Fair warning: This is a really broad and really basic question!
This is my first corn snake (first reptile of any kind for that matter). He is about a year old and has recently gone on a growth spurt, going from about 60g to ~110g in a few months - which is great. I’ve target trained him for fun, and he reacts to his target like missile, which is cool. What I wanted to ask about is: he does somewhat associate me hovering over his enclosure with getting food, so if he’s awake and I want to handle him (or clean his cage) he has started trying to hunt my hand. He will come from the other side of his enclosure to ‘investigate’ and its pretty clear to me he is hunting. Trying to pick him up in that state is possible, but the sudden switch from ‘hunt’ mode to ‘defensive’ mode leaves him pretty aggressive (I have not gotten bitten, but I have gotten bluff struck, and I think I will eventually get bitten). Once picked up in that state he is particularly wound-up/squirmy but he will settle down pretty quickly. I have never seen even a hint of aggression from him outside of his enclosure - he is not head shy or defensive at all.
The result of all this that I actually prefer not to try to pick him up if I know he is awake/prowling - and when I know he is active and I need to get in anyway (to clean the cage, change the water, etc.), I end up trying to get to him before he has a chance to go into hunting mode.
I did try touch training him, but honestly, this just seemed to really wind him up much more, and again, he is a very pleasant and well behaved snake outside of his enclosure, so overall it seemed to make things worse. Maybe I should rethink that?
Again, its totally possible I’m just a newbie complaining about a snake being a snake - if so fair enough, I can deal with it. But if there are some specific simple steps people can recommend to make it less of a heist to get him out of his enclosure when he knows I’m coming, I’d be happy to hear about them!
I have a female like that. I have been bitten a couple of times, enough to draw blood. She wrapped around my hand both times. I just waited until she realized I wasn’t food.
After that I put gloves on before I opened her tub so when she was ready to pounce she was surprised! After a few times wearing the gloves she started to settle down so that I didn’t have to wear them anymore.
I am tagging @caryl. She is a corn snake breeder who will be able to assist you with some advice. Good luck to you! I am sure she will be able to help you!
You hear novices who read a lot of care sheets say that cage aggression from feeding in enclosure is a myth. But you now know that this isn’t true. It’s a small part of why I like feeding in separate bins. BUT it sounds like you’re doing the right things for the situation, grabbing the snake on your own terms and letting him know you’re boss.
I have a boy who is an utter glutton, he thinks everything is food, and he’s on the stockier end too which just adds to it lol. I have a similar issue, whenever he’s prowling and I need to change water or spot clean, it’s a guarantee I’ll get bitten the moment I let his face near my hand. I’ve found that going in with something that doesn’t have warmth and live-ness to it (like gloves and a snake hook, or even just tongs since he’s small enough and I can just scoop him up) definitely catches him off guard and gets him into ‘handling’ mode where he just wants to explore. I’ve also come to find that just taking the loss of getting some nibbles and not reacting to it and letting him realize I’m not food has gotten him more familiar with my scent ≠ food, even if my hands are warm like a rat. Still just make sure to keep your head on straight and continue working with him!
Not a Cornsnake owner here but I have kept and still keep other voracious Colubrids lol, Kingsnakes being the worst of them in terms of food aggression.
Here are my tips/options for you:
•Accept being bitten, if the bites are tolerable for you its best to just accept a few bites here and there to get to where you want to be as far as handling goes. The more you work with your Corn the better it gets.
•Wear leather gloves while taking the snake out if you feel uncomfortable getting bit. Once your Cornsnake calms you can take the gloves off and continue with normal handling.
•Use a snake hook to remove your Cornsnake from their enclosure. This is the method I go by for most of my super aggressive Kingsnakes and completely negates the risk of being bitten at least for me. Once they realize they are out of their enclosure they typically start to relax a bit.
•Feed your Corn in a seperate container… but only do this if you feel confident that your Cornsnake will not refuse a meal. Some, but not all, snakes may get stressed being moved and fed in a different environment. This also isn’t an immediate remedy, it will take time for your Corn to realize their enclosure is not their feeding place anymore.
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I hope these tips can at least help out a little bit for you! I’m sure more experienced Corn keepers will be able to give you more advice
I like the idea of getting him to bite to realize I’m not food - because otherwise all of his stalking behavior are just failed hunts. He was just being particularly ‘prowly’ so I put some gloves on and stuck my hand in, and sure enough he immediately went straight for it but when he was close enough to ‘taste’ it he backed down. My guess is that if it was my warm hand instead of my gloved hand, he would have gone for it, but I’m not sure.
Feeding him in a separate container would probably work, I’ve only ever shown him his target in his enclosure but he is so switched on by it that I think he would go for it (and eat) in a different environment as well. I didn’t want to do that because I didn’t like the idea of handling him right after eating (to put him back) but now that he’s bigger, more robust, and less scared of me I think he would probably tolerate it fine.
