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Corn thinks she's a rattle snake

K

kylesdad77

Animal lover
So....new snake owner here. My little corn has been fine with being picked up and handled. Today when I went to pick her up....I was touching her belly to let her know I was there (as usual) and she started to rattle her tail. This is the first time I've seen her do it. She hasn't tried to bite or strike yet.
When she rattles her tail, do I still get her out or leave her alone?
Thanks!
 
Is she in blue? I have one who rattles her tail every time i open her tank. but is just fine once i get her out. I had one of my other females buzz and hiss at me the other day when i was changer her water but she was in total blue and couldn't see. So i don't blame her.
 
Generally it's them acting tough, trying to scare away something that's scaring them

Whether you leave her alone or not does depend on whether she's shedding or not, as khaleah says. If she's shedding, then she won't be able to see properly (they shed the scales over their eyes) and are usually much more nervous. The best thing is to keep handling to a minimum until the shed is complete, to prevent unnecessary stress.

If she's not shedding, then she needs to learn that you're always safe. Maybe something was a bit different about the way you went to pick her up and she was just spooked. In this situation, it's advisable to gently pick her up anyway. It's part of her learning process to understand that you won't hurt her.
 
No, not yet. I think she is just getting used to me. I'm getting to know her as well. Lol. I gave her a few minutes then just picked her up and she was fine.
 
Get her out! All snakes rattle when they are nervous . If you don't handle her when she rattles, she will quickly learn to rattle anytime she don't want to be bothered. She will become less nervous and more confident with maturity and with more gentle handling sessions .

Mitch
 
Thank you everyone. Such great responses!! She is so adorable that I can't help but hold her.
Another noob ? Is it ok to hold her a few times a day?
 
Since you've only had the snake a short time, I wouldn't get too crazy with a lot of handling till she is a little more settled in. After that, knock yourself out. Just remember to not handle her for a couple of days after meals. I try to avoid handling a snake in a shed cycle also .

Mitch
 
bitsy said:
Generally it's them acting tough, trying to scare away something that's scaring them

Whether you leave her alone or not does depend on whether she's shedding or not, as khaleah says. If she's shedding, then she won't be able to see properly (they shed the scales over their eyes) and are usually much more nervous. The best thing is to keep handling to a minimum until the shed is complete, to prevent unnecessary stress.

If she's not shedding, then she needs to learn that you're always safe. Maybe something was a bit different about the way you went to pick her up and she was just spooked. In this situation, it's advisable to gently pick her up anyway. It's part of her learning process to understand that you won't hurt her.
Click to expand...

i wasn't trying to say that they should or shouldn't handle their snake with the tail rattle. I was just saying that mine do this as well was all. just that i have found that they do it more when in blue just because they can't see well was all. :D besides my one that gets startled all the time.
 
Not trying to high jack but while we are on the subject of hatching snakes being defensive has any ones snake flattens its head? Mine does it sometimes as if its trying to look like a venomous snake. Maybe to resemble a copperhead?
 
I was thinking about the rattling behaviour and why non-venomous snakes would do it.. I think it's probably decoy behaviour, trying to get the predator's to attack the tail rather than the head. It's more likely that decoy is the original function of tail rattling, so many species have it, and rattlesnakes have later evolved the ability to generate a warning sound.
 
Actually (this is one of the aspects of snake evolution I find the most fascinating!) before rattlesnakes had rattles, many snakes employed the fear-threat response of tail-rattling. As the vipers were evolving fangs and heat pits, they no longer needed to be slim athletic snakes and became heavy-bodied ambush predators. These snakes lived in places with cover- near water and in forests. They were unable to utilize the food supply out on the prairie because they had no defense against the huge herds of bison and were too heavy to escape quickly. Sure, they had venom, but it wasn't much of a defense if the snakes got trampled trying to use it. They solved this problem by developing a loose-fitting column of hollow scales at the tip of their tails. Predators and grazing mammals learned to stay clear. The effectiveness of this new defense is inferred by the presence of more than a dozen rattlesnake species in the western plains, while there are no rattleless pitvipers there. Unfortunately, in the last hundred years, this defense has been the downfall of the rattlesnakes, because a rattler that warns humans away is nearly always killed.

Paraphrased from Snakes of Florida by Alan Tennant

The snakes that use the tail for decoying have a yellow tail tip as hatchlings, which they will wiggle slowly.
 
Nanci said:
Actually (this is one of the aspects of snake evolution I find the most fascinating!) before rattlesnakes had rattles, many snakes employed the fear-threat response of tail-rattling. As the vipers were evolving fangs and heat pits, they no longer needed to be slim athletic snakes and became heavy-bodied ambush predators. These snakes lived in places with cover- near water and in forests. They were unable to utilize the food supply out on the prairie because they had no defense against the huge herds of bison and were too heavy to escape quickly. Sure, they had venom, but it wasn't much of a defense if the snakes got trampled trying to use it. They solved this problem by developing a loose-fitting column of hollow scales at the tip of their tails. Predators and grazing mammals learned to stay clear. The effectiveness of this new defense is inferred by the presence of more than a dozen rattlesnake species in the western plains, while there are no rattleless pitvipers there. Unfortunately, in the last hundred years, this defense has been the downfall of the rattlesnakes, because a rattler that warns humans away is nearly always killed.

Paraphrased from Snakes of Florida by Alan Tennant

The snakes that use the tail for decoying have a yellow tail tip as hatchlings, which they will wiggle slowly.
Click to expand...

That really is fascinating ^^
 
Our corn also does the flattened head when she's very stressed. First time she did it was during our follow up visit at the vet's & the vet touched her tail. When we put her in the basket to weigh her, she went straight away in a "I'm a viper, back off" head flattening & she held that pose every time someone tried to even look at her.
 
Nanci said:
The snakes that use the tail for decoying have a yellow tail tip as hatchlings, which they will wiggle slowly.
Click to expand...

Isn't that for using it as a lure for insect-feeders, though? I remember that some fish species actually have a tongue that's brightly colored and can be used for similar purposes. Tail rattling I'd see as a defensive decoy, as many predators are irritated by movement and jump at it.
 
proileri said:
Isn't that for using it as a lure for insect-feeders, though? I remember that some fish species actually have a tongue that's brightly colored and can be used for similar purposes. Tail rattling I'd see as a defensive decoy, as many predators are irritated by movement and jump at it.
Click to expand...

Well, I have read that young copperheads and cottonmouths use their yellow tail tips to lure in small prey, but they certainly don't eat insects!
 
Nanci said:
Well, I have read that young copperheads and cottonmouths use their yellow tail tips to lure in small prey, but they certainly don't eat insects!
Click to expand...

Yeah, that's what I ment, lure in small animals that eat insects - rodents, birds etc. Although I have undestood that most young snakes do eat pretty much anything small they can catch, from large bugs to lizards, frogs etc.
 
The most I've ever seen with any of my snakes has been the rattling tail and posing in a strike pose! Which is warning enough for me to leave a lone especially if in blue! If they are not then I always try to pick them up anyway, although sometimes they get the better of me and I leave them alone. I've only been actually bitten once by my male King snake Romeo just about 2 weeks ago when he was having a bad shed. I was trying to help him get some of the skin off and I think I just got a sensitive part when I was rubbing it off and he got agitated with me and bit the back of my wrist. Yeah, never have got actually bit by any of my corn snakes yet though :)
 
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