Housing Future Mates Together

[greymaiden]

I suppose this could go in either the housing section or the breeder section, so I'm posting it in both.

I have a '02 male het for butter corn named Jormungand. I'm looking into getting him a full butter girlfriend so that I can breed them in two years or so. I've been hesitating because I can't afford a whole new setup (Aquarium, Lights, etc) this close to christmas to house the two of them seperately.

So I guess I have two questions:

1) Jormungand is a very good tempered snake. Though he hasn't actually lived with other snakes besides his clutchmates, he doesn't seem to have any adverse reaction to other snakes and I think he would adjust well psychologically to a roommate. Assuming that he is not upset, is there any reason not to house two small corn snakes of approximately the same age in the same 20G tank? (Obviously when they grow larger I will buy a bigger tank, but right now they're pretty small)

2) Supposing housing them together works out, will their cohabitation and consequent familiarity with each other be a bonus, a detriment, or not matter at all when it comes time to breed them? Will the fact that they get along encourage them to breed, or will their familiarity with each other hinder the process?

I've obviously never bred snakes before, but I see no reason not to start doing research now, so if anyone has any other suggestions about how I can start preparing I'd appreciate those too

Thanks,
Jamie Lynn
(who lives with Jormungand)

 

[pinatamonkey]

I don't think that housing together or seperately makes much of a difference in the long-term with regards to breeding success. You do have to be aware that when housing together, they might start to breed at any time, so if your female is too small (around 3 ft with good body weight is a common 'safe' size) or you don't want unexpected eggs, I wouldn't risk it. Also, after they breed and the female's carrying eggs, I wouldn't keep them together to have as little stress on her as possible.

You can always get a temporary (or not...) enclosure for less than $20 by using a rubbermaid or sterilte container and a human heating pad, then if you want, buy a more visually appealing setup when you have extra funds.