hexacolley
New member
My son (10yrs) was holding his snake, October last night, draped over his shoulders and apparently she very quickly looped across the front of his neck and actually tied herself into sort of a knot. My son didn't panic but came to me after a failed attempt to lift her tail and allow her to slide down his back. She tucked her tail into the knot and started to squeeze just a bit. He came to me and I could NOT find her tail or head at first. I finally found her head and tried to lift her but she tightened her grip around his neck and I admit I was beginning to freak out a little. My son's voice was different from the pressure but his breathing was normal if not rapid from the situation. He was crying and begging I not hurt her (which I was being incredibly careful not to do). I called for my older son and asked him to help me locate her tail because I knew I wouldn't be able to "untie" the end with her head. She started to squeeze harder, her body was triangle shaped and I tried to push my fingers between her and my kid's neck and it wasn't even remotely possible. At this point, her head is halfway down his back and I believe she was attempting to untie herself, so I let her go and she did slide off of him after another 15 seconds. Her behavior was fairly normal immediately after the incident.
She is 5ft long and after her adjustment period with us (where she was a bit shy), has been very easy to hold and does not attempt to get away when handled. My thoughts on what happened are simply to tell my son to keep his hand up by his shoulder when holding her like that in the case she does move to wrap around again -- he will be able to push her head back easily. I don't understand why she was tightening to begin with but afterwards, it seemed that the panicky atmosphere, though we did try to stay calm, made it a scary situation for her and she was panicking herself.
I wanted to post the story to see what more experienced corn snake owners might have to say. It's quite unnerving to have had this happen and I guess I'm looking for some reassurance. My son is not afraid to hold her - he believes she accidentally tied herself up and freaked out when he tried to remove her - so no fault of her own. Is that most probable in your opinions?
I very much appreciate your time and answers. Have a wonderful day.
She is 5ft long and after her adjustment period with us (where she was a bit shy), has been very easy to hold and does not attempt to get away when handled. My thoughts on what happened are simply to tell my son to keep his hand up by his shoulder when holding her like that in the case she does move to wrap around again -- he will be able to push her head back easily. I don't understand why she was tightening to begin with but afterwards, it seemed that the panicky atmosphere, though we did try to stay calm, made it a scary situation for her and she was panicking herself.
I wanted to post the story to see what more experienced corn snake owners might have to say. It's quite unnerving to have had this happen and I guess I'm looking for some reassurance. My son is not afraid to hold her - he believes she accidentally tied herself up and freaked out when he tried to remove her - so no fault of her own. Is that most probable in your opinions?
I very much appreciate your time and answers. Have a wonderful day.