What Pele likes...how about yours?

[Pele's Mom]

I'm really big on observing the behavior of snakes.. Here are some of the things I've observed about my 3 year old Motley Sunglow:

Although she's very tame, she really behaves best when there are always hiding spaces available. When handling her I often put a folded towel down that she can "cave" into. Or I'll put on a hooded sweatshirt that zips down the front and leave it sipped open so she can crawl in if she wants. She loves wrapping around my waist and peaking her head out.

Pele regularly patrols the perimeter of her cage. I leave 1-2 inches all around for that. She has a cave on her heated side, and a bunch of plastic plants on the cool side that work like "underbrush" and she loves to curl up in there.

Lots of substrate for digging, and pushing around keeps her active and is fascinating to watch.

When her head is pointing straight up, regularly, she's praying for a mouse or rate to drop out of the sky.

What do your snakes do?? :bird:

 

[Stars]

Speaking of pointing their heads to the sky, I think it's hilarious when they get out of that position and oddly 'fall down' to the ground haha.

 

[Pal-O-Mine]

As I have said before, I am used to snakes that hide. But Draco, my new guy, the adult red albino corn, likes to cruise his tank, especially when there's activity outside. Many times I've noticed him sticking his head out his hide and watching me write on the 'puter.

Last Monday I was hoping he would stay hidden because I was getting the home inspection from the local greyhound rescue near us and I didn't know what this lady's opinion was of snakes. Of course, while we're sitting on the couch going over stuff, he decided to make laps inside his tank in plain sight of my guest. She noticed and asked how many snakes I had in the tank. She didn't believe me when I said just one. So I brought him out. She didn't seem scared and in fact seemed fascinated by his calm demeanor and his beautiful color.

I passed the home inspection. Whew! Dodged that bullet!

Devon

 

[Stars]

I never see my girl in the day but from dusk until about midnight she's been very active, even after I had fed her.

 

[Pele's Mom]

Glad you passed the home inspection! :dancer:

 

[Caryl]

I've got one who's scarcely seen. Others are climbers and love to tour their vines, branches, and upper edge of the viv. Two are what the kids call "swimmy snakes," and they enjoy getting into the water. I provide them with a "pool" from time to time.

When being handled, there are a couple who are happy to relax and be calm in a lap or a fold of cloth. Two are NEVER still. One of these is usually looking for a way down the handler's shirt or into his/her pocket. The other is most interested in finding a route into the couch cushions.

 

[bapkate]

I see a little bit of my snakes in what everyone has said about theirs. I've also noticed their behavior changing as they get bigger. When my amel was just a little guy (well, a littler guy), he used to climb a lot. Now that he's a little bigger he sticks mostly to trawling around the perimeter of his cage.

I also second the love of vines! Both of mine love crawling through the little tangle of fake plants they each have.

My lav stripe is much more skittish when being handled than my amel was when he was her size: she's much more likely to ball up and hide when she's first picked up than Wade was. One of the really cool things I've found about owning +1 snake is comparing the differences between their reactions and habits. Each one is a special snowflake

I passed the home inspection. Whew! Dodged that bullet!

Congrats on passing home inspection!

 

[Pele's Mom]

It's amazing how snakes have different temperaments. They talk about that a lot with children, dogs, cats...but I haven't heard it much about snakes.

Pele also really loves checking things out when music is playing in the house. I think the vibrations are interesting to her...

I like the idea of "swimmy" snakes. We've tried Pele in the bathtub a couple times, but it kind of scared her. She doesn't really soak before sheds either...

Thanks for sharing!

 

[Pal-O-Mine]

Thanks all for the congrats for the home inspection!

My Draco likes to check out the top of his tank at strange times. He seems very interested in how long he can cling upside down to the screen of his lid before falling prey to gravity. Snakes never seem to be too bothered by falling. They stay still for a moment, and then they continue on as if nothing had ever happened.

Devon

 

[bapkate]

Thanks for sharing!

Thanks for starting this thread! Any excuse to gush over our corns, right? :laugh:

My Draco likes to check out the top of his tank at strange times. He seems very interested in how long he can cling upside down to the screen of his lid before falling prey to gravity. Snakes never seem to be too bothered by falling. They stay still for a moment, and then they continue on as if nothing had ever happened.

Devon

I'm pretty sure all baby corns are genetically hard wired to do this. I have Wade in my bedroom, and the first couple of nights I had him I could not figure out what that strange thumping sound was...

lol, maybe the staying still is the snake version of playing it off like everything happened juuust the way they meant for it to.

 

[VickyChaiTea]

Sasha is more active than Charlie, but Adrian is the only one who spends most of his time above ground. I noticed that all of them become more active when they're hungry. XD

I wish I had snakes that liked water. :C Mine never soak. I let them swim once, but they hated it. XD

 

[ladyblaze]

lol my girl loves hiding under her bedding....i freak out sometimes tryin to find her cuz she's a snow and it's aspen LOL so she totally blends in!! she likes to curl up in a corner too, recently she adores her feeding dish to sleep on! she's pretty adorable sometimes when i put new bedding in, she has to bury in and out everywhere like it's a WHOLE new place!

 

[Caryl]

Thanks for starting this thread! Any excuse to gush over our corns, right? :laugh:



I'm pretty sure all baby corns are genetically hard wired to do this. I have Wade in my bedroom, and the first couple of nights I had him I could not figure out what that strange thumping sound was...

lol, maybe the staying still is the snake version of playing it off like everything happened juuust the way they meant for it to.

Indeed! It's been fun noticing how different the snakes are as individuals. Yohsong, my first, was a major climber as a baby - and a major faller! Sticks, lids, fingers, it didn't matter. He was going to go up it or across it, and often came down with a mini-crash. Thankfully for my peace of mind, he's grown more coordinated with age.

Tulip was much more cautious. She didn't advance until she was almost certain that she'd be balanced and supported. No crashes for that little lady!

And then there's Pixie, who's apparently the corn snake equivalent of a smart super-athlete. She gets into and onto almost everything, but rarely falls. If she does have a mishap, she learns and doesn't repeat that particular performance. (I'd love to have a valid snake IQ test for her. I'm fairly sure she's a genius! :laugh

 

[bapkate]

And then there's Pixie, who's apparently the corn snake equivalent of a smart super-athlete. She gets into and onto almost everything, but rarely falls. If she does have a mishap, she learns and doesn't repeat that particular performance. (I'd love to have a valid snake IQ test for her. I'm fairly sure she's a genius! :laugh

Oooh, man, you'd better keep an eye on Pixie! Combine her super smarts with corns' natural spy/escape abilities and your have one dangerous snake on your hands! he's probably still in her cage because she feels like being there. :laugh:

 

[Caryl]

Oooh, man, you'd better keep an eye on Pixie! Combine her super smarts with corns' natural spy/escape abilities and your have one dangerous snake on your hands! he's probably still in her cage because she feels like being there. :laugh:

I think you're right! She's in one of the vivs with my hubby's special escape-proof lids. When in a divided tank she repeatedly figured out how to cross the divide to annoy the snake on the other side. When in a viv with clips on the lid she was....studying the lid. She looked too likely to figure it out for my comfort, so poor hubby had to make a new lid RIGHT AWAY. :laugh:

 

[CodeRed]

I always love a chance to talk about my Aris He's a bit of a hider at the moment, being still young and new to the family. He has a habit of sleeping on TOP of his hides, under the fake greenery I have for him. The only time he ever goes in his hides are right after eating or when he's going into shed. In fact, he's only gone into his warm hide once, right before he was about to shed.
He's not too thrilled about water, but I did see him in there once, right after he came home. He does seem to know it's there, since he went right up to it after handling today. He didn't drink, but I thought it was a good sign. He's easy to handle, being a bit flighty, but mostly calm. He loves to climb up sweatshirts When he's being held hes constantly going up arms, trying to reach your sleeves :grin01: Get him on the ground, though, and he's off to the nearest dark spot. He sure is fun to watch.

 

[Suzy]

This is really interesting to see the differences! I have 6 Corns, and from what I've noticed with them, they are all very different. My first Corn, an '07 Motley, loves going down my shirt. Imagine the looks I get! LOL - He will sit there for an hour if I let him. He also hates any hide that isn't a sock hide, even if it's way too small for him. (I've tried others, and he refuses to use them.)
I have an '08 Classic who, when her water bowl is empty, will curl up and lay in it. (I've noticed it once or twice, and thought it was pretty funny.)
I use hides that are socks wrapped around a toilet paper roll. My '09 Bloodred will go in the fold of the sock and hide in there.
The other 3 are still pretty young, and they don't do much but eat and hide. LOL - I'm sure that will change later on down the road. We'll see!

 

[raynefyre]

My little Aly is a very shy and timid girl, but a total sweetheart. My boyfriend nicknamed her "Curly Q" because when you take her out she gets scared, but not aggressive or defensive, and wraps her little tail around you like she's holding on for dear life. She even looks down with her big eyes like "OMG don't let me fall mommy!!" She barely cruises her tank, if she's out and you walk in the room she runs and hides. I love her so much.

Charlie on the other hand is a little spitfire, always ready for an adventure. Only time he sits still is when he is hiding in his coconut to digest. The rest of the time he spends playing on his branches, vines, and plants in his tank.They recently upgraded from their baby tupperware tubs, he was so thrilled. xD Anytime I see him being active I try to take him out and let him cruise around on the bed. He even approaches my two huskies with no fear. (Imagine one sniffing a snake with its tongue flickering back at him, nose to nose.)

 

[Aislin]

I love this thread!

Bubblegum hides out a lot in his hide (on the warm side) but I caught him cruising around his viv around 10pm the other night so I suspect he waits for the little monster that keeps grabbing him to go to sleep. When I have him out he likes to wiggle about but he always has his tail wrapped around a finger until he is certain he can carry forward without falling. He is very curious (or he's looking for a hide lol) all the time only curling up when we initially take him out.

He also likes to hide in the aspen...I have panicked once or twice as well searching for him. He blends very well and he is still so small. I once dumped 3/4 of the substrate out searching for him convinced he was gone but once I dumped it back in ..there he was still curled in curvy ball and looking at the crazy lady. He as was in the aspen I had taken out and ended up at the top of the pile instead of under it.

 

[raynefyre]

I've panicked too when I first got my babies on aspen. Charlie makes all these little tunnels in it and I feel bad when I collapse them as I look for poop. Lol. Oh well gives him a blank canvas to create more tunnels in. Aly doesn't burrow so much, she has a bushy plant next to her warm hide that I find she really likes. It allows her to watch me without necessarily seeing her. Or so she thinks.