From what I can tell, cornsnakes can identify familiar people and can even have a preference for certain people over others. This works for both ends of the spectrum... I've seen corns decide they absolutely HATE one person, and are indifferent to others, and I've seen corns that love one person and think other people are just okay. The preferences are manifested in either preferring to hang out on one person over the other, or getting defensive/aggressive towards one person over others. Sometimes it's based on the snake's experience with that person... other times it seems to have no rationale.

A couple examples of oddities:
A friend of mine used to have a corn who would crawl into his shirt and bite his armpit all the time (never anywhere else, always the armpit). He sold it, and the new owner has no problems with the critter.

Another friend owns a corn who likes her well enough, but absolutely prefers to hang out on her husband, despite said husband being indifferent to the snake.

I also had a cornsnake who was so aggressive towards me that I had to handle him with gloves on. Given the opportunity, he would bite my hand and clamp on. He would also strike repeatedly at me through the plastic of his container if I walked by. I sold him, and the new owner has absolutely no problems with him.

The majority of my snakes behave more rationally, preferring familiar to unfamiliar.

-Kat
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This Space For Rent

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