Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Does anyone know what would make a usually docile corn turn aggressive overnight?

Overheating, hunger, preshedding, and fear.
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phflame
kingsnake.com host

overheating... dont think so, temps look to be within one degree of normal

hunger... he ate last night

pre-shed... possibly... seems to be most logical of all of these reasons

fear... he has not seemed to be fearful of me before, but who knows.

Thanks!
Jason

I have never seen this snake so aggresive. None of the other snakes i have owned (corn, longnose) have ever acted that way. I put my hand in the cage, he sniffed it, and started shaking his tail like a rattlesnake! He struck at me a good 4 times. I then washed my hands, and tried again, and he is back to his normal calm self. I did however just finish washing the dinner dishes, wonder if that could have anything to do with it...

I just took him out of his cage and he is completely normal again. Thanks to all for looking at this. I am still fairly new to corn snakes, and obviously have alot to learn.

Yes!,......I was just getting ready to add one more possibility to the previous suggestions,........scent!!....I have seen similar behavior in snakes that were normally "ultra-tame", and would suddenly "freak-out" from what seemed absolutely nothing. There are definitely some scents that are capable of sending a snake "over the edge"!! that we humans are totally unaware of......One in particular comes to mind.....I was holding a Honduran Milksnake a few years back, and he was calm as could be, as soon as he got to a certain spot on my arm, he "jumped out of his skin" in panic!!! it was like he got an electrical shock!, he was totally flipped-out! musking and all!. I tried to calm him as much as possible so I could put him back in his cage.....I pondered for a few minutes about what could have made him "flip-out" like that.............then I remembered, a couple hours prior to that, I was holding one of my Kingsnakes for some reason or the other. He was literally frightened for his life!!and thought he was going to be eaten!!!.................Doug
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Better to be silent and thought a fool, than to open mouth and remove any doubt!

Yes scenting can be chalked up for this one. This will be a lesson in always washing your hands, and arms between snakes and between tasks. But good knowledge! We sould all do this. I dont either so I am probably one of the worst about it.

Another testimony to how sensitive snakes can be to scent: My corn is ultra-docile. The ONE time he broke character, I was changing his water bowl. When I reached in the cage ne coiled, shook tail and made as if to strike. I was baffled until I later realized that an hour or two before I had changed bait in an empty mousetrap in the pantry . . .