| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| n/a |
Posted - 02/11/2009 : 21:12:47
hi, i have 2 corns.
my baby, Sam. (1 foor and a half)
and another one i got from my mate (3 foot and a half.)
the one i got from my mate, well what can i say, noone can put their hands in his vivarium.... all he does is strike at us.
What is the best way to get him hand tame?
wb ASAP
Thanks
*Moved* |
| 6 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| Kellog |
Posted - 03/11/2009 : 03:42:39
Hi Trapidz. It sounds like you have been given the best advice already. I am not sure how long you have had your mate's snake but I do wonder how often it had been handled and how it had been treated.
I would treat it like a new snake. Leave it alone without handling for a week, only putting your hand in to change water daily and fiddle with substrate so that he gets used to your smell. Stay well away from him so he doesnt feel threatened. Putting something in the viv that smells of you will help as well.
The rattling and striking are just defensive actions. Have you got as far as getting him out of the viv and handling him? Does he calm down? I would handle him for only small periods of time, building it up slowly as you and the snake get more confident.
When getting him out of the viv do it nice and calmly, no sudden movement and try not to be nervous (easier said than done I know!).
I am not sure where he has been fed in the past, but would also advise feeding him outside the viv in a feeding box and using tongs...so he doesnt get your scent when he feeds and also doesnt associate feeding with a hand coming into his viv.
I think if you could cope it would be good to try and do this without using gloves or a snake hook, but you may have to resort to those if necessary. A bite shouldnt (I hope) hurt too much. Just try not to react too violently, you must not pull him off you but wait for him to let go.
Please let us know how you are doing with him.
xxx |
| eeji |
Posted - 02/11/2009 : 22:29:14
tail rattling is his way of saying go away and leave me alone, just as the striking is.
the easiest way to get him out of the viv is make a snake hook from something (radiator paint rollers are perfect for this) and use that, or some gardning gloves. with the gloves he'll probably still strike at you which will most likely still make you jump a mile :D |
| Chimp276 |
Posted - 02/11/2009 : 22:23:14
Yeah he rattles his tail to make him self look bigger then he is, like above it means he is scared of you!
Give him some time to settle in then be brave :) |
| n/a |
Posted - 02/11/2009 : 22:07:58
Ok, he is rattling his tail to try and act like a tough guy. It basically means he is scared of you.
If you have just got him from your friend then i would suggest you leave him alone for a week to settle into his new surroundings... only going into his vivarium to change the water once a day, you will find that he will calm down just from that.
You will find that corns don't have massively long teeth, they are really quite small and very sharp so the actual bite does not hurt at all. |
| n/a |
Posted - 02/11/2009 : 21:46:49
thanks :) i will try the t-shirt 1 first...
also he shakes his tail like a rattle snake, what does this mean?
it would hurt if his vanges went into me  lol
wb |
| n/a |
Posted - 02/11/2009 : 21:40:52
This is called being vivarium defensive. You will probably find that when the snake is outside of the vivarium it is soft as anything.
There are things you can try to tame them, one is to get him used to your smell (if you have recently got him) by putting a worn t-shirt in with him overnight so he gets used to your smell and doesn't see it as a threat.
Another thing you can do is feed him outside of his vivarium so that he does not associate things entering with food... many people use a feeding box to feed their snakes in.
If you can can handle taking a bite (they do not hurt anyway) then you can show him that biting will not scare you away, after a while of this he should learn that it is not scaring you away and stop striking. |
