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Agressive 3yr Female

mynee

mynee

New member
I just acquired a couple of corns (a 3-4 year old male Okeetee and a rougly 3 year old female Motley Sunglow) yesterday from a private collection. The male is quite tame and doesn't mind being held, even though he's getting close to shedding. The female, however, is quite agressive and will attempt to strike anytime she has the opportunity. Before the idea that she may be nervous in her new environment crops up- I observed her agressive behavior in her old home. She's a very attractive snake and I would love to be able to remove her from her tank and show her to herp-enthusiast friends in the future. Not to mention that I really enjoy handling my snakes on a regular basis just for fun.

The snake goes into offensive as soon as the lid is taken off her tank. She coils into the nearest corner and strikes repeatedly. She also does a very threatening impression of a rattlesnake (vibrates her tail-tip at lightspeed).

Is there anything I can do to help her become more easy to handle? I've had a "striker" before, but he was just an over-excited baby and eventually grew out of it (he was my first corn, and we both seemed to learn a lot from each other).

Thanks a bunch for any and all tips!
 
I have a few bitey colubrids. No amount of handling will ever change the incorrigibles, but take them off of heat for an hour before pulling them out in front of people and that will lessen the chance of a bite. In time, you'll probably appreciate those with some attitude! They at least stand out from the rest. I will say that in my experience, you seem to get a higher percentage of nervous progeny from a nervous parent, so I only breed those if they are valuable enough to warrant passing on such a trait.
 
For the most part, corns are very docile little creatures. Unfortunately, once in a while you will get one that isn't. I have a little ziggy girl that we have affectionately named Hatelyn, because I swear, if she could get out of her tub, she would probably try to kill us, in our sleep. None the less, we still love her.

At that age, there isn't a whole lot you are going to do to break her of this. You may be able to mellow her down a little with frequent handling sessions, but I wouldn't count on it. They are pretty set in their ways by now.

As elrojo mention, this can be an inherited trait and it's up to you if you want to breed him. His offspring may or may not carry this trait, it's a 50/50 chance or he just may not like to be bothered.

Sorry I don't have a whole lot better news for you!

Good Luck,

Wayne
 
It happens sometimes. Just like there are some puppy-dog tame specimens of the most hateful species... There are always hateful specimens of a puppy-dog tame species. You can try to tame her down with frequent, gentle handling, but she could very well just be a bitey snake.

The biters can be irresistible, though. For the last two weeks, I've been wanting to go back to Petco to buy a ridiculously mean '08 amel. We were there while an employee was removing all of the snakes to feed, and the little bugger kept attacking her... Lol!
 
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