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Activities to develop trust? Tips to keep corn calm?

C

Callow Methuselah

New member
I watched a video a while back that suggested placing your snake in a tub of water, and then lowering your arm into the water so that it is the snake's only route out. In the demonstration, it seemed to work pretty well. Does anyone have any other advice on how to develop a trusting relationship with our slithering buddies? I don't collect snakes; just have one, and I like the idea of being able to handle it while it's calm and unafraid. Obviously, snakes don't necessarily enjoy being handled, but I want to make the experience less stressful for the little guy.
 
I like the idea of activities to make it feel safer around you but i hold mine a lot, maybe 2 hrs a day everyday i can (minus digestion days) and he is extremely calm. When i take him out of the cage, (he is generally curled up) i swoop in and pick him up but if for some reason i take too long cause he is in a tight coil and i can't get under him, he just slowly starts to slither away... when i have him in my hand, and he is about a foot away from my face, he'll stretch out as far as he can to get a closer look, sometimes touching my face... other times he just tries to go around my neck or down my shirt. My boy has never bit me, he has never even got into a defensive posture... It's truly amazing how calm snakes can be with enough handling (when i got him, he was small and flighty, always ready to run away lol)... he's a joy to handle and i'm getting another snake this weekend cause i obviously have too much time and not enough snakes lol
 
What I have done that worked was something I found online. Maybe here, maybe through Google. I honestly cannot remember.

First, wait till they are in their "normal" awake time. Evenings are great. I typically have been shooting for about 7:30 PM ish

Second, when you open their cage sit as low as possible and stick your hand in. If they run so be it. But don't grab yet. Count to as high as you are willing. I typically could stand about 250.

Third (hard part) wait on them They WILL realize you are not there to eat them and come out of where ever they went to hide. This took me 5 days of being patient. So it was a week as I didn't do this on feeding day or the day after. Once they come out THEN pick them up calmly yet quickly.

I did get musked the first few times I actually grabbed Freyja, but after about another week of giving her time with my hand just sitting there she actually climbs on my hand. If she feels like it. Sometimes she just sits there waiting till I pick her up then wraps around my hand and forearm.

I switched to this method after some rather rough tries that seemed to agitate her and honestly me. She is still young and not that big (was 12g just under a month ago) but is a very willing participant in being handled.
 
i would think regular handling is the best way. My butter motley is the tamest snake I have seen. I can go into his tank whenever, no matter what he's doing and he'll just look at me. Sometimes he gets a little hyper when I first pull him out, but if he does, he calms down within a minute or 2. I could probably inflate him like a balloon and twist him into a balloon animal and he probably just look at me like I'm a goober.
 
Scrufdog said:
i would think regular handling is the best way. My butter motley is the tamest snake I have seen. I can go into his tank whenever, no matter what he's doing and he'll just look at me. Sometimes he gets a little hyper when I first pull him out, but if he does, he calms down within a minute or 2. I could probably inflate him like a balloon and twist him into a balloon animal and he probably just look at me like I'm a goober.
Click to expand...

Exactly what mine does, he could care less what i do with him... I could throw him in the air and catch him with one hand and i don't think he'd really care lol

But i love the fact that he's calm like this, they are hyper when they're young so it's a nice change of pace
 
The "hand in the tank" exercise is interesting. I'll have to try that sometime.


As far as "regular handling"--I don't have 2 hours a day to play with my little guy. It probably varies from corn to corn, but how long of a handling session, and how many sessions per week would be needed? (In your experience.)
 
I got mine tamed down by just handling by in the beginning just handle him 2 minutes a day and now 10 minutes a day. Not handling on the days after feeding naturally..
 
I'm no expert, but I handle Sienna about 30 or so minutes every day that she is not digesting. I notice that, after three days of not being handled, she is a little more nervous than normal. But the second day she calms down. I think regular handling is the key. At least, I'm hoping that will help her eventually be as calm as Scrufdog's snake. :)
 
Yep the bathtub or large sink water technique (fill it up good so it makes them have to swim to try and get out) can work wonders!! Especially on aggressive snake or even lizards too. I mellowed out a crazy mean Burmese python years back by doing this as well as countless Gopher and King snakes I used to catch around my house. Same with a whole bunch of Alligator lizards I had. The water takes their mind off of wanting to bite you and they almost come to see you as a safe haven to get out of the water with. A few times doing that routine and I always had new pals that were happy to let me handle them for good!
 
My okeetee (5 months old today) is very friendly already. Unless he is sleeping he'll come to my hand everytime I stick it in his tank. I put it about 6" up the side of the tank and he climbs right up.
My Amel (4 months old), is more the norm. Find him and lift him up. A little nervous at first, but quickly settles down. It took him a few weeks to move around his tank while people watched. As soon as he saw you, he'd slowly slither into one of his hides.

My okeetee when I'm reclined back in the Lazyboy will go from my hand, up my shirt everytime, crawl in through the neck and curl up on my sternum and sleep till I move him.

Since I work from home, I have them out quite abit which really helps. The more you handle, the more use they get.
 
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