Help! Snake is aggressive now

[kristentag]

I need help! My son has had his corn snake for nearly a year. When we first got him he was great. However, as time goes on he is getting mean. Tonight my son went to get him to feed him and he bit my son! What can we do to calm him down? It has been getting progressively worse and I don't know what to do. My son is now freaked out and doesn't want to touch him. He is a very responsible kid and handles the snake gently. The snake did escape twice (thank you pet store for saying two locks were enough), and his behavior did get worse after that. I have no clue if that contributed to it. Ok, help!

 

[Weda737]

Probably just a strong feeding response. Even mine lunge out if they think they are being fed. If it's really a problem you can use a hook to lift him out then he'll probably be fine once he sees you're not feeding him. I'm toying with the notion of target training mine. And yes, it can be done lol. You could even start feeding in a separate tub and see if that helps.

 

[kristentag]

We do feed him in a separate container because when I got him I read they can get aggressive if you feed them in their cage. So, he isn't used to food coming in there.

 

[Pugsley]

Check the temps in the viv. Also do a search on aggression. I remember reading other threads on this, I just don't remember the answer.

One of mine turned very aggressive. Turns out she was in shed mode. Once the shed was over, she was find. I now know to watch for that.

Best of luck. Sorry for your son. Would it help to post a picture of his bite in the bite club thread? Might get him to think of it as a badge of honor.

 

[ceduke]

I have a snake who seems to be territorial. He's a grump in his tank but fine when I finally get him out. My solution is to use a snake hook to pick him up. He seems to "get it" that when he's picked up on a hook, no food is forthcoming and he should remain calm, though that took a little bit of practice.

Edit: also, there is no shame in wearing leather gloves for awhile until you get "re-acquainted" with him and his habits. If you (or your son) are tense and afraid when handling him, it can make the snake more tense and afraid as well. Sometimes the gloves give that little extra bit of confidence someone needs to be able to comfortably get used to the snake again.

 

[Dorgrim]

Sometimes feeding outside the cage can also trigger a stronger feeding response. I know one of my corns only eats when out, and hes super tame!
but the other got really nippy when i would take her out to feed. Also, investing in a good snake hook just to let them know youre there is never bad! A slow and steady reminder to the snake that "nope! not feeding time "

its all about communication and its most likely not aggression but confusion.

 

[Chip]

I am a firm believer that feeding outside the cage has no effect on snakes biting. I do agree with Dorgrim that it's all about communication, though I had never heard it put that way, lol! Mine are given an arm (or whatever is in my hand) to taste if they come flying out to eat, and now that I don't work with any kings, that is enough to calm them down. I must warn, while this works with corns, king snakes seemed to relish the taste of my flesh and often hated to let go.
A snake hook can go a long way. I hook almost everything big to remove it -even non biters are "woken up" with a stroke of a hook. Just being touched with something that isn't alive seems to make it clear they aren't being fed. Figure out what works for you and your snake, but if it was a friendly juvie, it should just get better as an adult.

 

[bitsy]

I like gloves for handling the slightly iffy ones.

But a check of the temperatures would go a long way. If he's overheating and can't cool down, this can cause Corns to get very antsy and snappy.