Different size corns living together!

Hi all, just a moment of your time, and an ounce of your wisdom, I have 2 corn snakes, one an adult male of 5 years which i have been left as a friend has left the country, and a 1 year old which even at 28" long is tiny by comparison, I just want peoples opinion on housing them, with the adult i inherited a huge viv and would love to be able to house them together, however when trying to introduce the two the big one looked like it was feeding time,


any ideas or recommendations would be appreciated,

cheers

rob

Go to 'search' and type cohabitation; you'll get quite a bit of information that will help you make your decision. While some will say housing together is OK, the majority will suggest you don't for a multitude of reasons.

My .02 is that you house them seperately; it'll be less stressful and in the event of regurg or poop problems, will help you identify the culprit.

Oh yeah, that snake eating snake is also a factor.

cheers! looks like im gonna be busy this weekend! hmmm dont ya just love DIY

A few things to be concerned about when co-habitating are:
Health issues, parasites and all that nasty stuff. If one snake gets it, they both will.
Regurging, you would necessarily know for sure who puked if this happens.
Stress, some corns don't seem to mind company, others might. I've watched an observed an believe that most corns don't get stressed by having a little company. Many people disagree with that.
Breeding, If you have a boy and a girl you're going to get eggs. If the girl is too small that's a big problem. If you're not ready for eggs that could be another.
Feeding, you'll have to feed them separate. I believe feeding related accidents are repressible for 99% of corn snake cannibalism. If two snakes start eating the same mouse, one will end up swallowing the others and won't stop until his belly can't hold any more.

So there you go. It can be done quite successfully but that doesn't mean it should be done.

Change of subject Rob, whereabouts in Leicester you live? I'm in Wigston.

Here in the States we are not so fond of cohabing snakes. The problem with your two is the huge size difference. Do not keep them together unless you want the larger one to eat the smaller one.

Yeah, I used to have 3 corns together and decided it was best to separare them. Its all around better.

A breeder I know successfully cohabs her snakes BUT (big but! lol)
1. They are all the same size
2. They are of the same gender (you have not mentioned the sex of your smaller snake)
3. They are fed seperately.

Personally, I do not think cohab is a good idea unless the 3 rules above are adhered to and you really know what you are doing... but that's just me...

Your little snake could get VERY stressed (I doubt the adult will eat it but it might...) being with an adult. Bigger snakes are often bullies and then there's always the risk of the adult accidentally damaging the little one just because its so much bigger and stronger...

Here is a link to read:
http://www.cornsnakes.com/forums/showthread.php?t=48059

suecornish said:

Here in the States we are not so fond of cohabing snakes. The problem with your two is the huge size difference. Do not keep them together unless you want the larger one to eat the smaller one.

Click to expand...

Co-habbing is discouraged in the UK as well. Some people do it, but then again some people in the States do it as well.

I agree with the other posters - co-habbing isn't a good idea. Cornsnakes don't seem to have the capacity to enjoy the company of another sharing their living space. They want to be alone.

hi dave! i live just off narborough road! Wigston is good for snakes, what with scales and tails and the rainforest you really cant go wrong!

big male/small female definitely no. big female/small male? it works for me.

try introducing them to each other over a period of days/weeks and see what type of response you get. that will give you some sort of idea as to wether or not it's a good idea.

i was in a similar situation last year. i was given an adult (8ish years old) and during one of it's 'walkabouts' (i used to give it restricted access to my living room on an evening, yes i know :grin01: ) and it was during one of these 'area familiarisation evenings' that i managed to lose track of her. and thought "it's gone. and has decided to check out the big wide world"

i bought a new one (9 months old) a few days later to replace it and got a small faunarium to accomodate it in because the tank i was given originally was huge.

a few days later the big one must have decided that wherever she had been was too cold to put up with and happened to quietly slither into the living room where i was sat. big problem - two snakes, one tank. my idea was to see how the bigger of the two took to the little one, if it did at all. i initially put the faunarium into the tank, but it was covered all round with a piece of hessian(cloth) to create a darkened area. and over the next few weeks
i increased the amount of hessian i was using so that the bigger snake became aware of the faunarium and could see the other snake. and likewise the small one could see the bigger one. there did not seem to be any "ooh, that looks good enough to eat" type actions from the big snake.

next step was to physically introduce them to each other. this i did by holding the big one to make sure it couldn't make any sudden "eat it" moves. they checked each other out and were ok with it. the step after that was to allow the little one free run of the tank. and over the next couple of weeks i increased the amount of time i was allowing the little one to spend in the tank . at this point it was still going back into the faunarium at night. finally after about 4 weeks of letting them get used to each other i put the small one into the tank they are quite happy.

that was in october last year and there has never been any dramas with them