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Aggressive baby bloodred

Paranoika

Paranoika

New member
I have 6 cornsnakes. Two adults (an anery female, and an amel male), and four "babies" ( a male snow, a male lavender, a female anery/ghost, and a female bloodred). Out of the babies, one was purchased at a pet store, while the other three I obtained at a local reptile show about a week ago. All of them are great pets, with no real problems. The one problem I do have, though, is with Kali, the bloodred. I have never seen such an aggressive cornsnake! She was fine at the show, a bit edgy, but I attributed that to the stress of being in a place like that. But now, every time we try to get her out to handle/feed/etc... she coils up, unhinges her jaw, and strikes continuously! I've never dealt with a cornsnake that did that! One of the reasons I love them so much is b/c of their temperament, so this "quirk" of hers is worrisome to me. Any suggestions? Will she get better with handling?
Any bit of advice will be extremely appreciated!
 
Assuming you gave her enough time to get used to her new viv, handle her as you would your others. She's obviously pretty scared of your huge ugly hand reaching in to grab her. If you put her down when she strikes, she'll learn that striking works and will continue. She will most likely settle down after some time.

I have an Okeetee who I appropriately named Kruella because of her aggression. She's now a sweetheart.

Suggestion, buy a small box of Junior Mints. Enjoy the mints, mmmm. Notch a small hole in one end and use it as her hide. She may be more calm being slid out into your hand then having it hover over her tiny little body.
 
In my somewhat limited experience, my Bloodred hatchlings are spazzier than any other. I've never had one downright mean and bitey, but as a general rule they are quicker to take a quick stab at an intruder (generally just nose bumps) and are flightier when handled. The stress of a new environment can definitely trigger behavior changes. Keep handling she should/may get better, may not. :shrugs: Marcel (if I recall correctly) has posted a thread or two about a gorgeous bloodred he has that tries to eat him every time he takes her out. :) No, seriously, tries to eat him!

D80
 
a gorgeous bloodred he has that tries to eat him every time he takes her out. No, seriously, tries to eat him!

Lol! That's funny! My older anery, Isis, once tried to swallow my finger. I thought it was funny so I decided to show my mom, who then proceeded to tell me that if I ever let her do that again, I would have to cut off my finger and let her have it!

As for Kali. She has a hidebox, and we never put her down when she strikes b/c we didn't want her to think that was a successful deterrent towards us. As if to prove this thread wrong, however, she has just allowed Chance to pick her up without striking, and is being a good girl for once! :D
She does flail like Cornelius, my older male amel. He's a bit of a spazz, but I think the fact that my little brother let him get out a few times and never handled him as much as I do led him to be less social than Isis, the anery we got at the same time (roughly around 2 yrs ago). Isis was mainly mine, while Cornelius was supposed to be his. But due to his neglect (he's only 11 and not very responsible), I took Cornelius from him.
Oops... sorry for the non-sequitor! Thanks for the replies!
 
don't know if this will help.... wash your hands really well and then pick him/her up. It may be something that it can smell, like another snake you just finished handling, or something else.
 
I was really nervous at first that my baby bloodred was going to be aggressive, just because it was my first snake. It all turned out to be fine in the end. You'd be surprised how fast snakes get acclimated to it's environment. In the wild it's always changing so he'll straighten himself out, I'm sure. Espeically if you're handling him regularly.

Does anyone know if some morphs are more aggressive by nature or is it just the environment their raised in, do you think?
 
Bloodred Dad! said:
Does anyone know if some morphs are more aggressive by nature or is it just the environment their raised in, do you think?
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I don't know, but I just did a search on this forum for "bloodred temperament" to see what came up because I just tried feeding my two new bloodreds (one is a hatchling, the other a yearling) and oy, I've never experienced such pure SASS! with corns before now! The hatchling male has rattled his tail at me non-stop and the yearling female just puffed up at me & tried to strike me. I gave them adequate settling-in time, I had used clean hands, I slid the female out of her hidey box (which happened to be the box that held my ovulation test sticks, not Junior Mints :p)...all before reading this thread! Oy oy oy. Is this going to be a fun time, raising these two...! :bang: Of all of my morphs (snow, anery, normal, amel, lavender, charcoal & now bloodred...), this level of sassiness is new to me...!

Well...the bright side: I certainly won't be bored with them, now will I? ;)

(By the way, I own *only* corn snakes, so I haven't experienced any other sassy snakes, so I only have corns to compare to, though I have definitely seen other snakes in action...!)
 
I just got a great pair of Bloodred Het P/S that hate me. But I've been told, repeatedly by the breeder that they will calm down and be "puppy dog" tame. Hah! I just fed the male, who really has taken a dislike to me, and I have 4 little snakey mouth prints on my right hand. Now granted that is less than last feeding four days ago, but at this rate I might just bleed to death before he's tame! LOL I must admit the female just rattles at me now which is an improvement. I like to look on the bright side, they have a great feeding response and they are still little. My adult bloods aren't as aggressive now so there is hope.:) I'll take these guys over my baby Sunkisseds. I have a clutch of 16 in the incubator and I'm not looking forward to those guys as babies.:eek1: Their parents were sheer piss and vinegar!
Terri
 
Terri, don't worry. The meanest hatchling I have EVER seen was an 06 granite. He was so nasty he frightened a prospective buyer. If I so much as entered the room he would strike the side of his cage trying to get me. He was awful!

I ended up keeping him and naming him "Syko". He is now the sweetest mellowest snake ever! I don't "need" him, as of now I have no mate for him, but I'm SO GLAD I kept him!
 
One of mine went aggressive for a little while (just an ordinary snow) and so I used a stick to pick her up, and proceeded to handle her for 5 minutes before putting her back. I did this every day, and now she's fine again.

My bloodred has two modes. He either is perfectly calm and wraps around my fingers in a way to make my entire hand useless, or he wants to see if he can fly. No aggression thank goodness.
 
Kali remains the most aggressive of all my snakes. Every time the lid comes off, her jaw's already unhinged and her body coiled. We try and handle her as often as possible, but it seems I can only handle her after my fiance has calmed her down. She's ok after she's been held for a bit, but if you put her down again, picking her back up is difficult. She's much less social than the others as well, and seems to hide more. I'm hoping that maybe when she gets bigger she'll feel more secure and become less bitey.
She does fit her name, though. The girl's got attitude. I think that's why she's one of my fiance's favorites. :)
 
My Granite and my Pewter are the sweetest of my bunch. The only real aggressive one I had was my Ultramel and her clutch mates were apparently really mellow, but she calmed down after a couple of months and is a sweetheart now. She's also the first to remind me that it's feeding time again :)
 
I really do love my bloodred. He's so sweet and good with children. He's never tried to strike me and was quickly adept in handling for the very first. He's a bit of a spaz sometimes when I first pick him up, but nothing other than that. No feeding problems. No shedding problems. No health problems. I'm very proud of him. I love that he has a slight "glitch" of spaz in his personality :)
 
Well, since I last posted, the hatchling bloodred is fine now...when startled, he'll rattle his tail, but that's it. He's become quite the doll, actually. :) As for the female, who is a yearling...Ohmigod! She just about startles the pants off of ME with her quick strikes & it *almost* sounds like she's hissing at me! She's very much in fight or flight mode, and I'm doing everything I can to help her out...somehow, I feel that it's going to take a loooooooooooooooooooooooot longer than a few weeks to calm this lady down! (Though I do hope that it's sooner than later!!!)
 
Its been my experience that some are sassy and some calm down. Ask Terri about the "mean as hell bloodred" female she got from me (Terri's name for her, not mine!). The male is pretty calm but the female tagged me every chance she got without fail. If I remember correctly, half the clutch had mom's temperament and half had dad's last year. Terri let me know how they are this year. Carol has a male fire from the clutch last year and he was a little testy with me but only bit 2 times. Not sure how he is for Carol.
 
norsmis said:
Its been my experience that some are sassy and some calm down. Ask Terri about the "mean as hell bloodred" female she got from me (Terri's name for her, not mine!).
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I certainly don't need my girl to get "mean as hell!" She's lunged at me, but she hasn't struck me...yet (*knocking on everything wooden around me!*). So...on the bright side of things: I'd rather her be sassy & lunging, I guess...than striking & drawing blood like mad. Oh, well...
 
in my opinion a lot of baby corns are like this. they feel vunerable when they are that small. first of all see if you can get it a smaller tank. she will feel safer in there. also make sure your hands are washed and thirdly dont flinch when she strikes. if shes a baby it wont hurt and she will soon relaise you dont want to hurt her
 
My little snappers are the ultramels, but they are het for blood, so who knows.

My regular bloods are some of my more mellow snakes period, though they are more amped for the escape when out. A little fast in the hand so to speak.

I don't worry about any of them, I think I just bought so many 07's that they just didn't get as much individual hindling time.
 
tom e said:
My little snappers are the ultramels, but they are het for blood, so who knows.

My regular bloods are some of my more mellow snakes period, though they are more amped for the escape when out. A little fast in the hand so to speak.

I don't worry about any of them, I think I just bought so many 07's that they just didn't get as much individual hindling time.
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LOL tom e... my ultramel is het for motley and charcoal... no blood in the mix, so think it may be the ultramel blood :)
 
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