New Corn Snake, HELP

[JBoyer]

Ok. I got a normal corn, he is about 14 inches and very nippy. He gets into a threat posture as soon as he realizes you are near. I handled him before I bought him and he bit me, which was no big deal, he needed to be fed, so we fed him and today he is still nippy. I think he was not handled much. SO what do I need to do to tame him down?
Thanks,
Jennifer

 

[Bry]

He is probably just nervous. Remember, he is still very small. At that size, corns are prey to just about anything, so they have to be defensive for the sake of their lives. Unfortunately, he doesn't realize that you have no intent to harm him. Does he have adequate hiding spots? Maybe a substrate such as aspen to burrow in, this doubles as a hiding spot as well. Wait 2 days after each feeding, then handle him maybe a one or two times a week. Let him bite you as you pick him up, you have probably already noticed that there is virtually no pain, and a baby corn cannot break human skin, no matter how hard they may try. He will eventually get the message that no matter how much he bites it's not going to scare you away, and he may also learn that you're not going to hurt him. Not every snake gets this, however many snakes do calm down with age, and that's probably the case here. After all, I've never seen an aggressive corn snake...but that's not to say they don't exist. Best of luck! Just be patient with him.

 

[JBoyer]

Thanks Bry- This morning I handled him and he did well, he bit me about 20 times but after awhile he settled down and was happy to explore my hands. I think he will come around, I plan to be patient and handle him often so he realizes I won't hurt him. I have read lots about how often they should be fed at this small size, everything from every day to once per week. What would you suggest?

Thanks,
Jennifer

 

[JBoyer]

And He does have a hide on each side of the tank as well as bark to burrow in.

 

[Bry]

Also, you say you just got him. Give him at least a week to acclimate to new surroundings before you try doing anything with him. This may be why he's acting a little feisty with you.

 

[JBoyer]

He is doing much better, I have handled him for about 10 minutes each day and he has gone from striking at me 10-15 times per session to just 3 times right after i picked him up today, si I think we are making progress! I also think the person I got him from was seriously underfeeding him. She said she was giving him one pinky per week. What is your opinion on that one? I have given him a pinky each day for 3 days in a row and his fiestyness has decreased each day. Do you think it has anything to do with being hungry?
Thanks,
Jennifer

 

[Bry]

Actually, you're feeding him a bit much. Their metabolism is quite slow. Feeding too much can cause irreparable damage in the long run. Just because he will keep eating doesn't mean it's okay to keep feeding him. Snakes are opportunistic and will grab food every chance they can get just in case of a "food drought" in the future, just like T's do. I wouldn't feed any more frequently than every 5-7 days.

 

[Mister Internet]

Snakes don't have a terribly imprinted memory in my experience either... I got tired of being nipped by my corn as a hatchling, and just let him be until he got to about 24" ... never nipped me since. They have an instinctual reaction to just about any external stimulus when they are that small... the reason he got more sluggish or less nippy is likely because he was so full of food. It's never good to handle snakes for at least two or three days after they eat either, especially colubirds, as they have slower metabolisms than boids. Feeding a snake every day like that will grind their activity level to a halt as they try to recuperate and digest.

One pinky or peach fuzzy every 5-7 days as Bry mentioned is plenty of food for a hatchling... they do need to be fed regularly, as they can die of starvation much faster than an adult, but certainly once a week on a regular schedule is fine.

I highly recommend you purchase the Corn Snake Manual by Kathy Love... you can find it at www.corn-utopia.com ...

 

[Bry]

especially colubirds, as they have slower metabolisms than boids

Actually, you've got it the other way around. Colubrids have much faster metabolisms than boids. I find myself cleaning wastes out of my colubrid enclosures much more frequently than my boid enclosures. Sometimes as much as 2-3 times a week, whereas with boids I can clean their cages once every week or two. Then again my snakes actually seem to prefer dirty cages. No matter how much I clean, they always find it somewhere in their reserves to s*** up the cage within 5 minutes of putting them back in their nice clean cages.

If you don't believe me about colubrids having faster metabolisms than boids, then you can take care of my Spilotes for a week or two.

 

[Mister Internet]

If you don't believe me about colubrids having faster metabolisms than boids, then you can take care of my Spilotes for a week or two.

You suck, they're next on my list...

I did get it mixed around, sorry... I was reading and replying here and at a reptile forum for something else, and that combined with a lack of coffee cause me to talk out of my ass for a second. I also may have been thinking about Elaphe in particular, because you're correct on Spilotes and the asian rats... but IME, North American rats are rather slow... my Okeetee corn takes up to 4 days to pass mice.... perfectly normally, too, so there's nothing wrong... just slow. I don't know that there's necessarily a good way to measure whether a cetain genus is "slower" than another, because it's fairly temperature and prey size dependant anyway... I give up...

 

[Bry]

That's true also...I'm just going with my own experience here. From what I've observed in snakes that have similar setups and similar-sized prey items. They may be slower than Spilotes or the other Asian rats, but even my Pantherophis (the snakes formerly known as Elaphe) will drop a load long before any of my boids do. Hehe...

On that note....you know you want a Spilotes.

 

[Mister Internet]

but even my Pantherophis (the snakes formerly known as Elaphe) will drop a load long before any of my boids do. Hehe...

On that note....you know you want a Spilotes.

Yeah I do, right after my Eastern Indigo... if I can track down a breeder that didn't get skunked this year... been a bad year for indigos.

And I wish I could remember that friggin genus change before my fingers automatically typed it next... too ingrained....