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another newbie question

lolli

lolli

Lauryn
i'm getting very close to buying my first corn :crazy02: but i have a question about handling. I have held garter snakes before but never corns so my question is how quick are they? And also is it ok to allow a snake down onto say a sofa or a chair for a wander or should i always have a contact with the snake while it is out of it's viv? I know that the baby would need supervised but just wondered if it was ok for them to allowed to wander around furniture and things. Any opinions greatly appreciated :)
 
I can only speak from my own experience with my corn snake. Mine is only a little over 4 months. They are very fast. I have almost lost control of mine several times while handling, and came close to letting it get away from me. I would not let it wander around on furniture. It would be down inside the couch/chair in a flash. Then you would have hell trying to get it back out. Not only would that stress you out, it would stress out your snake. So in answer to your question, when handling, I would not let go of the snake for a second. Just my 2 cents. :cheers:
 
uh oh

wow! didn't realise that a baby would be that fast! :sidestep: thanks for letting me know, i hadn't really thought of the consequence of escaping inside the sofa as i had thought the baby corn would be catchable if heading that way. Well i will remember to always keep hold of baby whilst out and about! thanks again :)
 
Every corn is different. I held a hatchling that litterally jumped out of my hand. But my snake is usually pretty calm. Sometimes he just sits on my hand, other times he just picks a direction and constantly tries to go in that direction. Usually up my arm.

If you do let them climb on something, make sure there is nowhere they can get in and hide. They have a great instinct for finding the smallest nook or cranny and ducking down into it. And never ever ever take your eyes off the snake when its out of your hand.

One time my snake was sitting nice and still in my hand so I kind of zoned out, and next thing I knew he had made a slow-motion escape and was crawling on my pants. I didn't even feel it. They can be really sneaky.
 
good point!

I suppose it's the same with any animal really, a question of temprement. Think i'll have to see what the snake is like for a few weeks before i think about letting him/her go for a wander. Thanks :)
 
when they get older they'll calm down and wont try to run away, mine are 4 months old and have started to calm down ALOT already. But they're all different though :)
 
I put my hatchling amel on the bed and it was dead still i turned for a split sec looked back and he dropped of the end of the bed i ran round only to see him disapear under the bed i had to turn the bed over very carefully and go threw everything underneath i found him under a bit of tissue took ages i will never let him out of my hands again.
I also have a 7 year old normal and he can be left to slither around a bit she's not to fast unless she's grabing food, just if she gets her head in somewhere if she wants to she wont let go for a bit but not long
Hope this helps
 
Hello,

Yeah, you have to be careful with the little guys, they can be pretty fast, they are so small, they can get into anything! I would recommend hands only until they get some weight on them. I had a snake (save python-Levi), that was just sitting on a chair next to me, I looked away for a split second and all I saw was the tail vanishing into a tiny hole in the chair. No fun!! I got him out though, it took time but it happened. :headbang:

They will chill out eventually though, no worries, you will have a great time with your corn!! Post a bunch of pics when you get one!
 
Thanks all! I'll definately post pics of the little guy once he settles in. Going to visit them on Monday and pick one out. Any tips for picking out a good first time corn?
 
Well, I've only done it once, but I think I was successful. Here's what happened when I picked out my hatchling.

I held a few corns. As I said, one almost jumped out of my hand. I passed on that one.

Another was very nice and tame while I was holding it. Moved kinda fast, and you could tell it was trying to get away.

I picked up its brother and that snake was very calm and just kind of explored my hand and didn't try to even escape. That's the corn I kept and now he's turning out to be really laid back.

And obviously don't buy a snake that has nastyness coming out of its nose or anything. Look closely for little black mites both on the snake and on your hands. Make sure the snake moves around and doesn't appear half-dead or anything. And make sure there's no "kinks". One of the snakes I inspected had a small section near his tail was sorta flattened and sunken in. Looked like he had been pinched really bad.

And make sure to look at as many snakes as you can. Ask the breeder/owner how the snake has been feeding and all that stuff.

That's all I can think of.
 
thanks, i'll bear all of that in mind on monday. i've already decided that if i have any doubts about the snakes then i'll hold off buying one until i'm absolutely certain i know what i'm looking for :)
 
I was really lucky. My son gave me my snake for Mother's Day last year (go figure, I'd never asked for a snake in my life!) so I had no input at all. I was handed a small "critter carrier" from Petco and told, "Happy Mother's Day, Mom!" Luckily, my little sweetie is pretty calm. Once when she was about 5 or 6 months old I was sitting in my computer chair and I got a bit sleepy (Never hold your snake when you are tired!) and *poof* she was gone and under the desk! I had everyone in the house in a panic and she was under the drawer. Now she is about 13 months and much less in a hurry to lose me, in fact if I am on the bed I will let her down onto the mattress and she'll actually turn around and come back to me. It is amazing to me how much a person can come to love a snake for pete's sake! I cannot imagine my life without her. I want to find her a mate pretty soon although I think she has another year or so before she can mate. I am still learning! It is definitely an on-going process :)
 
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