Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have a young corn snake. Everytime I hold him (or her, not sure) he poops all over me! This has never happened with any other snake. And the people that sold him to me sold him for REAL cheap, so I'm guessing they had the same problem.
I'm thinking of getting rid of him, but I want to see if I can solve this problem first.
I dont even hold him for 5 minutes and he poops everywhere and I have to put him back in the cage.
He also goes in his cage, but not very much.
I've tried raising the temp. of the basking spot to around 90(thinking that its not hot enough for him to digest properly.) But he just stayed at the other side of the cage (as far away as possible) so i guess the temp. is fine at 85?
I have him in a 10 gallon.

Any suggestions/tips/help......
Please help before I decide to put an ad up for him.

Is it actually poop or does it have a strong skunkish smell?

I'm pretty sure its poop. Its runny, stinks, and reminds me of a load of bird crap.

Why does this happen? Is there anyway I can stop him from doing this? Do all snakes do this? Should I just sell him and buy another snake that most likely wont do this to me?

JeSsIcA

I'm betting he's just a little more nervous than most. He'll most likely outgrow it. I had the same problem & my little female outgrew it at about 6 months. If there's a lot of hell raising in the are, it would contribute a lot to the snake being like this. I think it's worth waiting & seeing. If you're worried it's got something wrong, a vet probably won't cost more than $50 or so to check it out.

Your snake is just musking. It is a way of detering predators because it smells so badly. And they are actually pretty accurate when they "throw" it. My MBK used to musk everytime. He grew out of it in about a month as I am sure yours will with regular handling.

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0.1 Snow Corn "Hope"
1.0 Ball Python "Wilson" (Castaway)
1. Orange Albino Black Ratsnake "Chunk" (Goonies)
.1 Orange Albino Black Ratsnake "Peaches"
0.0.1 Mexican Black Kingsnake "Onyx"
0.0.1 Black Ratsnake "Molly" (Flogging Molly)

As we say in Missouri, "I ain't goin back to Missouri!"

like the others have said it is probably just musking and with handling it should outgrow it. However, when the snake musks you should not put it up. That is teaching the snake that musking will get rid of you and the snake will continue. Handle the snake for at least an hour at a time very gently. Do this for several times a week skipping days of feeding and 2 days after that so you don't have to worry about regurging and you should have a calm snake in no time. I've done this with eastern coachwhips and they almost always calm down.
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Josh Hutto
JKReptiles

2.3 het pied (RDR, alan bosch x 2, BHB x 2)
1.0 Spider Ball python (Ballroom pythons south)
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1.1 het albino (ben siegel, Gulf Coast)
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1.6 05 normal bp's
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2.5 adult normal bp's (some need breeding to see if norm)
4 various corns
0.1 brazilian rainbow boa (alan bosch)
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a BAD dog is MADE not bred, support the American Pit Bull Terrior as the greatest breed of dogs on Earth!!!!!

I honestly don't think that you need to commit to handling the snake for AN HOUR at a time to calm it down. Regular handling (even 5 or 10 minutes at a time), YES...give it a day or two after meals, especially with a snake that is already defensive and nervous, DON'T put it down right away when it musks/poops on you, and if it IS pooping......Try handling it for just a few minutes, THEN putting it back in the cage for awhile. Handling a snake that is ready to poop often stimulates it to go. If I know that one of mine is "due" to poop...I will often handle it for a few minutes and then put it back in. It will often go within a very short time. With a young snake that may be eating and processing food more quickly, it might be ready to poop so often that every time you handle it ... BAM! Your snake will almost certainly outgrow this annoying habit. Don't be so quick to think about giving up on it. Give it a chance. And good luck. Duffy

This info's gonna help me on my handling too. Got a female corn from a reptile convention. Thought she was pretty and i wanted one. When i got her home, she was a little devil. Biting and musking. Thought some handling might help, but didn't know how much. No i know

and knowing is half the battle...
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2.0.0 Bearded Dragon
0.1.0 Okeetee Corn
0.2.0 Dwarf Hamsters
0.0.1 Rose Hair Tarantula
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