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Can a Corn Smell a King?

WolfKin

WolfKin

New member
Hey people! I've had a corn for about a year now, with a very calm normal demeanor. A month and a half ago I got a florida Kingsnake yearling. Since then, whenever the corn gets a whiff of the king, be it after handling, or if I feed the king first, he goes berzerk. He flails wildly, and tries to get away, like he's something I picked up in the woods.
Should I get another corn or ball python, in place of the king? Or would he smell them and freak out too? He used to be calm and friendly. What do I do?
 
I have the same issue. I handle the king LAST. Then my cornsnakes don't care. They do not seem to mind the king being in the same room, or since he is cohorted with other snakes from the same person, in the same stack of plastic tubs. It's just if I handle him and then don't change my shirt as well as wash, then handle one of the corns that they have a problem. So don't get rid of your king, just feed him last and handle him last of the day.
 
wstphal said:
I have the same issue. I handle the king LAST. Then my cornsnakes don't care.
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In which case the king is VERY happy to snack on your hands. Ha!

Just my experience, but our MBK is more likely to bite me if I've carelessly handled corns or other rats prior to handling her.

I say if you've got both, learn to wash your hands and forearms well in between handling. It's helpful in preventing bites and spazzy behavior and is also good hygiene.
 
Hypancistrus said:
In which case the king is VERY happy to snack on your hands. Ha!

Just my experience, but our MBK is more likely to bite me if I've carelessly handled corns or other rats prior to handling her.

I say if you've got both, learn to wash your hands and forearms well in between handling. It's helpful in preventing bites and spazzy behavior and is also good hygiene.
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Yep. But Benchley will snack on my fingers even if I have not handled human food, snake food, or snakes since taking a shower, so I've already learned to look at it as the price of owning him! LOL. I do wash my hands & forearms, but if his scent is on my tshirt some of my corns don't like it, and I am not willing to change shirts when he is co-isolated with the other snake that came from the same source (and same snake room) at the same time.
 
Hypancistrus said:
In which case the king is VERY happy to snack on your hands. Ha!

Just my experience, but our MBK is more likely to bite me if I've carelessly handled corns or other rats prior to handling her.

I say if you've got both, learn to wash your hands and forearms well in between handling. It's helpful in preventing bites and spazzy behavior and is also good hygiene.
Click to expand...

I was going to say the same thing.

You are supposed to wash your hands between cages/animals. That is correct husbandry . That is how you spread disease from one animal to the other if one happens to be sick.
 
Thanks guys! I was really hoping the king wouldn"t have to go. The corn's my baby, but I'm starting to get attached to the king too. Have a great night all!
 
I've asked about this before as well, because when I first brought my king snake home I noticed some behavioral changes in my corn, especially if I handled him before handling her (and yes, I wash my hands). She just seemed a bit more nervous and she's typically a very relaxed snake. After a month or so of having my king things seemed to return to normal, however.
 
Vinman said:
I was going to say the same thing.

You are supposed to wash your hands between cages/animals. That is correct husbandry . That is how you spread disease from one animal to the other if one happens to be sick.
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Yes. How much, though, do you think the t-shirt matters? I have 4 groupings, and I only handle one group a day. Within those groups, I wash my hands & arms between snakes but I don't change shirts and everybody except the 2010s are up on my shoulders or whatever. Think it's an issue?
 
wstphal said:
Yes. How much, though, do you think the t-shirt matters? I have 4 groupings, and I only handle one group a day. Within those groups, I wash my hands & arms between snakes but I don't change shirts and everybody except the 2010s are up on my shoulders or whatever. Think it's an issue?
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No sense to wash hands if that is the case unless you are touching crap. I use the old fold lock style baggies. It is the best way and it is cheap.


It can be if one of you animals contracts crypto or somthing which there is no cure for.. I know it happened to me many years ago when I had a huge collection with snakes bought form everyone under the sun. That is why I use plastic baggies on my hands and I do change them if I touch a animal. Only hatchlings and some animals I dont change baggies . that still leaves the door open for spreading something but I also breed them to each other and inter change partners different years. So you can say groups like yourself. Now if you are handling a MBK you are handling more that one type a snake a day too . I a GermoPhobe so I get a little anial
 
Thanks Vinnie! Sounds like I am probably doing OK. I try not to mix until the new acquisition has been here 3-4 months.
 
I just look out for everyone because I had crypto for 5 or 6 years before I new what it was . Vets were clueless in those day about herp illnesses. I dont handle my snakes any more because of that, it scared me for life.
 
I am not sure how I feel about preventing crypto. Having experienced it with my first hatchling, and seen the devestation it caused to that breeder and another fellow on here, I am not convinced that even Vinman's very conscientious steps do anything to slow its spread. It is a very strange disease, that spreads in seemingly impossible situations.

To me, it's kind of like protecting yourself from a smallpox outbreak or other terror attack. You do the best you can and try not to do stupid things (like put a new snake into your rack when it's not been QTed) but in the end, if the terrorists really want to kill you, they kill you, and there's not a whole lot you can do about that.
 
I did a a lot of research on crypto. I had the Gainsville animal veterinary collage, infectious disease dept working with my collection. Dr Griner heppled me out with this problem. Females that tested positive for crypto offspring tested negative . They euthanize the off spring and acid washed the stomic and intestines. They say it travels in the water supply which is unfiltered in NYC. My uncle works for the NYC water Dept and they have found live snapper turtles in the water main before. This may have been the source of my problem. I now use purified bottle water. I boil everything I can as far as tool/equipment and water dishes. It can spread in the air and can be passed from handling/cleaning cages. That is why it is better to use baggies because soap and water/disinfectant wont kill crypto . changing baggies between cages and changing them before you close the cage solves the problem of eggs or live pathogens on your hands. I raised some babied from my former collection with no problems. One thing did was to take the eggs once laid and let them dry out overnight then wash them in bottled water ( no soap ) and clean paper towels. When the hatchlings would slit the egg I would rip the slit to make a big slit, tap the egg on the bottom till the hatchling popped out its head change one of my gloves at ( that time I used latex gloves ). With the clean glove I would take the head of the snake and yank it out of the egg then put into a 1 gallon ziplock baggie fill it with air and a few drops of distilled water then let the animal absorb the egg sack. some times the did not absorbed the eggsack, most did. I then bought no new animals for a year. I bought all new cages and changed glove between cages. I went as far to put on a clean gloves open the cage did what I had to do then changed gloves before I closed the cage leaving the outside of the cage clean. I did this for about 3 to 4 years years any new animals were put in a separate room. To this day almost 20 years latter I still use baggies instead of gloves because it is cheaper. I still put new animals in another room and only enter their offspring into my main collection. I broke my rules in 09 and brought in one hatchling cal king from a friend who has a very clean collection You would think this animal was disease ridden the was I handle it . It has not even been put into my rack it is in a box off to the side. I also entered 2 animals from RZ one wild female (LTC ) het cinder and a male hypo het cinder they are both on the bottom of my rack and even if I touch the cage I change baggies. When I give water they get it last. their cages get cleaned last if all goes well I will use the male to a female from my collection to make PH cinders next year. This will be the last time I do that. I will stick by my rules being I had no problems with crypto for almost 20 years
 
Yup, I only have a jungle which isn't even pur king and mine go nuts if I handle him then them. I have to be very careful to not handle any corns the same DAY I handle my jungle because even with washing off they still smell him.
 
carnivorouszoo said:
Yup, I only have a jungle which isn't even pur king and mine go nuts if I handle him then them. I have to be very careful to not handle any corns the same DAY I handle my jungle because even with washing off they still smell him.
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I got a trick for you wash you hands with dish washing liquid then put about a table spoon of olive oil and Fresh lemon juice on your hands, Rub around your hands real good then wash the 2 times with dish washing liquid to get the oil off your hands. The lemon is a extra protection,but you don't have to use it it is the olive oil that is the main thing. You must dry your skin after every wash with a new clean paper towel. I don't know about if the snakes can smell it but it does the job for my nose. I showed to a friend one time when he got musked by his corn and we had no lemon and it worked . It got the smell off his skin.
 
Vinnie, the oil & lemon trick makes sense, both for deodorizing the hands as far as your nose can tell AND for the snakes! Things that are odorous are usually more soluble in oil or solvent (like alcohol) than they are in water, so the oil would blot up the smells, both the ones we can smell and the ones that only the snakes can detect. And that's why the oil is key, not the lemon (which I think just covers up odors in a pleasant natural way). Very neat trick!

I am so glad you mentioned that the crypto might have gotten into your collection from water! I never thought of that one at all. I wash my hands a lot & quarantine by rooms, but the water! Oh man I never thought of that. I will have to find out about my local water supply.

Oh, and do you know if bleach kills crypto?

Thanks so much for sharing your experience!
 
If I'm not mistaken the musk is a base and oily . the olive oil cuts the musk and the acid in the lemon neutralizes the base in the musk. Yes Lemon is a good deodorizer.. Freeze the peals of orange and lemons and use a old cooking pot you were going to replace. When you get enough skins simmer them in water under a very low flame and it will make your whole home smelling like citrus
 
wstphal said:
Oh, and do you know if bleach kills crypto?
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My vet told me that only pure, straight ammonia kills crypt, and only if it's left to sit on it for some time.

I have also read/heard that exposure to direct sunlight for a while kills crypt. Not sure if that is true. I threw away everything that the crypto hatchling touched.
 
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