#snake behavior

[omg-snakes]

I have an adult corn snake that has refused to eat for like a month and a half. He hasnt lost 10% of his weight yet but hes getting there. He just seems hell bent on getting out and cruising around. Breeding season I guess, but he's never not eaten before. He saw a vet three months ago and was deemed fine, if a little fat. How long can they not eat? When should I seek a vet?

Thanks, hope things are going well with you.

Hello friend!

I'm sorry that your buddy is being hormonal and not eating. You can help him get past this seasonal phase by increasing his "daylight" with a lamp to simulate summer photoperiods, and if you're currently offering frozen/thaw prey you can try the brown bag trick: put him and his meal in a paper lunch bag (it doesn't have to be brown, that's just a common color), fold the top of the bag down and then put the whole sac in his cage and let him sit in there for a few hours. Sometimes not having any other stimulation can remind a snake that food is good and important.

If he doesn't snap out of it by the end of May, you may need to go back to the vet, but I'm optimistic that he's on the downward slope!

Also, I'm sorry for being so inactive lately. I'm finishing my thesis and having Life Stuff™ going on, so I'm not on the socials as much these days.

One more week to go!!

[clairedelune-13]

I think Crowley was always destined to be taken up by Mr. Tennant, cuz in the book, after the Ineffable Idiots are hit with paintballs, what does Crowley do?

TASTES THE PAINT ON HIS SHIRT 🤣🤣🤣

Who else do we know that has a habit of licking stuff?

👅🐍

[preciouspatriots]

[weirdo-with-a-nametag]

Anyone have thoughts on milk snakes and water? My honduran milk snake, Deadpool Zuko Dangernoodle, is such a character. He loves it.

He doesn't soak, and sheds perfectly, so I don't think there's a problem with hydration or humidity, but he just sticks his head in there, or climbs around his water dish, going in and out and dragging his body through the water. Just having a good time.

And one time he was exploring by my 10 gallons, and he just decided to go for a swim in the tank. I wasn't expecting him to do that, or I wouldn't have let him, but the water was as clean as it can be in a live ecosystem, and he didn't get sick, so it's just a funny anecdote.

Anyone else's snakes really enjoy water? I didn't think milk snakes were too interested in swimming before I got him, but he chooses water over climbing or digging half the time and seems to have so much fun with it!

Also, here is he:

ID: one picture of my milk snake poking his head out of a bowl of pine cones he was digging through, and one of him curled up in the corner of his tank, watching me on the other side of the glass. End ID.

[omg-snakes]

This is an interesting stress behavior that we don't see very often in corn snakes!

The tail wiggle that you see here is called caudal luring and it's distinct from the vibrational shakey-tail threat display. This is a defense maneuver!

Shakey-tail is intended to trick a potential predator into thinking the snake is a venomous rattler.

By contrast, caudal luring is a last-ditch effort to get a predator to attack a snake's thrashing tail instead of their head, while the head is focused on leading the body the heck outta danger. They may lose part of their tail, but they have a better chance of living to tell about it. Some snakes and other reptiles may use caudal luring as a hunting strategy, too!

This snake is definitely stressed, not hunting, so I recorded a 5-second clip and then focused on helping them feel safe and in control of their body by loosening my hold on them and letting them move freely through my hands. They stopped the behavior and we moved on to the next part of the handling session.

A tiny bit of stress with a positive outcome can inoculate against future stress. The goal isn't to prevent any stress from ever occurring, but to limit stress to what is necessary for proper husbandry (in this case, taking a length measurement and transferring to a feeding cup) and to work with the animal to help them overcome stress when it occurs.

[omg-snakes]

How to pick up a corn snake: A photo guide.

Image 1: A snake curled in her enclosure with her head resting on her body. Caption reads: "This is Lumi. She's sleeping, so let's gently wake her up and see if she wants to hang out!"

Image 2: The snake, still curled, with her head pointed up towards a hand which is cupped over her head. Caption reads: "I cup my hand and hold it over her head so she can sniff me without thinking I'm food."

Image 3: The snake, still curled with her head still raised slightly towards the hand, which is still cupped over her head. There is a small caption near her face that reads "sniff sniff." Main caption reads: "Hold it for 5-10 seconds."

Image 4: The snake still curled up, with her head now resting between her coils and the hand now touching the top of her body. Caption reads: "Then I gently rest my hand on her body to confirm that she's comfortable being picked up."

Image 5: The snake being held in a hand outside of her enclosure, with her body partially resting on a countertop. Caption reads: "Great Success!"

[omg-snakes]

One thing I found interesting is I've kept many snakes in my time. When I lived with my parents there was a massive mirror in the hall and sometimes I'd end up having a snake out near it. Most snakes would seem confused trying to get around the other snake that was blocking their path but both my russian rat snakes started doing that, then paused, experimentally moved a bit watching their reflection then went to see what was behind the mirror and then looked back at their reflection. I don't think they fully understood that the snake in the mirror was them but I think they knew that wasn't another snake.

That's so cool!

Rat snakes are super smart. I caught my black rat snake watching me secure their enclosure and then later they reverse-engineered how to open it from the inside.

I wonder what your snakes thought the obstacle was! I'm sure they recognized the concept of glass from their enclosures, and they may even have recognized the shape that is "snake" though it wouldn't have smelled like another snake.

It's a bummer that we'll never know.

[omg-snakes]

Are corn snakes aware of their colouration/patterning? will they like hang out in areas with similar colours/patterns or feel more comfortable when surrounded by them?

That is a really good question.

I don't think they really look at themselves much, to be honest. I've never seen a corn snake gravitate towards specific colors or patterns that match their coloration; they seem to choose comfortable textures and the feeling of being hidden (even if they're very conspicuous) over any perception of camouflage.

I know they have color vision, but I don't think they have any concept of what the differences in color might mean. I've also never seen a snake investigate a foreign object that has been placed on them, like a hat or a photo prop, unless it has a smell they find particularly interesting. They usually either accept it or try to escape the situation.

...Of course, keep in mind that I'm interacting with captive-bred corn snakes who have been in captivity for many generations, so it's entirely possible that the need for cognizance of one's own color has simply been bred out. After all, colors that might lead to severely reduced fitness in the wild actually increase the chance of a snake in captivity passing on their genes.

This is definitely something that would make an interesting behavioral study!