2 corns in 1 cage

[starsevol]

My cohab story is posted in detail in my forum.....
basically it goes like this...I have always been against cohabbing but had to due to a heater malfunction in a rack that almost started a fire.
I put 2 male corns together because I had no other place to put them while the new rack was being shipped.
One corn turned out to be a female, and I did not know until she laid eggs....or started to lay eggs....
She became eggbound and in spite of vet visits and treatment, she died.
One of the few eggs that survived is the little guy in my avatar. His name is Kato.
I love him dearly but he came at a terrible price.........

Here is Kato now......

 

[Snakeman Charlie]

Thats all ive ever done with mine they've always been fine in fact they've all mated with each other and ive never had any probems.
if u do just be carefull that if there use to living on their own their alright:dancer:

 

[Snakeman Charlie]

try and make sure their the same age and same weight if possible the same breed

 

[danielle]

The thing about telling people cohabbing is fine is that its not- you've just been lucky. You can't train a snake to like company their non social animals, you can't train a snake to not eat the other- their opportunistic feeders who eat regardless of hunger, and just because it hasn't happened to you yet means nothing.

You can't be careful see above so while cohabbing is your thing and your business btw- don't advocate poor care because thats what cohabbing is

 

[diamondlil]

Thats all ive ever done with mine they've always been fine in fact they've all mated with each other and ive never had any probems.
if u do just be carefull that if there use to living on their own their alright:dancer:

So what about females that aren't quit in breeding condition? Do you just co-hab pairs you want to breed then seperate when they're gravid, or do you house them together permanently? What do you see as the benefits to co-habbing?

 

[Snakeman Charlie]

So what about females that aren't quit in breeding condition? Do you just co-hab pairs you want to breed then seperate when they're gravid, or do you house them together permanently? What do you see as the benefits to co-habbing?

You shouldn't put a female in with a male if its not older nough because it can cause the female trouble like her being to small.

Well i keep them together permantly unless theirs a problem:wavey:

 

[starsevol]

You shouldn't put a female in with a male if its not older nough because it can cause the female trouble like her being to small.

Well i keep them together permantly unless theirs a problem:wavey:

But stress IS a problem, even if you can't see it.

 

[starsevol]

Snakeman Charlie, you are the one who thinks that "semi albino amelanistic' is a morph and that snakes come in "breeds" like dogs and cats.
Seriously, you should not be telling newbies that co habbing is ok, it isn't.
Please take the time to learn about cornsnakes before you start handing out advice.......

 

[Cornsnake124]

Snakeman Charlie, you are the one who thinks that "semi albino amelanistic' is a morph and that snakes come in "breeds" like dogs and cats.
Seriously, you should not be telling newbies that co habbing is ok, it isn't.
Please take the time to learn about cornsnakes before you start handing out advice.......

You must spread some Reputation around before giving it to starsevol again.

:bowdown: [ten char]

 

[Stars]

My cohab story is posted in detail in my forum.....
basically it goes like this...I have always been against cohabbing but had to due to a heater malfunction in a rack that almost started a fire.
I put 2 male corns together because I had no other place to put them while the new rack was being shipped.
One corn turned out to be a female, and I did not know until she laid eggs....or started to lay eggs....
She became eggbound and in spite of vet visits and treatment, she died.
One of the few eggs that survived is the little guy in my avatar. His name is Kato.
I love him dearly but he came at a terrible price.........

Hypothetically speaking, if a heater malfunction happened, wouldn't it be wiser to just put the room temp around 80degrees and just not feed until you had a new UTH? In case it ever happened to me is why I'm asking

 

[starsevol]

Hypothetically speaking, if a heater malfunction happened, wouldn't it be wiser to just put the room temp around 80degrees and just not feed until you had a new UTH? In case it ever happened to me is why I'm asking

You are right, it would have been wiser...except that this was a lidless rack system and one of the bins actually had half of the bottom burned out of it. There was nowhere else to put her! Literally.........
this also happened before I joined this site and learned about the joys and wonders of sterlite tubs and soldering irons

 

[cyclone]

easy

Anyone that owns a snake knows their snake. Ya you can keep them together but always follow the rules.

In the wild snakes are mostly solitary, but they do come together at night, and to hybernate. They are only solitary when hunting and traveling, but thats in the wild.

Most snakes you buy from a store or a breeder are captive and through the yrs of breeding captive they have had time to change their ways. Take out the hunting and traveling and you have a social snake.

You must always watch the snakes when you put them together, make sure they are ok with eachother. If two males are housed together look out for fighting especially in breeding season seperate at that time. Always feed out of the enclosure in seperate tubs and always wait 30-45 min before putting them back. Two females seem to be the best case senario, in my experiance.

Now I build enclosures for snakes that have enough room for two or more so you definitly need lots of room. You cant use a 20-50 gallon for two corns or kings a 50+ gallon is best. With kings you need to watch more closely and they need to be well feed, if one stops eating seperate them immediatly.

 

[Cornsnake124]

Anyone that owns a snake knows their snake. Ya you can keep them together but always follow the rules.

Not true. its NOT ok to keep them together.

In the wild snakes are mostly solitary, but they do come together at night, and to hybernate. They are only solitary when hunting and traveling, but thats in the wild.

Not true again. The only time they come together on purpose is to breed. The only other time they have contact with other snakes is when they stumble upon them.

Most snakes you buy from a store or a breeder are captive and through the yrs of breeding captive they have had time to change their ways. Take out the hunting and traveling and you have a social snake.

No you don't. Its an INSTINCT. You can never take that out of a snake. They have an instinct not to be social, and to stick to themselves. So your theory of altering this snakes brain system is false.

 

[danielle]

Anyone that owns a snake knows their snake. Ya you can keep them together but always follow the rules.

In the wild snakes are mostly solitary, but they do come together at night, and to hybernate. They are only solitary when hunting and traveling, but thats in the wild.

Most snakes you buy from a store or a breeder are captive and through the yrs of breeding captive they have had time to change their ways. Take out the hunting and traveling and you have a social snake.

You must always watch the snakes when you put them together, make sure they are ok with eachother. If two males are housed together look out for fighting especially in breeding season seperate at that time. Always feed out of the enclosure in seperate tubs and always wait 30-45 min before putting them back. Two females seem to be the best case senario, in my experiance.

Now I build enclosures for snakes that have enough room for two or more so you definitly need lots of room. You cant use a 20-50 gallon for two corns or kings a 50+ gallon is best. With kings you need to watch more closely and they need to be well feed, if one stops eating seperate them immediatly.

This is one of the most uneducated statements I have ever seen on this forum...and thats saying a lot!!

Snakes are not social in the wild ever including during breeding season- they mate as an instinct and not a social event like us humans, they do not hybrinate together, or travel in packs period.

They do not like sharing their space and when forced to do so experience stress ALWAYS. If you feel the need to cohab do not support thjis practice with false information. Snakes do not cuddle- they compete for space and warm spots and no cage is big enough for more than one snake long term. One day your going to learn your lesson the hard way, but in the meantime research your current beliefs on snakes, their behavior, and husbandry needs.

If one of your snakes regurged how would you know which one? If one becomes ill since stress lessens the immune systems ability to fight infection you are automatically exposing the other to this infection meaning you will now pay two vet bills instead of one. I can't think of one bonus to cohabbing at all ever- why do you even feel the need it makes no sense?

 

[KINGSRULE]

I did have to have 2 of my corns in one cage for about 2 mths. I just didn't have the room but iI did seperate them as soon as iI could but I was one of the lucky ones I had no problems.

 

[RosieReal]

Personally, if I were to find myself in a 'too many snakes not enough space' situation...well...theres alot of good advice on this site on cheap, space saving housing. I feel lucky that I can benefit from others experiance with this kind of stuff. I'm glad to not have to find out the hard way. Who would want to find out why co-habbing is bad the hard way?

 

[Buzzard]

Gosh How I hate this subject......

I will not tell other how they should raise thier snakes. I will how ever tell you my opinions. Co-habbing is not a sin. There are several really good breeders that I know of that do it. Heck even several Zoo's that I know of. (Lowery Park zoo in Tampa is one.)

Now stating that, Co-habbing is a risk. If you take the risk then so be it. If an incident happens then you know you were warned. If no issue ever comes up then congrats to you.

I choose not to risk it.

 

[KINGSRULE]

I only didn't have the room because a friend of mine got really sick wound up going into the hospital. So I took the snakes on for them there were about 15 all together I did move them all into tubs but at that time I wanted to build a rack and do it all the rite way the first time.

 

[funnynonsense]

I advise any newbs to take Bethany's advise here, and take hers and Robbies story's as a warning.

These are people with a wealth of experience, who've clearly made these mistakes already, and we should all be grateful that a site like this exists to learn from these people.

For those of you making the argument for co-habbing I pose this question:
What is the benefit for the animal?

The short answer in my opinion is that there is none. Only risks. Because of this co-habbing shouldn't be pushed, or argued for, as good practice.

Listen to the people who've been through this. Look at their stories. Look at the pros and cons and if you still want to insist on this practice there's no helping you.:shrugs:

 

[wilomn]

This is one of the most uneducated statements I have ever seen on this forum...and thats saying a lot!!

Snakes are not social in the wild ever including during breeding season- they mate as an instinct and not a social event like us humans, they do not hybrinate together, or travel in packs period.

They do not like sharing their space and when forced to do so experience stress ALWAYS. If you feel the need to cohab do not support thjis practice with false information. Snakes do not cuddle- they compete for space and warm spots and no cage is big enough for more than one snake long term. One day your going to learn your lesson the hard way, but in the meantime research your current beliefs on snakes, their behavior, and husbandry needs.

If one of your snakes regurged how would you know which one? If one becomes ill since stress lessens the immune systems ability to fight infection you are automatically exposing the other to this infection meaning you will now pay two vet bills instead of one. I can't think of one bonus to cohabbing at all ever- why do you even feel the need it makes no sense?

I have heard that there are people who have kept multiple snakes in the same enclosure for years with no problems. I've heard they'll even breed that way.