poo problem

[chezza]

hi. out of all my snakes, the one that is causing abit of stress is the corn snake.. whenever she comes out, she has to poo! the other day it landed up on the sofa.. we dont want to just leave her in the tank unsocialised but its got to the point where no one wants to hold her much from fear of being pooed on! and to make it worse, corn snake poo is absolutly discusting (not that any kind is nice) but its like a giant bird dropping! i dont know what her issue is but, ive left her for a good few days on purpose after feeding to see if she will go toilet.. nothing... the day i get her out she does it. my daughter wasnt impressed the other week, because she came home from school, got the corn snake out, and it messed all over her uniform.. i gotta admit, i laughed, but now its not funny anymore.. does anyone know what the reason for this is? and is it possible to change this behaviour? thanks.

[presspirate]

Originally Posted by chezza

hi. out of all my snakes, the one that is causing abit of stress is the corn snake.. whenever she comes out, she has to poo! the other day it landed up on the sofa.. we dont want to just leave her in the tank unsocialised but its got to the point where no one wants to hold her much from fear of being pooed on! and to make it worse, corn snake poo is absolutly discusting (not that any kind is nice) but its like a giant bird dropping! i dont know what her issue is but, ive left her for a good few days on purpose after feeding to see if she will go toilet.. nothing... the day i get her out she does it. my daughter wasnt impressed the other week, because she came home from school, got the corn snake out, and it messed all over her uniform.. i gotta admit, i laughed, but now its not funny anymore.. does anyone know what the reason for this is? and is it possible to change this behaviour? thanks.

I think, what your corn is doing is musking. It is a defense mechanism, and yes it is foul smelling, but it serves a purpose to them

[Lankyrob]

MY rescue corn used to do the same - the solution we have found is that i am the only one that handles her. I do it when the house is quiet with no disturbances or others around. When she musked i just carried on handling her (i wore coveralls), she wants to be put back in her viv cos she is stressed, if she musks and you put her back she "learns" how to get what she wants. After about two weeks of musking every day (apart from the 2 days after feeding) she stopped.

She was great til one day my dad walked in and she musked immediately. Now (5 months on) i can get her out with others in the room and she is 99% ok - if anyone else holds her she musks.

It may be you need to get yours happy with one person and then start the process with others that handle regularly - not sure if it will work if multiple people are trying to calm it simultaneously.

Let us know how it goes!

[infernalis]

Certainly sounds like musking.

does it stink to high heaven? if so it is certainly musk.

Indicates that the snake feels scared.

[shaunyboy]

Originally Posted by Lankyrob

MY rescue corn used to do the same - the solution we have found is that i am the only one that handles her. I do it when the house is quiet with no disturbances or others around. When she musked i just carried on handling her (i wore coveralls), she wants to be put back in her viv cos she is stressed, if she musks and you put her back she "learns" how to get what she wants. After about two weeks of musking every day (apart from the 2 days after feeding) she stopped.

She was great til one day my dad walked in and she musked immediately. Now (5 months on) i can get her out with others in the room and she is 99% ok - if anyone else holds her she musks.

It may be you need to get yours happy with one person and then start the process with others that handle regularly - not sure if it will work if multiple people are trying to calm it simultaneously.

Let us know how it goes!

^^^^^
rob has it covered

musking is a defence mechanism

blood pythons have been known to hold it all in for up to 6 months then let it go all over you to get you to put them back in their tanks.

now that stuff really stinks

cheers shaun

[Lankyrob]

Just a tip - the coveralls i used were the plastic type ones that car sprayers use when painting - because of the texture the "poo" was easy to wipe off. I would cut the sleeves off tho so that the snake has contact with your skin - otherwise imo no way that it will get used to you.

[infernalis]

I did this and it works.

wear a clean tee shirt for a day.

Take it off and lay it in the snakes home.

Leave it there.

The snake will become accustomed to your scent.

[marvelfreak]

Originally Posted by infernalis

I did this and it works.

wear a clean tee shirt for a day.

Take it off and lay it in the snakes home.

Leave it there.

The snake will become accustomed to your scent.

I remember you talking about that. It was in a thread way back in like Jan or Feb if i remember correct.

[infernalis]

I did it with my milk snake when she was sick too.

She wanted to be held, and I really needed to put her down.

The shirt thing made her relax.

She's a paradox in snakes anyways, the only milk I have ever encountered that would rather be held than left alone.

I am going to be a wreck when that girl passes on someday.

My little brown snake was that way, and when she got old and passed I was depressed forever. I still bum out when I think about her.

[chezza]

i will try these tips and see what happens.. i feel sorry for her coz no one wants to hold her.. ive been through washing powder like theres no tommorrow.. and unfortunatly my sofa is material made, so that had to be stripped down and washed the other day.. no one is to hold her on the sofa from now on. ha!!!!! and yeah, it smells bad.. and looks lumpy, dark fluid with what looks like a white brain. yuk!!!

[Lankyrob]

Yup, that's musk - patience and time will solve the problem and unbelievably you can get used to the smell!!