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Corn snake still skiddish

A

Andry

New member
After 10 weeks of owning our corn snake who is like 11 months old, it is still skiddish. When going in the tank to hold it, it runs to hide. When putting him back after a feeding yesterday he rattled his tail a lot at my daughter. She was putting him back in and he slid out of his feeding container into the tank and gave her a good raddling. What does this mean? He's scared? He doesn't like to be held? I told her to start holding him at least 10 minutes a day from now one (of course after he's digested) because he is getting less accustom to us instead of more.
 
Be patient. Yearling snakes should be skittish! That behavior keeps them alive in the wild, and no reptile is domesticated. With some size, the snake will almost certainly calm down. Others may not agree, but I don't feel that feeding outside of the enclosure is helping matters, simply adding stress. Frequent handling will get them more accustomed to it, but I wouldn't "force handle" a panicky Pete. In all likelihood, it will come around. I've had only a rare few corns that were nervous adults, even among wild caught animals.
 
In addition to what the other person who replied said, snakes are often defensive and excitable during feeding time. For me, the sooner I pick up and am holding a skittish snake, the sooner it calms down. If you're acting afraid of a snake because it's vibrating its tail or striking, that only seems to encourage the snake to continue defensive behavior.
 
tspuckler said:
If you're acting afraid of a snake because it's vibrating its tail or striking, that only seems to encourage the snake to continue defensive behavior.
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From time to time I get a little tail rattle and it looks like hes going to strike (never been bit though) so I put on a glove to get him out then let him transition from the gloved hand to the other bare hand or onto my shoulders.. I just go slow with him and introduce my scent and hand to him before lifting him up and out.. Like TSPUCKLER said if they rattle and you back off, I think they kinda figure out that behavior works..
 
FWIW, you are going to hardly feel a young cornsnake bite! I'd forgo the glove. You just can't get a good grip on a small snake with any glove I've tried. Even adults don't really "hurt," though it takes some getting used to!
 
FWIW is an acronym for "For what it's worth."

You may have an adult, but the op doesn't.

Most adult corns aren't going to nail you if you reach in the enclosure and gently pick them up. As for "better" gloves, I'm just going to let that one be, rather than take the bait. If you choose to use gloves to handle juvenile cornsnakes, that's fine.
 
elrojo said:
...rather than take the bait..
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Im not trying to bait you into an argument here. Its just silly to pick everything apart... Furthermore saying you cant get a grip is absurd.. Whatever.. Do you feed your snake in its tank or place it in a different feeding bin? Damn near everyone puts there snake in another bin to feed to AVOID bites.. do you hold your mice and dangle it with your fingers because bites "just need some getting used to"? :twohammer
 
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