males that disappeared once they got some (until the next year lol). Just a thought.
Rev

Then the issue would be with the other end of the snake....

 

[crpy]

Then the issue would be with the other end of the snake....

well actually, male pituophis bite the crap out of the female when mating, much like a cat.

 

[UrbanJungles]

well actually, male pituophis bite the crap out of the female when mating, much like a cat.

You're right, this description does make it sound like it could be a prelude to some snake lovin'. But the "walking" thing sounds like he had munchies. Could very easily be either one...who knows.

he hung out on my arm for a bit and then slowly slid his head along my arm. He stopped about halfway down my lower arm, turned his head to place his nose on my arm, and then slowly opened his mouth and started walking his jaws onto my arm as if it was a friggin thawed rat.

 

[crpy]

Alright so i think we can conclude....either he loves you, or , he thinks your a friggin rat

 

[UrbanJungles]

Maybe it's a combination of both, and his solitude has led him to explore some kinky avenues. Hope he calms down for ya.

 

[Mister Internet]

Well, I'm off to feed him now... we'll see what happens. Thanks for the input Danny, what you describe seems to fit...

I'll feed him for free, but if he needs loving, I'm sooooo charging him by the hour....

 

[pitbulllady]

I've had many snakes that did this, all of them males! When a big male Pituophis does this, trust me-you'll feel it! I've had several Black Rat Snakes that I couldn't hold at all during the breeding season because of this, and more than one Corn, too. Again, all of the culprits were males, so I've come to the conclusion that it's a hormonal thing. The behavior usually stops around mid-August, but Corns tend to breed for a longer period than other Colubrids, so you might see this until Fall.

pitbulllady