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Noob question about handling

JeffDenver

JeffDenver

New member
Ok, I have handled my baby snake twice so far, and it went pretty good. No obvious signs of agitation or anything that I can see.

But I get a little nervous when handling him because I feel like he might bite me sometimes. It is not that I am afraid of the bite...I am afraid it will startle me and I'll drop him.

So are there obvious signs that a snake is in a biting mood while holding him? I have been handling him a few feet over my bed because I am worried about dropping him. If he is on my arm it isn't a big deal, but when he gets his head close to certain parts of my hand (like the flesh between my thumb and fingers) it makes me a little nervous.

I've been bit by Hamsters there before and it hurt big time, so I think thats why I am so gun-shy about this. Since this is the first snake I've ever handled I am just ignorant on the signs. Is there anything in particular that will tell me that the snake is not in a mood to be handled?
 
Corn Snakes usually give plenty of warning.
Watch for the defensive "S" shaped stance. They will scrunch down like a slinky to give them the leverage to strike.
They will usually hiss first, and sometimes rattle their tail (which you can't hear unless they rattle it against something)

It is unusual for a corn to bite once you are holding them. They don't normally bite the hand that is holding them. They would instead bite a finger you waved toward them or something.

Make sure you are handling over a soft surface, like your bed, until you feel more secure. Make sure that they have somewhere close and soft to land on.

I have some snakes that there is no way I could antagonize them enough to bite me- and I have other snakes that strike at the sides of their vivs or rattle their tails sometimes when they see me. But I haven't had a snake strike without warning.

He isn't going to bite the fleshy part of your hand as he travels across it. (assuming you don't smell like food. Wash your hands. )

As soon as you get a feel for what your snake's personality is, you are going to feel more comfortable.
 
Yeah, I have been careful about hand washing to the point of paranoia. I was warned about that by pretty much everyone.

I am going to take him out tonight to be weighed. I fed him on Saturday morning...I assume 48 hours is plenty of time to digest? He has been in his (warm side) hide since then.
 
Yup. Two days is long enough.

Oh! I have a pic of a snake in defensive mode.
This is one of my new babies, a beautiful caramel motley, Brisco.
You should have heard his tail rattling when I took this!

Even though he was in full defensive mode, I picked him up and placed him in his feeding container. They usually won't strike even when acting defensively- as long as you pick them up quickly and securely. I hold all my fingers together to make my hand look less bite-able and go at them from the side, making sure they see me heading toward them.

f61a15c5.jpg
 
Even when startled they usually won't bite the surface they are travelling on. It is usually a moving object . And if all they have is the flat part of your hand to strike at they usually can't grab anything to bite. They will bonk their nose against it though. I have even held the food they are going to eat in my fingers for them to strike at and then picked them up to put them back in their homes and haven't had my fingers bit. But it is knowing your snake that allows that.

Unless you hold them too tight when they are squirmy they shouldn't bite what is holding them. I am sure that is has happened to someone, but the occurances are rare.
 
Good explanation, smallet.

I've never had one bite the hand that was holding them.
Just musk. Which is actually worse than biting. But it doesn't put me in danger of flinging my snake across the room. I just have to wash my hands/clothes (although the smell doesn't bother me much, it bothers everyone else. Who wants to be the stinky girl? Not me.)
 
Another snake in biting mode:
She actually struck at me (for all the good it did her. She is so tiny and cute! I didn't feel the bite.)
de571f36.jpg
 
How small is she in that picture? It is really hard to gauge size with snakes. Mine is a baby, but people think he is full grown from some of the pictures.
 
She is in a shoebox, which you can see the edges of behind her. She is sitting on a child-sized bowl, probably four inches across.
She is my new Fire. And she definitely has a fiery personality!
 
I'm actually glad my crazy Honduran Milk Snake bit me. It sounds weird but it made me realize getting bit isn't nearly as bad as I imagined. I used to think it must hurt a lot because people usually bleed when it happens but that wasn't the case at all.

What is it even like to get bitten by a baby corn? Mine both wouldn't bite if their lives depended on it (well maybe, haha).
 
The first time Vash struck at me, I was so relieved to have it over with! I had the same fear, not so much that the bite would hurt, but that it would startle me into flinging the snake or dropping it. The first time he did it, he was wrapped around my arm and I reached over and scratched my arm right next to him. Something about that he didn't like and he went kind of defensive and started to rattle his tail. Since I'd been fearing a bite for about a year and was curious, I kept scratching my arm and eventually he did strike at the hand that was scratching. He gave plenty of warning that he was going to do it and it actually didn't startle me at all. He didn't actually bite me, it was a closed mouth strike.
As to little snakes biting, I've never actually been bit by any of the corns and Vash has only struck at me twice but my male Puget garter that I recently rehomed, got to where he used to bite me the whole time I was handling him for anything. The first few times he did it, I didn't even notice what he was doing and it never pinched, drew blood or even broke skin. He was about 18" long with a head about the size of my pinky finger.
 
Is that pic of a captive snake? How do you guys get pictures of your snakes outside like that without the risk of them running away?

My snake tries to get away every chance he gets, heh heh
 
Wow, Nanci!
That is a gorgeous and threatening looking snake!
Is it a stripe or diffused or other?
(And such a pretty setting!)
 
dan803 said:
I'm actually glad my crazy Honduran Milk Snake bit me. It sounds weird but it made me realize getting bit isn't nearly as bad as I imagined. I used to think it must hurt a lot because people usually bleed when it happens but that wasn't the case at all.

What is it even like to get bitten by a baby corn? Mine both wouldn't bite if their lives depended on it (well maybe, haha).
Click to expand...

I don't remember who originally said this, but it describes it pretty accurately:
Angry velcro.
That is what a baby feels like. If you feel it at all.
I did have one draw blood, but she bit me 6 or so times in a row.
 
JeffDenver said:
Is that pic of a captive snake? How do you guys get pictures of your snakes outside like that without the risk of them running away?

My snake tries to get away every chance he gets, heh heh
Click to expand...

Nanci has all of her snakes trained well. Right Nanci? :rolleyes:
 
Naagas said:
Wow, Nanci!
That is a gorgeous and threatening looking snake!
Is it a stripe or diffused or other?
(And such a pretty setting!)
Click to expand...

That is Ruby. Bloodred stripe het snow. Bought as a female. "She" wouldn't breed with Pepper. Subsequently probed male. I hung on to him for another year as a back-up male, but one day Ruby bit me, again, because Ruby struck about 90% of the times he was handled, and I just had enough. Offered him for sale and he was gone in five minutes. He lives with Hallie now! What is amusing in a hatchling is not so amusing in a 500g adult.

But outdoors, I have that water garden which is nice for photographing small snakes, because they are up off the ground a little, and can't really run away without going up and over the edge. A hatchling that would rather strike, that stands up like that, makes an _excellent_ photo subject! I have tons of photos of Ruby in similar poses.
 
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