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First strike

L

LittlePrince

New member
I have had my baby corn for over a month now and it has always been really sweet, never once trying to strike at me. I saw it out and about in the tank a second ago so I figured I'd go in and let it out to roam for a bit but the little thing struck at me. It didn't strike with it's teeth at all. It just bumped my hand. Naturally I jumped back. I tried going in again, making sure to be slow, holding my hand in front of Fluffy to sense me first and see me, and it struck again when I tried to pick it up. Still not with it's teeth but it has me worried. Why is my snake suddenly doing this? It is feeding time. My snake usually gets more aggressive when it is feeding time. I'll feed Fluffy tonight when I get home from work but I get the feeling Fluffy will have to stay in the tank to eat instead of me letting it out into a plastic container like I've done the last two times. Fluffy doesn't like going into the plastic containers and prefers to eat in the tank. (I hand feed by dangling the pink by the tail and use bark bedding currently so nothing sticks to the pink when Fluffy is eating.

Fluffy has not shed at all since I've had it so maybe it is going into shed and just can't see very well right now? I couldn't get a good look at Fluffy's eyes.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. I think it's obvious that I've never owned a snake.
 
Oh please, corn bites are pretty much harmless. Get your hands under it and scoop it up. Reacting like you did to the striking will make Fluffy think that is the way to act to be left alone.

It's quite possible s/he is going into shed. I look at my corns' belly to see if it's getting cloudy or dull, and usually half way through the cycle when they get VERY dull and blue eyes is when they're most aggressive.

Also, if you do determine s/he is going into shed, try feeding but don't be surprised if there's a refusal.
 
I recently socialized a whole clutch of baby corns, and only two of them never bit me. Most of them did it many more times than one. The little guy I took home used to bite me twice every time I cleaned his bin! (Now he's very friendly and curious, and a great snake to hand to total n00bs, even though he's still a hatchling.) Here's the important thing to know: they can't even break the skin at that size. No matter how hard they try. Someone on this site compared it to being attacked by angry Velcro, and that's really apt. The snake can't hurt you, and now is the time to teach it that biting you is pointless. Just pick it up and hold it through a couple of strikes, and it will calm down, and probably quit even trying that strategy very soon. Also, what the above poster said about shedding and feeding.

Good luck! Corns are awesome. You made a great snakey choice!
 
Babies are just like that, it'll calm down with handling. The nice thing is, when they're so small the bites don't feel like anything!
 
My snake's colors are looking duller than normal so I'm betting it will be going into shed soon. Also, I got Fluffy out of the tank tonight by using a stick for it to climb onto then s/he climbed right into my hand with no problems. Fluffy was still in my hand when s/he saw the pink in my other hand and was very adamant on having it immediately before I even got Fluffy to the feeding container. S/he struck at the pink numerous times. I figured Fluffy must have just been hungry bc s/he always gets more aggressive on feeding days. You'd swear my snake was starving by the way it was going after that pink, though. I feed my snake every 5-6 days. (give Fluffy 3 days to digest, one or two days of handling, then another feeding)

I'm really grateful for the reassurance that my snake's bite won't hurt me at all. I'm not a wuss to pain or anything as I've got seven tattoos and have had piercings in my life time and cut off a finger tip so I'm not really afraid to be bit, just afraid of what my reaction might send as a signal to my snake. I want to make sure that my snake is well socialized and not a problem snake in the future.
 
LittlePrince said:
(I hand feed by dangling the pink by the tail and use bark bedding currently so nothing sticks to the pink when Fluffy is eating.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. I think it's obvious that I've never owned a snake.
Click to expand...


Just paraphrasing here, and I'm assuming when you say hand feed you mean with your hand. Just an idea, ever considered using tongs or forceps? When I socialized my snakes I always did, going under the assumption fingers and hands should avoid being associated with a feeding response. Always have the occasional snake who bites just because, but it seemed to work for me overall.
 
Yes, by hand feeding I meant holding the pink with my fingers. I think I tried using chop sticks once because I didn't have any feeding tongs, and it worked out okay. I think I'm going to try to keep Fluffy eating in the plastic feeding container. As long as s/he is hungry enough I can get away with just leaving Fluffy in the container with the food.

Thanks for all of the helpful advice everyone!
 
I always put the food in first, then wash my hands very well if I happened to touch the food. Then I put the snake in. Mine always start eating right away. I usually bump their noses into the mouse and they latch on and I set them down into the bin to let them finish eating. Though sometimes they like to get a death grip on my hand while they eat so I have to sit there the entire time and wait for them to finish lol.

I rarely ever touch the mouse. Even if I scrub my hands the snakes still seem to be able to pick up a sent and they will start trying to eat my fingers. Though I guess soap doesn't taste very well because they keep spitting me out and trying again. I think it's rather funny!
 
My cornsnake is probably 8 yrs old now and latched onto my thumb muscle last weekend. Even had the mouse in hemostats and he bit and constricted my hand for a few minutes. Left a series of small holes in the shape of his upper and lower jaws. It bled a little and stung at first but not bad. Reflexes might cause you to hurt yourself or the snake more than the actual bite.
Another tip for skittish or aggressive snakes is to just grab them and then let them settle down in your hand instead of giving them time to get worked up by going in slow.
 
I have a full grown male I still have to grab by surprise or he will act like he wants to kill me :) When I manage to surprise him, he's tame as a puppy! He has been like that from hatching till about a year old, then he had a period without the attitude but after I spent less time handling him for about a year (he was at another location then my home) he went back to being naughty, so probably it's really in genes, lol!
 
Well I know my friend's baby corn kept trying to bite him b/c he fed him inside his viv. When I told him to do it seperately in another box, he tried it & now he calmed down. So he stopped trying to bite him everytime he would reach into pick him up. If your little one doesn't like a plastic container try a large shoe box? If he's hungry it doesn't matter where he'll eat!? Just some advice that worked for my friend!
 
the way i did yogi was i offered the back of my hand, not flat, and let him sniff me before i scoop him up, when yogi is a bit grumpy and wont let me just scoop him up i show the back of my hand let him sniff and taste me then i make a move to handle him.
when yogi gets grumpy is more than likely super time, i have been led to believe that some corns get grumpy when shedding but i dont know bwcause yogi goes the opposite way and becomes all over friendly lol
 
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