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How long before your snake came out of hiding?

N

NinnJinn

New member
I know I need to learn patience and that snakes are most active at night, but am curious as to how long it took your snake before it starting coming out of hiding and would slither to you to be picked up?

I have had Hunter for 6 days. The first 24hrs, he was nervous. Now, after we mess up the aspen and find him, we can pick him up without him being flighty.
The only time I have seen him moving around above the bedding was the first 24hrs after we fed him. He would chill on the heated side, then move to the middle. Other then that one time. I never see him unless he is balled up in his hide. Does it have to be quiet for them to start roaming at night? I have stayed up until 2am before and nothing.

If we happen to see him, this is what we see:

 
I have only had hope for 8 days, so I'm not an expert. Sometimes she comes out, sometimes she doesn't. She will not allow me to pick her up yet. Last night I tried to put her in the container she came in so I could clean her viv. I got bit about 10 times in just a few seconds. She is still very flighty.
 
He's just a baby. And 6 days is very short time. Give him 2 weeks then handle him a short time and you can gradually increase the time you hold him. It takes time for them to realize that they don't have to be afraid of you. By a short time I mean like 5 minutes a couple days then 10 minutes. Wait 48 hrs after feeding while still so little.

As for the biter. That will get better with time too. When you pick him up do it more toward the tail end than the head. Wait till he stops biting you then put him back. You can use light gloves so the bites don't make you flinch.


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I've had my baby corn snake for almost a month. From what I've been told, he really shouldn't be handled for a week or two while settling in unless it's necessary for something like cage cleaning or if you have a health concern. Also no handling for 48 hours after feeding to prevent regurgitation. This seems to have been good advice, at least when it comes to my Ekans. He still doesn't like being picked up and maybe he never will, but he's calmed down a lot when I do handle him. I would also suggest giving your guy more hides! He probably still feels pretty exposed under that big log, and a couple of toilet paper tubes might help him come out more if he feels like he has more snug places to get away. I have 8 hides made of egg cartons, paper towel tubes and various cardboard, a log like you have, and a bowl of substrate for burrowing because I use reptile carpet in his enclosure. I’m probably going to get him climbing vines soon because when I take him out I’m often on skype with family or friends, and he loves to climb my headset cord and all over my mic! Snakes don’t think the way we do of course, but I know that if I lived in a house in the middle of nowhere and food was delivered to me, I would never leave. But if my house was in the middle of coffee shops and parks and places to eat and shop and hang out, I would be a lot more adventurous! The more hides he has to explore, the more likely you are to see him moving around. I’ve noticed that this makes a HUGE difference with Ekans; if there’s something new in his enclosure, as soon as he thinks I’m gone he has to come out and explore it and climb on it and inside it and it’s great fun to watch.
 
He'd have more confidence to travel about his viv if there was more cover. If you put in several paper towel tubes, squashed, and some vines stuck to the walls, and along the ground, he would feel like he could come out and explore.
 
My boy was older (much older... 9) when we got him, so he had already supposedly been taught not to fear people. I believe he was a bit neglected, not out right abused/hurt, just not wanted. So I'm not sure outside of the petshop and my partner and I how much he's been handled.
The first night we put him in his viv, his viv was rather empty for a corn snake, and I've got to admit that probably made him a little nervous. But as soon as we put in the extra hides, vines, toilet roll holders, kitchen roll holders, and cardboard boxes he really came out of his shell and started exploring. I waited a couple days, maybe 48 hours before I actively put my hand in his viv with the intent of taking him out to handle, before that I just hand my hand in his viv, moving around touching his hides water bowl etc to let him get used to my scent and my hand moving around in his space. Last night, I had Alfie out of his viv for cuddles and when I put him back in I left my partner watching Alfie as I had the viv door open while I went to freshen his water and I came back and Alfie slithered over and popped his head out the viv door as if to see what was going on. I feel like he's realised that we're not going to hurt him, that he's safe. I know everyone likes to think their pets know they're loved, but I'm just happy if Alfie doesn't see us as a threat right now. We've had him a week and 3 days.
 
I don't see my little guy out wandering much. His viv is pretty basic though. I have caught him up and around the lid looking for a way out when I've walked past in the middle of the night.

Pretty certain we're fixing to find a shed in there soon, so I haven't seen him at all the past two days.

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noraandthenoodle said:
I've had my baby corn snake for almost a month. From what I've been told, he really shouldn't be handled for a week or two while settling in unless it's necessary for something like cage cleaning or if you have a health concern. Also no handling for 48 hours after feeding to prevent regurgitation. This seems to have been good advice, at least when it comes to my Ekans. He still doesn't like being picked up and maybe he never will, but he's calmed down a lot when I do handle him. I would also suggest giving your guy more hides! He probably still feels pretty exposed under that big log, and a couple of toilet paper tubes might help him come out more if he feels like he has more snug places to get away. I have 8 hides made of egg cartons, paper towel tubes and various cardboard, a log like you have, and a bowl of substrate for burrowing because I use reptile carpet in his enclosure. I’m probably going to get him climbing vines soon because when I take him out I’m often on skype with family or friends, and he loves to climb my headset cord and all over my mic! Snakes don’t think the way we do of course, but I know that if I lived in a house in the middle of nowhere and food was delivered to me, I would never leave. But if my house was in the middle of coffee shops and parks and places to eat and shop and hang out, I would be a lot more adventurous! The more hides he has to explore, the more likely you are to see him moving around. I’ve noticed that this makes a HUGE difference with Ekans; if there’s something new in his enclosure, as soon as he thinks I’m gone he has to come out and explore it and climb on it and inside it and it’s great fun to watch.
Click to expand...

Nanci said:
He'd have more confidence to travel about his viv if there was more cover. If you put in several paper towel tubes, squashed, and some vines stuck to the walls, and along the ground, he would feel like he could come out and explore.
Click to expand...


Thank you for the ideas guys!!! All the poor guy has is water dish and the log. Even though he is roughly 16in long, he does look rather tiny in the 40gal viv that I have him in. Since it is summer break here, I will rob the TP rolls and Paper towel rolls that I save for a friend of mine, (Kindergarten teacher)

should I place them here and there so to speak? warm side? cold side? The log is in between and if he is burrowed under the aspen, it is usually in the middle as well.
 
You're welcome! Glad to be able to help. I have multiple hides on both sides of Ekans enclosure. It does make it a little difficult if I have to find him and go through 8-10 hides but it makes me glad to see him using them all! The nicest thing about using squashed TP tubes is that you don't have to wash them, just toss em if he poos on them. As long as it's not something he can get cut on or squished by, feel free to experiment with different things he could use as hides! I'm slowly collecting decorative things for Ekans for when he's bigger but if he uses the cheap homemade stuff I don't need to spend a bunch of money decorating until he grows out of them :p
 
Corning said:
He's just a baby. And 6 days is very short time. Give him 2 weeks then handle him a short time and you can gradually increase the time you hold him. It takes time for them to realize that they don't have to be afraid of you. By a short time I mean like 5 minutes a couple days then 10 minutes. Wait 48 hrs after feeding while still so little.

As for the biter. That will get better with time too. When you pick him up do it more toward the tail end than the head. Wait till he stops biting you then put him back. You can use light gloves so the bites don't make you flinch.


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Click to expand...
Great answers! I would also add to come in from the side, not from above. Predators come from above. Since i have been doing that, my baby has been a lot less flighty. Also, do not touch them before you pick them up. It just freaks them out. I basically put my hand in the big and wait for her to "scent" me with her tongue. She still wants to go away, so when she turns, I scoop her up. She doesn't seem to mind it very much at all now. She "sat" with my boyfriend and hi through an entire movie the other night. She would stay still awhile and then move around. She went back and forth between us and explored the inside of our shirts when she got cold. It was fun for us and exhausting for her. She drank a bunch of water when I went to put her back. Now, when we put her back, we have to nudge her tail to get her to let go and go on in her viv. Be patient. This took 2 months to get this far.

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Oh, do you have at sticks or leafy vines in there? Ruby loves to explore and climb. I move things around except for her favorite hide when I clean her cage. It makes her reexplore everything.

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Slither up to me to be picked up? Damn, I'd love to own a snake that did that. Tango is super active in the evenings (and I suspect at night) but during the day he chills in his hides. He will allow me to pick him up, but never asks for it. It's completely natural for them to hide. It's what they do best in the wild!
 
Oh, do you have at sticks or leafy vines in there? Ruby loves to explore and climb. I move things around except for her favorite hide when I clean her cage. It makes her reexplore everything.
Click to expand...
I second this. Both (my) Ruby and Tango love to climb the vines. They also LOVE cork rounds. LOVE them. Give your snake a whole bunch of climbing and burrowing options as well as hides. And change them around every so often. It makes life enriching for them. :)
 
Well there's loads of great advice in the above threads ..

For my part I put loads of branches and pieces of broken off bark in the vivs and they love the security it provides and will be far more active .
I'd also consider swapping from Aspen ( hate the stuff - looks rank bad and fake , appears to suck all the colour out of your snakes and it gets all over the carpets ) . I use dark coloured orchid bark which looks great and natural and makes your snake's colours stand out !

Also those open ended log hides you have offer no real security to the snake ...
 
Zincubus said:
...........Also those open ended log hides you have offer no real security to the snake .......
Click to expand...

On their own that is true, but if you place 2 of them together end to end, it makes them twice as long and Rufus loves to go in there like that.
 
Karl_Mcknight said:
On their own that is true, but if you place 2 of them together end to end, it makes them twice as long and Rufus loves to go in there like that.
Click to expand...



Maybe just a case of Hobson's choice ?

Bet if there was a normal snake hide next to the snake would choose the hide with one entrance ( thus more security ) ...... only one way to find out though ;)


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he actually has 4 hides, 1 of them is a "Completely enclosed cave except for a tiny opening" and the other 3 are half logs, rocks, and vines, and to answer your question, yes he uses them all...... equally. In fact he's under the logs right now and has been since yesterday.
 
Karl_Mcknight said:
he actually has 4 hides, 1 of them is a "Completely enclosed cave except for a tiny opening" and the other 3 are half logs, rocks, and vines, and to answer your question, yes he uses them all...... equally. In fact he's under the logs right now and has been since yesterday.
Click to expand...
Mine does that too. Its like she gets bored resting in the same place or something. Lol

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