Reptile & Amphibian Forums

i yesterday i got a bloodred baby corn snake..... i was wondering why he always trys to bite me when they arent suppose to? please help

if you only got him yesterday then he needs to be left alone for a while! i was told to keep them in their tank for a week before really messin with them!!

YEP! i totally agree, the snake has probably been stressed out in a store being handled glass tapped on etc, beside if you have it in an acquarium it's freaking out, your sooooo big and gonna eat it, leave it alone allow it to get use to it's new environment, the same goes for after eating, leave them be for a few days before handling. If you follow these rules, and it still tries to bite is it a WC? I have my Boa that hisses when in a cage, i now have her in a shoe box with a towel and I can go get her and she won't so much as hiss, but it's hard to put her back, as she want out all the time lol try that if the problem persists. Small hides also are good, they will get into the smallest spaces imagineable also especially after a meal when their energy level is low and they are vunerable.
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My roomates are 1BP,1BCI2corns,Rotti,3cats,desert scorpions, and snake food AKA the food chain. See my kids at: http://community.webshots.com/user/diggy415

ok i will do so but in a week i have to feed him so this coming monday i need to feed him.

to try to defend themselves from all of us giant predators, then they would have become extinct long before we ever got to find out how great they are, lol! Although they have been selectively bred for many generations, their domesticity can't compare to the generations of domestic cats and dogs. Although some babies are naturally tame, most have to be shown that we won't eat them, and you do this by small amounts of gentle handling over a period of several weeks until the baby is convinced it does no good to strike, bite, etc.

Try to put yourself in its place - imagine being the size of a baby corn and imagine something your size picking you up. Wouldn't you assume you were about to become dinner?

Good luck!

But they hardly ever actually bite. However, even if they do, it DOES NOT hurt, so don't be scared. If the baby bites, just let it; don't jerk your hand away, or you're liable to rip out some of its teeth.

As to leaving a new corn alone for a week, I can't say I would recommend that. Allowing it a day or two to calm down from shipping is fine, but I handle mine all the time as soon as possible. I have never had any difficulty in doing this, and I had about 150 corns pass through my hands last year.

The thing is that leaving the corn alone when it strikes is merely giving it positive reinforcement for its unwanted behavior. It is striking to be left alone, so when you do ... it worked! I would recommend that you try to handle your baby every day for about 15 - 20 minutes (yes, even the day after it feeds). Don't jostle it around too much. Just let it know that you are not going to eat it.

If your snake is particularly jumpy (they're all individuals with wierd ticks to one degree or another), then you can take a tee-shirt that you've worn for a day or so, and place it in your snake's vivarium. Not only will the snake enjoy crawling through all the folds, it will also associate your body smell with a sense of security. It really works, so you might want to give it a try.

All in all, though, there is simply no substitute for daily handling of your snake to calm it down. Don't let its attitude today cause a bigger behavioral problem for later, when its bite will draw blood.

Good luck!
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Darin Chappell
Hillbilly Herps
PO Box 254
Rogersville, MO 65742

they always eat.I have never owned a mean snake that wasnt a good feeder.I bet when you throw a pink in it's gonna be eaten fast.I have a female hypo that I named the Mamba.She is almost impossible to handle without me being bit or me crushing her to death because she is so squirmy to handle.She is also a very
aggressive feeder.I have to spray her with a water bottle to calm her down or she will fly out the top of the screen at me.Im not starving her by any means.She would eat till she explodes.I doubt a 10 milligram valium would phase her but she is my favorite corn.

I swear Im dropping down the evolutionary chain.Pretty soon I will answer only with grunts and ball scratching gestures.