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Feeding aggressive corn snakes

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Icewind

New member
I have two corn snakes that are both a little over a year old. They've always been ravenous eaters. However, more recently they've begun to stay in their feeding frenzy for a little longer than usual. I feed them in a separate 10 gallon tank (separately).

So when it's time to put them back in their cages, I end up doing this sort of dance with my hands and the snake trying to get a small hook under the snake to pick it up before it thinks I am food. Once it's picked up, they calm down again. I don't think this is their defensive tactics mainly due to neither rattling their tails as they normally would when they feel threatened. They just want more to eat!

My question is how do you all pick up your corns to put them back in their cages once they've been fed?
 
I just grab them gently and put them back. While some cornsnake bites might draw blood, they almost never hurt, so I just tend to "do what needs to be done".

NOW, with my bigger snake (VBB), I let her sit for about an hour after eating before I try to get her back into her viv (to let her get over the feeding response). I REALLY don't want to be bitten by her. LOL.
 
I have had the same problem ice. I used to pick them up after they ate and they always were a bit jumpy. They never bit me, but they would strike occasionally and I feel like that can be almost as bad (I am a bit jumpy myself so even my little girl striking at me makes me jump) Now what I do is put them in a covered shoe box for feeding time. I just put them in and put the cover on it (with a chem textbook on top to prevent escapes :) ) and give them a nice long cool down period afterwards. Then I put the shoebox in the viv and open it up. They can come out on there own and they dont have to be picked up right after eating.
 
I just let them bite me, LoL....but you might rather find a smaller feeding container. A shoebox, like kpkp said, is easy to pick up and tip over to get them back into their homes.
 
i have a pair of "wussy gloves" that work great for me. I really only have a couple of snakes I will put them on for, but they come in handy for raiding ASF rat nests as well.
 
My snakes so far are all sweeties but I try not to take any chances when feeding. ( I'm a real chicken when it comes to getting bit! I can face the meanest cat at work with a smile and a laugh but ANY aggressive snake makes me hesitate! ) I feed them in a plastic tub that's smaller than their own tank and I gently pour them out into my hand or even just straight back into their tank. They seem to get less upset by gravity than by active contact.

Devon
 
I have one that's tricky like that. I feed in a small plastic tank and when she's finished, I just gently tip it into the viv so that she either slides out or moves out of her own accord.
 
Both of my snakes are eating good sized hoppers once a week, although I do not know the weight. Roughly 1.3-1.5x the widest girth of the snakes, as I've always done. They always have an easily visible bump in their stomachs afterward. I think they are getting enough, but my snakes (all snakes?) are very opportunistic eaters and would probably eat until they regurg it back up.

However, I do hesitate to feed them in the cage due to the shredded aspen.

So, general consensus is just to deal with it, right? lol I guess I'll continue my little snake charming hand dance!
 
Is it possible to maybe try to feed every 5 days instead of 7?? My yearlings (that are MY babies) are about 100- 120 grams and they are eating a small mouse every 5-6 days. Maybe that would help with the aggressive eating behavior.

Other wise I really dont know what to suggest... other than tell you that it Really doesnt hurt that much. Abit like picking yourself with a needle slightly or like running your finger against the harsh side of velcro..... unless you wiggle your finger once they have ahold of you LOL Which I will kinda do to one of mine once she gets me :D Then she must 'kill' my finger before she will let go :)
 
One thing I've noticed... esp with my LTR... is that if the temps are on the high side (eg. warm day low side temp is 80 degrees F and high side is 88 degrees F or so, she is MUCH more aggressive.

I also noticed that if she's hanging out on the warm end, she's more likely to be defensive than if she's hanging out on the cool end.

She's an LTR... I tend to notice these things with HER in particular.

So, just check your temps again and make sure they are closer to the norms of 75-85 degrees F... that may help.
 
I can see why a snake would be more aggressive when warm since they are cold blooded and able to be more active. Mine are in a large room with AC turned off in southern Louisiana. During the summers, it stays a near consistent 79-85 daily.

However, they are normally very calm. They aren't even jumpy. It's only when they eat that they go into their little feeding frenzy state. I put my hand anywhere near them after their meal and they are practically drooling!
 
My snakes aren't aggressive in any way, but when I have one of my snakes, Liam, out for feeding, he gets very agitated. He gets jumpy, flighty and his tail rattles like crazy! Usually after feeding, they are all still keen on movement, so when I got to get them out their feeding bins, I make sure they see my hand coming before I go to grab them. It helps a lot because they know I'm not food and don't try to strike at me. I made the mistake twice of trying to pick up my snakes without showing them my hand first, and both times they freaked and one time I got tagged. Luckily he was a tiny little thing then :p Good luck!
 
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