Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have good news and a couple of questions.

For those that haven't read my previous posts - we took in an adult hypo corn snake who was being mistreated.

The good news is the new corn ate willingly and happily. She did not strike at the frozen/thawed mouse, but did start eating it right away.

She pulled the mouse into her hide and I think the mouse was a little too big (I only had access to medium mice frozen on such short notice) so I picked up the hide to make sure she could get the mouse down. She did – no problem – but shook her tail at me (more like rattled) when I picked up the hide. She was halfway down the mouse, so I imagine she felt very vulnerable.

Is this normal?

Should I worry that she rattled her tail – I have never had a snake do that before – but I also leave them alone usually when eating. I haven’t handled him/her in 3 days since I got him/her and cleaned up her poop. She didn’t strike or anything when I put the hide back, but she did rattle her tail again. When I got her she was cold as anything and was very tame. I guess what I am asking is does this mean now that she’s warm and secure that she may get aggressive – or is that unlikely?

Second of all – is it okay that she didn’t strike at the mouse? She used to be fed frozen, but was switched over to live about a year ago – from what I am told. She ate no problem – isn’t that what matters?

Thank you all.

David

P.S. My Fiancé wants to give her to someone at work, but I kind of like her now. I don’t know what we are going to do.

My young snakes often vibrate their tails as a defense, I think they are just insecure, and ususally time and good sense in handling them helps them relax. As far as not striking at the mouse, I usually hang onto the f/t mouse with my feeding tongs, and when the snake grabs it I'll hang on and jiggle the mouse a little as if it was resisting. This makes the snake latch on and constrict, thinking it's killing the mouse. Makes for a nice strong feeding response! Make sure you use tongs though, not bare hands when feeding, so they don't associate your hand with food!!!
Enjoy the snake! I always feel so much better once they eat!
Beth

she was rattling her tail because to her, we're giant predators and she's eating. When a snake eats it's at its most vulnerable point. If a predator comes along while the snake is eating, it's pretty much at it's mercy. So she thought hey let me sound like one of the meaner snakes on the planet and scare this big predator away. SO no worries, she's normal.

Yeah, she rattled her tail cause she may have felt at that time irritated or scared or a little bit of both. I also feel that when our snakes are eating, they are also very excited, so the rattling of the tail is just them expressing how they are feeling, perhaps to say, " put the hidebox back down, you are bugging me!! " or " don't bother me now!! " It is perfectly normal and nothing to worry at all about.

Also, each snake is an individual. Some may strike at their food while others may not. I actually do not have one snake in my collection that will strike at their food when I place it in their cages but they simply just go over and start eating it. Some will constrict it, while others just start swallowing. If your snake does not strike at the food, again, nothing to worry about. The fact she ate is what really matters.

Very cool that you took this snake in!
-----
Genesis 1:1

ive noticed mine constricts it like he's got a live one. It's neat to watch and i never worry to much becasue he's got a great feeding response, has never refused a meal yet **knock on wood** its just funny how he thinks its alive and if i lock the cage while he's constricting he'll constrict even tighter. Then other days, he'll just start chowing.