We were given a corn snake, and told he is a bit nippy. I want to pick him up to see, because I prefer him to be a handled snake. I was just wondering what a bite was like, if he does nip me....

ive never been bitten by my corn, though i have been bitten by my red tail. i was dangling a moue with just my hand to get his attention, and he caught me off guard, missed the mouse, but caught my thumb.
i didnt hurt really at all, i mean, you can feel it! but not in a bad painful kind of way. because i wasnt even really concidering the possibility of him biting me, it really startled me, and it did draw some blood....
however! if a larger snake were to bite you, im sure it would cause a little more pain, seeing as how their teeth grow, along with their muscle mass, which makes it a lot stronger bite.....

ARE you trying to scare me, LOL???? Our corn is about the size of yours, in your photos, gadd19. Can I ask how you feed your corn, F/t or F/k or live? He hasn't eaten since we've had him. We've tried and he has tried. It's a long story. Our ball eats live, so we are finding it difficult with F/K.

i got tagged a couple of weeks ago by my 2.5 foot bronze corn it was more of a shock than it hurting as hes usually as nice as pie, mind you iwas trying to get him in the feeding tub and i think he got a whiff of the fuzzy turned to come out and as i put my hand there to stop him he must have thought same colour/same size and bingo. time to get a bigger tub lol

I was bite by my kingsnake a few weeks ago. It startled me more than anything. Still a bit scared...why I don't know because I didn't feel it. It left a mark but no blood. Mine is about 2 feet long, little head, thankfully small teeth :wink:

But my mother, who has never held a snake in her life, came over to hold Otto. She didn't have a fear so I guess I shouldn't either.

Hope everything goes well and he gets used to you quick!

Becca

why of course you can janice! my snakes happily take f/t mice just laying there. all i do is put some papertowels on a portion of the substrate, and place a frozen thawed mouse on it. usually it takes them about 30 secs. to sense it, and then they start swallowing without striking or constricting(took a little while for them to not strike or constrict).
but if your corn hasnt eaten, try dangling a mouse, and "tease" him with it. thus consists of you dangling it close to his nose, and then back away. try even touching his tail with the mouse(this will get his attention)....

and i reccomend switching your ball to f/t as well. you probably dont think it matters, or that a rodent wouldnt hurt your snake ever, but trust me....i thought that too at one point. i have witnessed a corn being bitten and scratched by a live mouse because she missed the mouse when she struck, but caught its tail, and tried to squish the mouse against the glass...(not a pretty sight, the mouse got a couple bites in on her)...

No, I know it matters. We run the risk with our Ball, every time we feed him. Even though the pet store swears he is captive, we have never been able to get him to eat anything but live. I think, because we already have them, we will use f/k. Do you feed yours rats or mice?

I work in a reptile pet shop and I personally have never been bitten *yet* by a corn.. However I have been struck at by a rather grumpy carpet python, It doesn't hurt, its just the inital shock of getting bitten which freaks you out, that was about 3 months ago now and im still very nervous around most adult snakes due to that..

Also Janice, balls are pain to get eating in the first place -.- We try to scent our mice with chicks but its still a royal pain to make them eat.. even the adults >.< Live is better than nothing though

A short primer on non-venemous snake bites in my experience (40 years or so)-

I hear a lot of "doesn't hurt" in this thread. I'm not sure if folks are just trying to sugar-coat things or if you've never been properly bitten. True, a strike doesn't generally hurt but a good grab from anything above a ringneck usually does; from anything over 2 feet long or so you'll have some pain and a little blood. From anything over 4 feet you'll have more of both. From any large (6 foot plus) snake it can become a serious few minutes. You're doing a disservice to novice herpers by not preparing them for when (not if) that happens.

Most bites are the result of feeding response, known as "SFAs (stupid feeding accidents). Primary cause is feeding the snake in its regular cage and not handling it regularly. The snake comes to associate its cage being openned with chow time. Result is a bite. Another common cause is reaching in your snake cage after handling prey items (or anything he might associate with food). Some snakes are just "bitey" regardless of feeding methods. My son has a Mexican black king between 3 and 4 feet long. It bites me fairly regularly and its not a pleasent experience. When he gets my finger and is able to get his mouth attached well it hurts and it bleeds a bit too. Getting bit by a large constrictor is a much more serious issue and will cause pain and bleeding in proportionally greater amounts.

The key thing to remember when bitten is that the snake is not trying to hurt you. It has a brain the size of a BB and sometimes they screw up. The best way to get them to release is to lay the snake down, generally they let go pretty quickly. Some folks keep a little whiskey nearby, a small splash in the snakes mouth is supposed to cause a release.

Any non-poisonous snake bite should be washed well with soap and water, treated with neosporin (or your favorite flavor of antibiotic goop) and bandaged only if needed. I've never heard of an allergic reaction but I suppose one can be allergic to just about anything so I don't deny the possibility.

Minor bites are part of the game, just like feeding animals to snakes is. One should be prepared to deal with these things when they choose to take in a snake.

As to the original question, yes, I've been grabbed by corns and other rat snakes. Unless its a large specimen its not bad

Tom

Have you ever been bitten by a rat? That hurts. We have one, that you just can't go near if she is pregnant or has babies. She has bitten me 3 or 4 times. If only Sampson could eat adult rats, I tell you....But she is a good mom, and her cagemate, Rosy would miss her.

heh, yea, rats hurt too! I, however, have a boa who takes my revenge on rats that bite me

ive only ever fed mice, but just yesterday actually, i bought a couple pinky rats for my boa. i really wanna get him on rats(more nutritious, not to mention, mice wont be big enough in his adulthood)
wait a minute....you breed rats right janice? maybe if and when i get him on rats, maybe you could be my supplier rather than super pet!

Iv never been bitten by a rat.. A hamster a couple of times by rats have always been kinda pleasent towards me !

"hear a lot of "doesn't hurt" in this thread. I'm not sure if folks are just trying to sugar-coat things or if you've never been properly bitten. True, a strike doesn't generally hurt but a good grab from anything above a ringneck usually does; from anything over 2 feet long or so you'll have some pain and a little blood. From anything over 4 feet you'll have more of both. From any large (6 foot plus) snake it can become a serious few minutes"

Ahh.. My bite was off a young Carpet python that had just been fed.. he must have been 3ft ish... It bled a little bit and I had a nice little perfect round circle of dots from his teeth on my wrist for a few days.. he coiled round my arm and struck, however let go once he realised I wasn't food.. It didn't hurt me, it just took me by suprise and stung a tad

As long as they let go fast its not a biggie. When that BB brain takes a few minutes to decide wether or not you are food and the snake tries to work you skin down its throat it starts to sting a bit more!

Worst bite I ever had was about 2 months ago. I was reaching in to get my 7' boa out and I guess I startled him. In any case he grabbed me on the inside of my forearm and instantly took a wrap. Here I am standing on a stool with my arms down an 18 inch deep cage with a snake as big around as my upper arm chewing on my forearm, my other hand trying to keep him from taking more wraps. Nobody else home to help me, whiskey in the freezer in the next room, blood pouring down my arm.

It took about 2 minutes to get him off but it felt like an hour. That was the one and only time he's ever bitten me.

Yea, I broke several rules, most importantly to never handle a giant snake alone. The lesson for me is not to get complacent with a snake, any snake.

Of course!!! I am thinking about getting more snake, because we have so many rats. 19, and that doesn't count the 2 littlers of babies that were just born.

Is it better to place your corn snake in a tub of some sort to feed it?

I got bit by one of my corns a week ago he is about three feet now. I was hold him and talking to my dad that came over to viest my apartment when my corn grab my thumb. I had no idea that I had evan be bitten untill my dad said that the snake was latched on my thumb. It bled a bit but there was no pain at all involved.

I need an answer soon. Thanx.

Yes, it is better to feed any snake out of its enclosure, so the snake doesn't associate you sticking your hand in there with feeding time.

That makes sense. I questioned because somone said that their snake hated being taken out of its enclosure and being put in another to feed. He said that it would bite him when he went to puit it back in its enclosure.

That's called feeding response.

My personal experience with my ball python, blood python, cali kind, sanoloan milksnake and hognose is that I feed them all in their tanks and have never had an issue with a feeding response except with my kingsnake who is psycho and even now he never associates my hand with food to the point where he bites. That being said most of what I hear (experienced) people advise is that there can be a problem with associating your hand with a food item so I may just be lucky with mine. I'd say if you don't have a good deal of experience with snakes your best bet is to feed outside it's cage.

We feed ours in their enclosures, but I've been told many times that taking the snake out is best. With our ball, we thought taking it out would stress it out more, when we were first trying to get it to feed. It depends on who you ask, I guess. I was trying to give the more 'politically correct' response,

Yeah I usually don't make any comments about feeding outside the cage because it probably is the best method to use. If you use a particulate substrate then it's pretty much mandatory you feed outside the snake's cage. As far as 'politically correct' goes if the subject matter may harm the animal I'm usually more reserved. I didn't take into consideration the substrate being a factor either.

My stepson was bitten by his albino cornsnake (3-ft long) on his finger last week. It drew a little blood and scared him a little. The snake was hungry at the time, needed to be fed, and then he had just handled our baby chinese water dragon, so he probably smelled that. I think it taught him a less to not put off the snakes feeding, even for a few days which he had.

http://unoriginal.co.uk/newvideos/UNORIGIN...Anaconda%20.wmv

Try that to see what being bitten by a large snake is like....

That poor snake.lol. Did you see how far they stretched his lip? lol.

Yea, that wasn't the best but I can imagine how badly that was hurting the guy, they had to get him off.

I'm more concerned about the snake. like alot more.

Heh, you wouldn't be if it was clamped on your arm

Wow, wouldn't that just suck. I'm not so afraid of a little corn snake, LOL.

True, but I would make sure they didn't hurt it too badly.

I'm sure it wasn't hurt. A snake like that is extremely tough...

But still, hurting a snake is hurting me, so we got us a problem. J/k

officialherpfreak, put em up, put em up!!!

Janice, Bring it old lady! J/K

very very funny. That's the first time I've ever been called that, LOL. cute, very cute.

Yeah, i'm sure your not THAT old. :roll:

Janice, you breed your snakes? What kind?

I thought you had to push your arm in further to unlatch it from the snakes teeth as they point backwards. He was twisting his arm so it's his own fault. Poor snake, probably just hungry - give it a sheep, it'll be fine then.

No, I don't breed snakes, I only have ball python and a corn snake. i don't think it's physically possible to breed these two, LOL.

A sheep seems suitable, Gargoyle.

Haha! I wonder what the babies would look like? Interesting for sure!

i have a 3 foot corn i got a few month ago and are still nervous but handel it regular and have never been biten yet

garybingham what colour morph is your corn?

My okeetee corn struck at me today. He thought i had food, but he didn't bite me, just stopped when he realised it wasn't.

Wow lucky! lol I'd still be freaked out by it

I am, but I can't be. I really like him. It seemed as if was accidental, so I'm sure it was nothing.

Let him bite you next time. Seriously, then you know and won't be so scared.

Then I know what?