• Hello!

    Either you have not registered on this site yet, or you are registered but have not logged in. In either case, you will not be able to use the full functionality of this site until you have registered, and then logged in after your registration has been approved.

    Registration is FREE, so please register so you can participate instead of remaining a lurker....

    Please be certain that the location field is correctly filled out when you register. All registrations that appear to be bogus will be rejected. Which means that if your location field does NOT match the actual location of your registration IP address, then your registration will be rejected.

    Sorry about the strictness of this requirement, but it is necessary to block spammers and scammers at the door as much as possible.

Housing issues

Spirit said:
What he tells you, may not be the truth (for starters), or it could be that he houses all his seperately and has never had it happen to him. He may also be the only corn snake owner in his circle of friends, and it's possible that he could be uneducated on this particular subject. So he's never heard of it happening. So he's been breeding his own snakes for 15 years. That means nothing to me. One man's opinion means nothing when there's a handful of others telling you otherwise.



This is correct. It may be rare, but it DOES happen.



Proof that it does happen. Had she not been there, she could have (emphasis on could have) lost a snake to cannibalism. And hers were housed together for 3 years.

The bottom line is you just never know, and I for one, am not willing to take that risk by housing two together.

Another thing I've noticed (do some searches) is when two snakes are housed together, the odd time one (or both) can show signs of stress/aggression. Maybe during feeding time or the blue phase, but after a week or so of these snakes being seperated (even after years of being housed together), they suddenly become much more docile, and often more active.

Don't be naive Joe (no offense). Just because your breeder says it's okay, doesn't mean it is. :)
Click to expand...


I'm not saying that it doesn't happen, I'm just saying that I've never read or even heard of it before this site. I'm also not implying that anyone here is lying, or anything of that sort. His "circle" includes the Love's, so I dont know. All I know is what he says, and what I've experienced.

My snakes are just fine, and dont display any signs of aggression. I guess we wil see what happens in the middle of December when they get housed seperately--I dont need any premature breeding going on.
 
If I remember correctly (happy to be corrected if not so), I believe what happened with Missy's Corns was that one had eaten a mouse which "burst". She then put the two newly-fed Corns back together, one still with the remnants of the mouse on it. Smelling strongly of the prey animal, it was attacked by the other which was still in eating mode. That's a risk of putting two freshly-fed Corns back together as I said, but that particular situation doesn't demonstrate any inherent cannibalism risk in keeping Corns together.

And really, the dispute about housing Corns together is with Kathy and Bill Love. The Corn Snake Manual is frequently quoted as the "bible" of our hobby, and nowhere does it state that Corns should not be kept together under any circumstances. As I'm reading it, it actually says that this can be done safely by observing some basic rules. Does anyone interpret that section on pages 14-15 differently?

If anyone would like me to, I can PM you the URL for a forum to which Kathy contributes. You can take it up with her direct and let us know her response.
 
Last edited:
I know Rich posted a picture of a hatchling that had eaten several of the others. It's on here somewhere and you could probably find one other picture of a corn that cannabilized others. Use the search and put in cannabilised.
 
Just my 2 cents, but I think all that everyone who is opposed to housing two corns together (and I, myself am one of them) is saying is that if you have the room, and the equipment, and the finances to house them separately, then that would be the safest way to go. It's always better to be safe then sorry, and nobody has the time to watch their snakes 24/7. I'd rather not take any chances even if they are rare.
 
Kel said:
If I remember correctly (happy to be corrected if not so), I believe what happened with Missy's Corns was that one had eaten a mouse which "burst". She then put the two newly-fed Corns back together, one still with the remnants of the mouse on it. Smelling strongly of the prey animal, it was attacked by the other which was still in eating mode. That's a risk of putting two freshly-fed Corns back together as I said, but that particular situation doesn't demonstrate any inherent cannibalism risk in keeping Corns together.

And really, the dispute about housing Corns together is with Kathy and Bill Love. The Corn Snake Manual is frequently quoted as the "bible" of our hobby, and nowhere does it state that Corns should not be kept together under any circumstances. As I'm reading it, it actually says that this can be done safely by observing some basic rules. Does anyone interpret that section on pages 14-15 differently?

If anyone would like me to, I can PM you the URL for a forum to which Kathy contributes. You can take it up with her direct and let us know her response.
Click to expand...


Send that forum my way please. I sent her an email asking about that and if she was coming to the Tallahassee expo and I never got an email back.... :shrugs:

I'm not at all debating that it happens, it's just I've never heard anyone talk about it, that's all.
 
Joejr14 said:
Send that forum my way please. I sent her an email asking about that and if she was coming to the Tallahassee expo and I never got an email back.... :shrugs:

I'm not at all debating that it happens, it's just I've never heard anyone talk about it, that's all.
Click to expand...

Joe,

Did you just send her an email? I know she left on Thursday or early Friday for the Reptile Show in Philly. I will be attending it tomorrow, so I want to ask her the same question on this issue.
 
i finally got signed up for this thing

i don't have the cornsnake manual...but i have an almost 2yr old snow corn & i was thinking about getting another corn...but i was told at the pet store that u shouldn't put them together..especially if they are diff sizes (the 1 i was looking at wasn't a tiny hatchling but still small)...what do you guys think?
 
I agree with Meg. Just do a search on cannibalism and you will find some pics even of snakes that ate the other. In the wide scope of things, considering how many snakes there are, sure it could be considered rare. But it does happen and several people on here can testify to that.

Search under the forum member Khaman. He posted a pic of a hatchling that was placed with another hatchling in the same deli cup on the way home from a show where he just purchased them. When he opened it up, one was missing and the other terribly full. Needless to say, he lost both. Just know that it is a possibility.
 
Yes cannibalism does happen in Corn snakes, and pretty much any kind of snake will do it sometimes. With my experiance so far I have had a close call, but nothing like some on this forum. Some DONT'S you should know about, Never put mommy in with the hatchlings, Never put hatchlings together that arent sibblings. Make sure fully that your snakes are 100% corn snakes and not half corn half king. The percentage for cannabalism will rise if your stock has king mixed into it.

I keep my 3 yr old male with my 2 yr old female, and the hatchlings from spring 04 are all together still. There are only 3 left but when they hatched they did strick at eachother, but no eating of eachother. If I had the room I would keep them apart, but I'm hopeing that nothing like that will happen.

Some might agree with me some might disagree, but thats what forums are for.
 
Remember guys that most cases of cannibalism are in hatchlings. Keeping adult males together is not recommended. When space is limited though, I keep my females together and never have a problem. As long as all snakes are fed, all should be fine, but be careful when it comes to triggers. Wash a snake after you eat so that there is no lingering mouse scent on it that will tempt the cagemate to strike and devour. Many corns can be caged together very peacefully as long as there is enough room for both of them to seek out their own space when needed. This isn't true for all corns though. Know your corn before you introduce a cagemate, and when you do...do not be far away for at least a few hours to watch how they will react to each other. If anything is going to happen, it will normally happen pretty soon after you introduce them.
 
housing question

should i be worried about getting my snake a bigger house? s/he's almost 2yrs & still in a 10 gallon...& if so, does any-1 know where 2 find something nice that's not a bazillion dollars?
 
Yup. Get a Critter Cage, or whatever in the hell they're called. They come in a few different sizes, 10, 20l, 29, 30 breeder, and 40 breeder. They've got a sliding locking lid on top and they're great.

I got my 20long at the expo last year for $40. I know a few places online sell them.
 
critter cage?

ok..so wher would i get this critter cage(or whatever it's called)...& how big should i b looking 4? Another ?...how do i figure out the sex of my snakie...the pics in the books i have are so vague!
 
neferandrobin said:
ok..so wher would i get this critter cage(or whatever it's called)...& how big should i b looking 4? Another ?...how do i figure out the sex of my snakie...the pics in the books i have are so vague!
Click to expand...

I'm not suggesting to buy it online, but here's what I'm talking about. It's made by All-Glass.

Critter Cages
 
oops

ok..so just kidding...I put the wrong size cage in my question...!...it's actually a 20gal...snakie is about 2&1/2-3'?
 
A 20 gallon long is plenty big enough for an adult corn. If you wanted to go bigger you can. Both the 30 and 40 gallon breeder tanks are huge.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top