Question:

How do you socialize a cornsnake?

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o.k. I got a 2 year old cornsnake today. She is beauitiful . I handled her in the store and she was calm and cool. after the drive home and getting her aquarium set up, i tried to handle her and she was real jumpy. should i leave her be for a while. if so how long. she doesnt need to eat for three more days. any info is apreshtapated.she is my first snake. the store had no books on corns neither did petsmart. i will get one. I admit im not confident with snakes. im not scared, just a little unsure.so before any of you yahoo haters say anything know that i have made a commitment to the well being of the snake. just like any pet

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  1. First up, make sure you have set up her terrarium nicely. Check that your heat is set where it needs to be, as well as humidity. Have atleast 2 hides in her cage, one on each side of it. Hides make reptiles feel more secure in thir enclosure as they provide them with nice spaces to hide and have a little privacy.

    Now... leave her alone!

    Your snake has just had a drastic change in eviroment. Its different from her old home and it doesn't even smell the same. Open the cage only [ONLY] to provide fresh water and spot clean as nescessary over a period of 5-7 days. She will have time to explore on her own and get used to her new surroundings until she feels safe in it. At the fift or seventh (I prefer seventh) day, offer food. If she feels safe enough in her new home she will take the food and not regurgitate :)

    Now leave her alone again to digest her meal until the bump is no longer visible. (2-3 days usually) After all this time, you can begin by showing her your hand in slow movements so she can get used to your smell. Pick her up for a few minutes at a time , repeating for longer periods of time over the days until she no longer uncomfortable with you. If she tries to flee or snap at you, do not freak out, simply return her to her enclosure and try again later or the next day.

    Remember that right now, you are a big bad predator in her eyes.


  2. Any time a snake or other reptile is moved into a new environment, you should give it 1-2 weeks to settle down.  Don't try to move or handle her during this time and don't worry about feeding her yet.  After a week or so, you can gently lift her (I lift from around the middle) and let her slide through your hands for a few minutes.  Repeat this twice a day and gradually increase the time held.  Corns are generally very good natured and rarely bite.  In about a week, you can put her in a separate container (like a rubbermaid storage container with holes in the lid) to feed her.  Please come join the corn snake forum...it's free and there are so many wonderful expert corn people on it just waiting to help!  :)  

    Oh, I forgot to add that we recommend Kathy Love's book on corns...it's the best!  She is a member of the forums as well.  

    http://cornsnakes.com/forums/

  3. you should give her about a week to install herself in ner new environment befor handeling her.after that you can handle her every day for her to get used to you.don't forget  not to handle it a about 48 hours after feeding for her to digest her food or else she may regurgitate her food.

    you can look on those website for informations on care of cornsnakes:

    http://www.reptilecare.com/CornSnakeCare...

    http://www.thecornsnake.co.uk/corn_snake...

    http://www.carolinacornsnakes.com/update...

    http://www.answers.com/topic/corn-snake-...

  4. be sure the temps and humidity is right a good hide box you need to handle at lest once a week to keep it from getting aggressive i love my snakes and love to handle daily while they are small so they get to know me just give it time and proper caging and it should calm down for you

  5. Well that's quite understandable. My albino cali king did behave differently when i first got him home. I handled him first before i purchased him and he was fine there, but once i got him home, he rattled his tail and musked at me. That kinda scared me before (he is my 1st snake). But settle down after 2-3 days with me and he's the only snake i love the most than any other snakes i have ^^

    Okay, so your cornsnake is a bit confused and stressed on the way home when you were driving. Well, snakes do not know if it is in the car, all she knows is that she feels lots of huge vibrations and the snake would assume that predators are near her. It's completely normal for her to behave that way (just imagine that if you were that snake and to be put into a container that vibrates a lot. My dog vomited when she has her 1st car ride, guess what the snake may feel ^^)

    She also gets stressed being put into a new home, new enclosure and so on. So she needs to have some time to adjust to her new home. Depending on each individual snake, this adjusting period may vary, some snakes can adjust quickly while others may need longer time. The average is a week by the way.

    I alway spend my time everyday to handle my snakes for at least 15 minutes each snake. That will create some bonds with snakes gradually ^^

    Hope this helps ^^

  6. Oh i def. wouldn't worry. Its quite natural for them to be jumpy just after you get them. They've just had a huge change around from everything there used to, when you move house or whatever it takes you a while to settle in, yes?

    I'd leave her about 4-5 days to settle in, and make sure shes happy and not too hot/cold,

    After about then, then i would start to feed her. She wont come to any harm if you don't feed her for about a week. I hope you enjoy your new snake! I love corn snakes, what morph is she? I have loads, I love the anery ones personally.

    hope i helped! :)

    x

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