Addressing snake aggression / cage aggression

[BFT12890]

Hey all I had a question regarding snake aggression when getting them out of their cages. My Corn snake (he's a little guy 70~ grams) 9 times out of 10 will try to tag me when I go to get him out of his cage (he is fine once he is in my hand). My question is this,

Is it better to just reach in, pick him up, take the hit and then continue to hold him as he calms down, should I leave him alone and try later when he's not as feisty, or should I let him slither around a little, get worn out and then pick him up? I never had this issue with my ball so I never thought about it, I don't mind getting tagged (obviously I prefer to avoid it) but I don't want him to become accustom to this behavior and would like to try to eliminate it before he gets bigger.

Any advice or stories you all could share would be greatly appreciated, I know that unnecessary tags can be potentially harmful for the snake (if they lose a tooth and the spot becomes infected or what have you)/ I used a baby corn snake as an example, but id like to get more/bigger snakes down the road and Id like to know how to handle this if the situation ever arises with a different snake.

Thanks in advance!

Cliffs:
Snake is cage happy (likes to bite)
OP doesn't mind getting tagged would prefer to avoid it for my safety and the snakes
Wants to know but approach to handle cage aggression in terms of getting snake out of cage

[Daybreaker]

Some of my snakes were/are somewhat defensive while in their tubs: this includes a SSTP who's calmed down considerably, a Hog Island BCI who can still get grumpy, and a young coastal carpet who sounds much like your corn (she's bit me more often than all my other snakes: pic below).

My advice (that's worked for me) is to just go right in there and pick him up. I found that not hesitating and being confident when approaching the snake makes the overall experience a lot less stressful for the snake and handler. As long as your not grabbing him aggressively, rough, or too hard I bet he'll calm down in time. If he bites you don't put him away right away: he'll learn that that's a way to get out of being handled, only put him away when he calms down.

As for breaking a tooth I've yet to have any snakes get hurt from tagging me. Possible, but seems uncommon.

[S.I.R.]

We have a large bull snake that is basically a pet. He can be cage aggressive. Not sure if this is the best way, but we pull open his tub and let him come out on his own. Once out a little ways, he lets us pick him up with no problems. Hope this helps, it seems to work well for us. Good luck!

[BFT12890]

Some of my snakes were/are somewhat defensive while in their tubs: this includes a SSTP who's calmed down considerably, a Hog Island BCI who can still get grumpy, and a young coastal carpet who sounds much like your corn (she's bit me more often than all my other snakes: pic below).

My advice (that's worked for me) is to just go right in there and pick him up. I found that not hesitating and being confident when approaching the snake makes the overall experience a lot less stressful for the snake and handler. As long as your not grabbing him aggressively, rough, or too hard I bet he'll calm down in time. If he bites you don't put him away right away: he'll learn that that's a way to get out of being handled, only put him away when he calms down.

As for breaking a tooth I've yet to have any snakes get hurt from tagging me. Possible, but seems uncommon.

Alright thanks! I've tried the confident approach and got tagged three times before he was out of the cage lol. Guess ill have to just keep at it. Im not aggressive when entering, but darn he is QUICK when he wants to get away lol.

Thanks for the advice, and gorgeous carpet! ive heard they have a reputation for being a little aggressive at times.

We have a large bull snake that is basically a pet. He can be cage aggressive. Not sure if this is the best way, but we pull open his tub and let him come out on his own. Once out a little ways, he lets us pick him up with no problems. Hope this helps, it seems to work well for us. Good luck!

Ive heard of several people doing that with their larger snakes, unfortunately my corn is only about 2 feet long and his cage is about 4 feet of the ground. So as of now I cant use that option :[ thanks for the input though, this is definitely a technique I will keep in mind when I enter the red tail/dumerils world.