corn behaviour change!!!

[AndrewBobDrew]

I recently added a great looking new tank to my collection. I did travel with my snakes for a while today and eventually tonight put my two corns into their tanks. My 18 month old corn though seems very restless in the new tank and got really upset when i got close looking at it and it struck at me and hit the glass. this has never happened before. should i leave it for a few days or try handling it asap to calm it down a little. whats going on?

[Cruciform]

His new home has probably left him feeling completely exposed. It doesn't feel the same or smell the same, and things are probably laid out differently.

It's just like culture shock.

Give him a few days to relax and get used to his new surroundings. Don't pick him up until he's back into his normal routines. :)

[AndrewBobDrew]

well i have given some time to settle in but wow he is still so unfriendly. what should i do? he has never been like this before and as soon as i take his hide out or something or try to get him he just assumes his strike position and well being kinda new to snakes not keen for that first bite well even if he's going to do it. The other thing is that his new cage has a front sliding glass while his first one had top sliding glass. can he be getting nervous and threatened cos i am trying to pick him up from another angle. this is really frustrating me and just want him to be calm and gentle again. mmmmm........oh and he refused to eat which has never happened!:(

[sapphire_moon]

well for one don't rip the hide off of the top of him.

How big is the tank and how big is he? You might try adding more hides and leaving him alone for 2 wks. no attempt to feed, no handling anything.

[vanderkm]

It is possible he is nervous about the different approach you take when opeing the cage and it can take a while for snakes to settle into a new enclosure - even corns that are relatively tolerant. Some seem to need quite a bit of time, but the aggression is suprising in a snake that was quite tame before.

More hide areas is a good idea, especially if the new cage is bigger than the old one. It is also important to make sure the environment has the right temperature range (not too hot - that seems to stress them out) and is not in an area where he is disturbed.

Is it possible he is coming into a shed? While some of ours were not aggressive in shed when they were very young, when they hit about 10 months old they started being reluctant to eat and getting quite defensive when shedding.

It may be frustrating for you, but it would not hurt to leave him alone for several weeks - no handling except to clean the cage. Just offer food once a week - it may take 3 weeks to complete a shed cycle, but don't worry if he isn't eating for a while. We have had individual snakes that did not feed for 6 months after we bought them, transported them and put them in a new enclosure. No harm will come to the snake from not being handled and I would definately avoid trying to handle him until he is feeding reliably again.


good luck with him,

mary v.

[AndrewBobDrew]

thanks everyone for the help

well i put him in his new tank on the 28th May and well he has been pretty grumpy ever since. What he did do last night though was shed but that has never really phased him much with his behaviour? Would that have effected him for the two weeks?He is a good 75 cm long and the new tank is 84 X 36 X 36 melamine with sliding front glass. his old one was just a bit smaller and was an aquarium. He was out last night probably getting ready to shed but lately has realy not liked being touched, not so much striking but jerking away. what you make of things?should i just get him out and make him get used to me again? I think maybe i should just leave him but maybe he was just going through a bad shed and the stress of a new tank and the shed was stressing him out

[DaddysLiLGal]

Maybe you should move him back to his old tank for a while. If he calms down then you should try to handle him every day, except after feeding him.