Need advice please!!!!

We are currently in the process of buying a young snow corn from an aquaintance. Sex unknown, probably not much more than a year and a half old.
I don't think he has handled this snake much, he says when you first pick it up it is nervous and then settles down.
He wrote me today and told me that the snake acted oddly when he cleaned the tank today, it musked him and did what he called "shaking its tail" which I assumed was the cornsnake version of rattling the tail.
He did say that the snakes eyes were "milky" two days ago and are now clear. Is this anything to worry about, or did the little one not want to be messed with since it is going to shed?
I just don't want to buy an aggressive snake we won't be able to handle or manage.
Opinions?

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Originally Posted by Mina

We are currently in the process of buying a young snow corn from an aquaintance. Sex unknown, probably not much more than a year and a half old.
I don't think he has handled this snake much, he says when you first pick it up it is nervous and then settles down.
He wrote me today and told me that the snake acted oddly when he cleaned the tank today, it musked him and did what he called "shaking its tail" which I assumed was the cornsnake version of rattling the tail.
He did say that the snakes eyes were "milky" two days ago and are now clear. Is this anything to worry about, or did the little one not want to be messed with since it is going to shed?
I just don't want to buy an aggressive snake we won't be able to handle or manage.
Opinions?

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to me sounds like he was getting ready to shed and didn't want to be delt with for that day. Animals are like people they have good days and bad. corns are known for their even temperment and it should settle down once it is happy in it's new home. good luck. (you may want to wait for more people with more corn experience.)

~mike

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Mina

We are currently in the process of buying a young snow corn from an aquaintance. Sex unknown, probably not much more than a year and a half old.
I don't think he has handled this snake much, he says when you first pick it up it is nervous and then settles down.
He wrote me today and told me that the snake acted oddly when he cleaned the tank today, it musked him and did what he called "shaking its tail" which I assumed was the cornsnake version of rattling the tail.
He did say that the snakes eyes were "milky" two days ago and are now clear. Is this anything to worry about, or did the little one not want to be messed with since it is going to shed?
I just don't want to buy an aggressive snake we won't be able to handle or manage.
Opinions?

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okay, yes milky eyes and then going clear is an indication of going into shed. the reason the corn musked and rattled its tail is because they have limited vision when they go into shed and their eyes get that milky look. If your friend was cleaning the cage while the eyes where milky the corn was most likely startled by this sudden huge thing entering his environment and the snake not sure if it was friend or foe coming at him. soem corns tend to want to be left alone while in the shed phase and others couldn't care less if they get handled or not. Doesn't sound like an aggressive snake to me, more a startled snake on that day. hope this helps ya. :D

Well we don't have a corn, we have a milksnake who is amazingly calm natured for a colubrid but my instincts would say much the same. Likely just startled and in it's shed cycle and not wanting to be messed with. Colubrids tend to be flighty and nervous when young but then I figure you would be too if you were that small and a lot of stuff wanted to eat you LOL. Personally Mina I wouldn't worry about it much. If the snake is normally quite calm and you let it settle in properly, handle it calmly and establish routines with it, it will likely do just fine over time.

I don't have much more to contribute that hasn't already been said.
But from a personal stand point, I would be worried about purchasing a corn from someone who obviously didn't know how to care for it, as they had no idea that the snake was in blue for shedding...

Understood, but that is WHY I am buying it. It is eating well so far and I want to get it to my home where it can be cared for properly. I'm concerned for this little angel, and I want him or her to have a good home.

Well Mina it comes to this then. If you are taking on a snake from a less than ideal background you are going to have to expect some issues with it. Any snake can stress out from a rehoming situation but if it's not in great shape to begin with or had poor handling then you will likely face some problems with it. Doesn't mean you shouldn't get it, just means that you need to be realistic that it may not be an easy snake to deal with at first. It may take a lot of time and patience to turn the snake around, or it may settle in very nicely. You really won't know until you have it. Then just work the problems, deal with the most important stuff first (health, housing, husbandry, feeding, etc.) and the handling will come along in it's own good time.

That is what I figured. From what I've been told this little guy is acting out in fear, not aggression anyway.

I just want what is best for him, and I guess I'm hoping that we could be it. I did just find out that he was purchased from Petco around 5/12/06.
I may be checking back in for advice, and, of course, to post pics of our new little one.

I really believe with most snakes it is fear driven, not a purely aggressive behaviour. I'm not saying every snake will accept handling, that would be unrealistic but I think most can be worked with enough to not be as terrified of it. All I know is my own experience with Brannagh and I think if that snake can become calm, just about any snake can. She was truly and awesomely difficult at first and we purposely kept our expections very low for her. I think if you just work with a goal in mind, keep the steps simple and repetitive, keep yourself as calm as possible (I truly believe snakes pick up our signals of fear) and just expect little steps and backsliding with more little steps to follow, then you'll do fine. :)

Thanks for the encouragement, Jo. I also think a lot of the recent happenings, (the musking and the tail shaking) had to due with the fact that he was due to shed very soon.
Toby, our other corn, couldn't care less if you handle him when he is in blue or about to shed. Dax, on the other hand, gets grumpy and does not want to be touched. This one could just belong to the "I'm going to shed, leave me alone, I'm uncomfortable" camp. I also wonder if he didn't just snatch him out of the cage with little or no warning. I don't think the current owner knows a whole lot about snakes. He already told me he didn't offer food last week because the snakes eyes were "milky".