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my snowcorn has a rattle...???

E

Emily

New member
hi, i just my first snake, a snow named Frenchie, and she's a little shy since i just got her, and today when i took her out, she shook her tail and it rattled! is this normal? i had noticed little ridges on the end of her tail before, but i thought it might have been from an old injury or something, but now i know what it's really for!

oh, and i have another question. i got Frenchie from a good reputable pet shop, and they keep some of thier snakes in sand, and i thought it was so pretty, but i read that sand isn't all too good for them. is that true? cuz i really wanna put sand in there.

and one more question, how often do corns shed?

thanx,
~Emily;)
 
1. Corns don't have "rattles" or any special tail ridges, they just shake thier tail - if the tail is hitting an object, you will hear a rattle. They do it as a defensive mechanism, and usually grow out of it. (I have a couple yearlings that still rattle on occasion - mostly around feeding)

2. Sand is a horrible substrate for corns (and most other snakes). It can get under thier belly scales and inside the nostrils while trying to burrow and cause irritation. It also is not very good for the humidity, and could cause it to be too dry. Good substrates include newspaper, paper towels, and aspen shavings. Don't use sand, cedar, or corn cob. I use aspen, because my corns like to burrow in it. (and doesn't look that bad)

3. My hatchlings shed around once a month; as they grow older, and growth slows down, the shedding frequency goes down also.
 
Agreed.

Sand is totally horrible for snakes. Do NOT use it.

Everything else pinatamonkey said was correct as well.

Buy yourself The Cornsnake Manual by Kathy Love. You learn all you need to know about your cornsnake and more.

bmm
 
hey thanx guys for replying. i'm using this "repti bark" stuff made of fir wood, but i swear she has a rattle! lol. i also have one more question, where can i get that cornsnake book by kathy love?

thanx guys

~Emily~ ;)
 
My psycho amel Penny has a "rattle." She started out as a flighty but calmable baby once handled for a minute and has decided to become an antisocial monster in the last months. Maybe she is going through her teen phase now as a yearling, but she loves to rattle. And musk. Then again, every other time I pick her up, she behaves herself just fine. (Even though I wash up every time. Maybe she doesn't like my perfume some days, who knows??) I don't mind the "bad" behavior so much though, it does give her character. I just wish I knew which days she is in a bad mood before she musks me. Good luck with your baby.
 
It

Doesn't actually have a rattle. The rattle noise comes from the snake moving the tip of its tail against something, when they feel scared or defensive. All corns, and many other snakes, have this ability. There is no actual rattle on the tail. It just sounds like it.

bmm
 
Tail rattling is a behavior common to many snakes around the world. Rattlesnakes, which are more highly evolved, have taken the behavior a step further with the development of rattles.

It was once hypothesized that these snakes were mimicing rattlesnakes, but that appears to be a flawed theory for multiple reasons...
1) Corns are more "primitive" than rattlesnakes, in an evolutionary sense.
2) Tail rattling is common among some Eurasian species.
3) Tail rattling has also been observed in some Australian pythons, which evolved well before colubrids or viperids.
 
Hi
Both of my corns use to rattle their tails. They did it for a short time till they got comfortable with our family ,then stopped.
Ken, I have to agree with your last line of your message,Its not guns that are to blame.

redarm
 
hey the so called rattle that your snow has, is it on the very very tip of his/her tail, like is it red. i mean nothing coming out of the vent but his tail is just red?? that is what mine is and i don't know what it is. maybe that is what you are thinking about.
 
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