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My New Corn is striking

J

jakewc2

New member
Well, I thought it might be too good to be true. This morning I went in to check on my new snow corn, and went to pick him up, and he struck out at me, not once but each time I went near him. He only stopped when I picked him up. :(

Is there anything I can do to stop this. I know that stress in corns can be really bad, so I don't want to overstress him, especially as he's so young.

I need to be able to pick him up to put him in a box to feed him. He's been trained to eat in a seperate box to his cage, and I wanted to carry that on.

Thanks for your help.
 
The snake is striking because he's new and he's frightened. There's no need to panic just yet!

You should give the snake between 4 days-a week to settle in before you handle him. If he is still striking then, be patient with him. Handle him every day and he will soon get used to you.

I'd also like to point out that there is a very helpful search function here you might like to use. Your question has been asked before and the answers are on the old threads, so it might be worth running a search for "striking", etc.
 
Yeah man, what he said? Just remember corns are smaller than you and all they are trying to do is protect themselves...it is normal behavior. Just make sure that you don't react or flinch everytime he does it; after awhile, he will calm down.
 
Was gonna answer this,but Plissken & Vegas Ghost have given a perfect response..

Thanks Guys :cheers: :grin01:
 
Thanks everybody, I thought that was probably the case. He's ok once I pick him up. I had to go into the cage to change the kitchen paper as it was all wet from him lying in the water bowl. I call it a him, for ease, as I'm not 100% sure yet of its sex.

I read somewhere that sometimes you can tell a male from a female from the length of the tail from the vent to the tip. In a male its longer than a female, is that true? Or is it a old wives tail? :?

I did feed him tonight, as he hasn't been fed for almost a week, and after a couple of strikes at me, he took the pinky easily, and it went down very quickly too.
 
one more thing

i would just like to give you one more tip that hasnt been mentioned. DONT try to grab your corn from infront or above his head, try to pick him up from the side and let him see you first, otherwise he might panic and try to strike you again ( even if it did get ahold of you, you wouldn't even feel it )....mine did this for a week and has been fine ever since......i'm sure you'll be fine
 
I tried that, after the first time he struck out, I was really gentle, and just put my hand in the tank and left it there for a couple of minutes for him to smell me, and he struck out as soon as I put my hand in there. It didn't matter where I slowly put my hand, he followed it, and struck. I must have gotten struck about six times, before he stopped. He also rattles his tail too. When he's in the tiny box that I have in his cage, I hear him rattling even bofire I get anywhere near the tank. I didn't feel it till after, it felt like a pin had stuck me.

When I put him in the box, he reared up and as soon as the food came near he struck, about 4 times, but then the last time he struck, he got the pinkies head, and latched on, and that was it. For such a tiny snake, he's really fiesty.
 
my new hatchling corn strikes all the time, even after I pick her up. Most of the time I don't even feel it. I followed Kathy Love's instructions and left her alone mostly for the first month, feeding weekly and otherwise leaving her alone. After that time was up I've been feeding every 4 days and handling as much as possible in short daily sessions but she keeps striking all the time. I'm not worried...yet, but if she keeps it up when she's bigger it might be a problem.
 
And here I am, thinking I'd see some photos of some beautiful corn snake..... ;)

The title reminds me of the old "Your Highness, the peasants are revolting!" joke. :)

regards,
jazz
 
I did post a picture of it in this thread, I didn't want to cross post, as I'm new here, and didn't know what the policy of crossposting was for this site. I managed to get a picture of it and posted it here,

Picture of my snow corn
 
Hey Jake- A few more tidbits for you..

As I see your corn is a new hatchling, I would recommend not trying to handle it evry day as suggested earlier. Even a less defensive baby can get stressed out by that much attention. Work with him once or twice a week tops, and leave him alone for two or three days after feeding.

Also, in case you didn't see it, there was a similar discussion here:

http://www.cornsnakes.com/forums/showthread.php?t=38127
 
Hi, thakns for the advice. I did see that thread, and a couple of others. I am a bit paranoid about regurging, and wont touch my other snake Eric till I can't see the bump, after a feed, and this little one I'm even more worried about because he's so young. I haven't been near him since he fed. That was two days ago. I think he's alright with the feed though, there's no signs or any regurgitated food anywhere. Now you've mentioned only handling him twice a week, I'll do that. Thanks again for the help :)
 
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