Quote Originally Posted by Bogertophis View Post
Rat snakes (including corns) are more scent-oriented, whereas BPs tend to rely on heat signatures so they might not "get" your scent the way a rat snake will. But it doesn't hurt to give them all the cues you can- snakes can't hear & don't see that well (other than "motion" which can be either prey or predator coming their way), so if you want calm snakes, do your best to communicate thru any means you can. It really helps. They recognize our touch also, but a snake that's thinking "prey" can be hard to approach safely to touch them- that's where "tap (or "hook") training" comes in. I prefer to avoid bites- not that bites from harmless snakes are a big deal, because they're not- but I want my snakes to feel "safe" with me, & communication any way we can truly helps that.

You're asking good questions & I'm glad you got this job- the snakes (& other staff there) needs someone like you, that's asking the right questions & working to improve things.
Makes sense. I figure the more cues the better. I definitely didn't know rat snakes were scent-orientated so that is very good information to know. I just want to expand not only my own knowledge but to help others like coworkers and the public to have the knowledge to properly take care of these animals. Information is always changing as we learn more so we have to constantly be learning and expanding our knowledge.

Just so I'm getting as much knowledge from you as possible, we also have an Eastern Kingsnake. I know he's another colubrid and he's also an adult. Should he also be on the same feeding schedule as our corn?

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