Mister Internet
New member
Hey all,
I have a healthy, HUGE male Okee corn, Kathy Love stock, who i've owned since he was a neonate... he's about 4 years old.
So, recently I got quite a surprise when I removed him from his cage for handling... he hung out on my arm for a bit and then slowly slid his head along my arm. He stopped about halfway down my lower arm, turned his head to place his nose on my arm, and then slowly opened his mouth and started walking his jaws onto my arm as if it was a friggin thawed rat.
No malice, no defense... it wasn't a "strike" at all. He just seemed to think my arm was a tasty treat.
So I let him mellow for a couple of weeks, and tried it again. I even washed both arms up my shoulders in soap, twice, and then applied a liberal dose of Purell antibacterial gel. The only thing my arm smelled like was a hospital. Same exact result... nosed up to my arms, and just latched on and started chewing on my arms as if it was a thawed prey item.
So... anyone every seen this before? The only thing I can think of is that he hasn't eaten in about 6 weeks (new baby, life happens), but he has always had fresh water every three days. Just haven't had time to do the thaw process, yada yada. I've been doing this a long time, and I know a thinning snake... he has always been fed VERY well, and he is still quite stout. So please, no emotional thrashings about me abusing my snake, I'm not interested. What I *am* interested in is finding out if anyone else has had a male corn go kind of bonkers like this... if the consensus is that hunger might play a factor, then fine, but he's about as emaciated as Rosie O'Donnell at this point. Like I said, he isn't "attacking" my arm, he's just mouthing over it like it's a dead prey item that he wants to eat, but that he's aware he doesn't have to constrict.
Like I said... weird stuff. Thoughts?
I have a healthy, HUGE male Okee corn, Kathy Love stock, who i've owned since he was a neonate... he's about 4 years old.
So, recently I got quite a surprise when I removed him from his cage for handling... he hung out on my arm for a bit and then slowly slid his head along my arm. He stopped about halfway down my lower arm, turned his head to place his nose on my arm, and then slowly opened his mouth and started walking his jaws onto my arm as if it was a friggin thawed rat.
No malice, no defense... it wasn't a "strike" at all. He just seemed to think my arm was a tasty treat.
So I let him mellow for a couple of weeks, and tried it again. I even washed both arms up my shoulders in soap, twice, and then applied a liberal dose of Purell antibacterial gel. The only thing my arm smelled like was a hospital. Same exact result... nosed up to my arms, and just latched on and started chewing on my arms as if it was a thawed prey item.
So... anyone every seen this before? The only thing I can think of is that he hasn't eaten in about 6 weeks (new baby, life happens), but he has always had fresh water every three days. Just haven't had time to do the thaw process, yada yada. I've been doing this a long time, and I know a thinning snake... he has always been fed VERY well, and he is still quite stout. So please, no emotional thrashings about me abusing my snake, I'm not interested. What I *am* interested in is finding out if anyone else has had a male corn go kind of bonkers like this... if the consensus is that hunger might play a factor, then fine, but he's about as emaciated as Rosie O'Donnell at this point. Like I said, he isn't "attacking" my arm, he's just mouthing over it like it's a dead prey item that he wants to eat, but that he's aware he doesn't have to constrict.
Like I said... weird stuff. Thoughts?
