Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi all,
I'm new here and I had a few questions. My roommate and I recently bought our first corn. I've always been a little skidish around snakes and yet always wanted one. Anyways we've had her for a couple of weeks now and I haven't held her yet. she has snipped at my roommate a couple of times but not actually bit her. I was wondering if there was any advice on how to go about holding her? Thanks for your thought.

some questions:

1. how old is this snake?
2. how did the striking happen? were you attempting to feed it?

some things to remember about handling:

1. do not handle when it is close to feeding time
2. do not lift up a hide which the snake is hiding in and then attempt to handle it
3. handle when the snake is out and about
4. do not be skiddish, be calm and deliberate with your movements
5. allow 24-48 hours after feeding before handling unless you want to be pooped on

i've always been told to be calm and deliberate with your movements. this meaning you cannot go in to grab it then back off, then go back, then back off. just GO. go fluidly and with a mission to get the snake and hold it. if you can't get that down, try placing you hand palm-up in the tank and let her crawl onto you, as if your hand was just another object in the tank. then, when there is a substantial amount of the snake on your hand, lift up. if the snake is young, most likely the snake won't strike because the most apparent part of you in the tank is going to be your forearm, which is much to big of a meal for a young snake and it will not be moving. striking is scary yes but remember also if it is a young snake, it probably will not even break your skin.

when holding, let her do what she wants. let your arms be branches basically and she will just go all over. the first few times she will probably be very active but with handling weekly she will begin to settle and just chill out on your arm. always make sure the middle 1/3 of the snake is supported.

hope this helps! pictures! welcome to the boards!

>>some questions:
>>
>>1. how old is this snake?
>>2. how did the striking happen? were you attempting to feed it?
>>
>>some things to remember about handling:
>>
>>1. do not handle when it is close to feeding time
>>2. do not lift up a hide which the snake is hiding in and then attempt to handle it
>>3. handle when the snake is out and about
>>4. do not be skiddish, be calm and deliberate with your movements
>>5. allow 24-48 hours after feeding before handling unless you want to be pooped on
>>
>>i've always been told to be calm and deliberate with your movements. this meaning you cannot go in to grab it then back off, then go back, then back off. just GO. go fluidly and with a mission to get the snake and hold it. if you can't get that down, try placing you hand palm-up in the tank and let her crawl onto you, as if your hand was just another object in the tank. then, when there is a substantial amount of the snake on your hand, lift up. if the snake is young, most likely the snake won't strike because the most apparent part of you in the tank is going to be your forearm, which is much to big of a meal for a young snake and it will not be moving. striking is scary yes but remember also if it is a young snake, it probably will not even break your skin.
>>
>>when holding, let her do what she wants. let your arms be branches basically and she will just go all over. the first few times she will probably be very active but with handling weekly she will begin to settle and just chill out on your arm. always make sure the middle 1/3 of the snake is supported.
>>
>>hope this helps! pictures! welcome to the boards!
>>
>>
>>

I agree with most of this but with some corns if you wait until they are out and about you will only handle them after midnight...lol
I think it is easier when you just lift thier hide and reach in and take them out.
The best thing to do is just reach in and pick the snake up.
Grab it gently about half way down the body and bring it out of the tank. Then let it crawl through both hands without restraining it. Hold it until it calms. As time goes by you will be able to hold it for longer periods of time and you will have a good idea how it will react and which is the best way to approach it.
Sometimes if you are not sure about its reaction, reach in with palm faceing the snake and put a little pressure on it before picking it up.
It is very hard for a corn to open wide enough to do any damage to the open palm.
I use that little trick at feeding time with a couple of my older snakes I feed in separate containers.
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Corn snakes and rat snakes..No one can have just one.
"Resistance is futile"
Jimmy Johnson
(Draybar)
Draybars Snakes

_____

the midnight thing is very true lol. but if it's hard to get over being skiddish i think that the snake will "take" better to being handled if he is not hiding. the best method for sure is to just do it!

hey thanks for the wonderful http://www.pethobbyist.com/myaccount/register.php?action=vfy&uid=124363&knum=1171010290advice. we're guessing shes maybe 4 months old or so. she's still fairly small. also the snip happened 3 days after she ate last. what happened was my roommate put her hand in the tank and made sure the snake saw her then she went to pick her up and she just snipped at her.I'm going to try again tonight, hopefully I'll be able to just go for it.
Justin

If you want to feel what it feels like when a snake that young bites, just feel the "hook" side of a velcro patch. Like others have said, it wont likely even break skin (or hurt).

Maybe the best thing to do is not worry and let it bite if it tries. Once you get bit, you will laugh and wonder what all that worrying was about. But only if it tries on its own, dont tease it.
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0.1 Amelanistic Corn
1.0 Pueblan Milk
0.1 Blair's Gray Banded King
0.1 Blonde Trans Pecos Rat
1.1 Silver Trans Pecos Rat
1.1 Variable King
0.1 Chihuahua Mtn. King
0.2 Kunasir Island Rat
0.1 Baird's Rat
0.1 White Oak Gray Rat
0.1 Everglades Rat

good luck let us know!

those lightweight latex gloves work great. It gives you confidence, and they are so lightweight that you have extreme flexibility. Remove the gloves when you have the snake in hand. After a few times, you won't need the gloves for your own confidence at all.
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phflame
kingsnake.com host

When I was new at this and didn't like the idea of getting snipped at, the latex gloves helped me tame my leucistic texas ratsnake. That's the only one of me 15 snakes that I ever used that method on, but it helped. I've also heard that they don't like the "taste" of the latex, and that also makes them less prone to biting. Duffy