EXTREMELY aggressive corn

[SnakeCharmed]

I have a corn which has only gotten more and more aggressive as it has grown. Tonight, after her weekly feeding, as I approached the feeding tub (in as non-threatening a manner as I can), she began viciously striking the side of the tub, dislocating her jaw on two occasions. I felt terrible about this, the poor snake had to stop and reset her jaw, and then would start striking again. I have to pick her up with a hook.

Does anyone have any suggestions how to calm this snake down, in a non-terrifying way for the snake? I avoid handling her, but that may be making the problem worse. But handling her obviously stresses her out, and I don't want to do that. Ugh... Catch 22.

Any thoughts?

[Hulihzack]

What is your set up- Temps? hides? pics?

[SnakeCharmed]

Shucks sorry I didn't think to post the vitals!
The warm side of the tank is 87 degrees, and the cool side is 74. The tank is a 15 gallon glass. Humidity is 40%. There are 2 of those half-coconut hides that she fits in coiled up. I'll try to get my hands on a camera, maybe that could help identify my problem.

Does any of the above sound "off" and perhaps contribute to her behavior?

Thanks!!

[LaFilleClochette]

are you trying to handle the snake RIGHT after her feeding? because that could be a problem...

[SnakeCharmed]

Ohhh negative... The only handling this snake receives is being scooped out of her enclosure with a hook straight to her feeding tub, and vice versa. I try to minimize her time "in transit" because it seems stressful. The lack of handling might be making the problem worse, but any handling seems to stress the snake to the point of striking violently.

To steal some words from Cesar Milan, I just want this snake to be "balanced"

[Kryptonian]

I would handle her more when shes done digesting. Get gloves or take a bite, A corn bite would be nothing. Once they bite and relize this isnt working they should calm down. Once they have settled keep them out for a little while but dont return them to thier cage when they are acting aggressive, or they will learn that aggression is getting them what they want. If ypu put them away in thier calm state they are more likely going to stay calm. I have a thick tailed gecko that this worked really well on. Her species is a more aggressive species than a leopard or crestie and they are very fast and dont hesitate to bite. I hadled her and took her bites but after alot of patient gentle handling she is now as calm as my leos, even more than some. This also worked on my at one time extremely aggressive boa who is now as calm and as tame as a puppy.

[Blue Apple Herps]

87 is a little warm IMO. I'd try to cool it down to 80-82 if possible.

Besides feeding, how often do you try and handle her? If its only for feeding she may be slowly associating you picking her up with being fed and it puts her immediately in strike mode when you pick her up. And after feeding they can sometimes be defensive, so that's not that unsurprising.

If she's aggressive all the time, then my advice is to just bite the bullet and reach in and grab her and pick her up. If you need to, don a pair of gloves. Then just continue to hold her in your hands until she calms down. Corns can be pretty active, so it may be a while. Only when she has calmed down do you put her back into her cage. Then give her a day or two off, and repeat. If you keep doing this she should eventually calm down.

99% of corns are puppy dog tame, they can be flighty sometimes, especially when they're young, but most grow out of that quickly and calm down a lot. However that 1% can be little spawns of Satan that never get out of it. You may have ended up with that 1%. Try my advice above. At the very least, she should calm down enough that you can handle her safely w/o being nervous or worry about getting bit, even if she still tail rattles and occasionally strikes.

[RichsBallPythons]

Yes 87 is above normal temp range. Corns do best with a 80-82 like stated and a low to mid 70s for cool side.

[SnakeCharmed]

Thank you for the advice on the temperature! I'll adjust that immediately. It didn't dawn on me that it was a little on the stuffy side.

I really appreciate what you guys said about handling her and will start working with her after she's done digesting. Maybe she is that 1%... But that's to be seen

I guess I'll play it by ear, it broke my heart when she struck the side of her tub so hard it pushed her jaw out of alignment.