housing two corns

[Garteaser4]

i recently purchased a snow corn a hatchling and have had him for 2 weeks or so then today i just bought an anery hatchling and its a little smaller than the snow not to much though, i know they are communial snakes and the owner of the store said they will be okay together so i put them in together and the anery is fine just exploring the cage but the snow which has been housed in there for about two weeks is a little jumpy when the anery crawls around over her. is it just because of the newcomer... they should be fine right??

 

[Mary-Beth]

Please read this thread and the links within it.

 

[cka]

i know they are communial snakes

Ummmm....Where did you hear this? About the only time you'll see snake's that appear "communal" that i can think of would be mating balls of garter snakes in the spring, and it's less community spirit and more breeding fervor :grin01:

Corns are not communal.

 

[Billybobob]

i know they are communial snakes and the owner of the store said they will be okay together so i put them in together and the anery is fine just exploring the cage but the snow which has been housed in there for about two weeks is a little jumpy when the anery crawls around over her. is it just because of the newcomer... they should be fine right??

Corns are not really communal snakes, yes some tend to be fine if housed with another but that dose not make them communal. The fact that the snow is allready showing signs that it dose not like the second snake with it(jumpy) would be enough for me to want to separate them. If I were you i would separate them no need to give the snow unnecessary stress.

 

[Billybobob]

Ummmm....Where did you hear this? About the only time you'll see snake's that appear "communal" that i can think of would be mating balls of garter snakes in the spring, and it's less community spirit and more breeding fervor :grin01:

Corns are not communal.

:twoguns: You beat me to it.

 

[TrpnBils]

Do yourself a favor. Now that you know about this site, get your corn advice from here and not the pet store. Pet stores are notorious for not knowing what they're talking about when it comes to reptiles. Not all are like this, but most are, and based on the advice you've been given....I'd say that your pet store falls under the category of "sucks"

P.S. - Don't house your corns together.

 

[Garteaser4]

ive actually been on this site for a little bit, i mean i know im no expert at all and i have housed snakes together before, ie: russian rat snakes, and ive heard a lot of bad things about it also, and some good things, im probally gonna seperate them, but they seem to be gettin along fine they are curled up together and have been for awhile so ill see whats up but thanks for th e information

 

[Roy Munson]

ive actually been on this site for a little bit, i mean i know im no expert at all and i have housed snakes together before, ie: russian rat snakes, and ive heard a lot of bad things about it also, and some good things, im probally gonna seperate them, but they seem to be gettin along fine they are curled up together and have been for awhile so ill see whats up but thanks for th e information

It's not about them "getting along." They're unlikely to quarrel. Don't overestimate snake intelligence. There is at least one documented case of corn autophagy that I know of, and many cases of cannibalism. If a corn's feeding response is strong enough to prompt it to eat itself, I don't think it will discriminate against it's viv-mate because they've been "getting along" up to that point.

You write that you've heard some good things about corn cohabitation. What did you hear, and from whom?

 

[cka]

I remember Kathy Love mentioning she kept a communal breeding group of Sinaloan Milksnakes together, and I'd be willing to bet my black rat snakes would be issue-free in a big enough enclosure. So there a few instances (and probably more than i know) that communal housing works.

Corns just seem to do better when housed separately. There are breeders who keep pairs together year round, with no brumation and they breed just fine, so there are exceptions to the rule (as in most things in life )

 

[Rorryy]

Pet stores and their employees are there to sell animals and will tell you what ever they think you will believe to make a sale. DUH! I just had this fight (no, not an argument, a fight) with my b/f a while back. The lady at the petco said it was "fine if we put them together, after all that is the way we keep them here, and look how they cling to one another". Yes I wanted to "rescue" another snake from that store but I could not at the time afford a 3rd viv and put my foot down. Perhaps I am a mean nasty, but I have listened carefully to the advice given here and will not be housing snakes together.

 

[Wilder]

Never minding the store talking out of their rear ends by telling you it was okay to house snakes together, my biggest concern here is that you purchased a brand new snake and immediately put it with the one you already own. Quarantining any new additions is something that should be mandatory. Yes, the snake may be healthy, but what if it is carrying a disease, or mites? Potentially having to treat two sick snakes, or losing both of them to some illness would be a lot more out of your wallet than setting up a new enclosure.

Sorry, can't advocate housing snakes together, myself... quarantined or no.

 

[Billybobob]

Most people feel that you should not house together and they would be right most corns do allot better when housed separately. But I have housed corns together and had no problems with most. Now I am not saying that it is OK to house together, but that it can be done. If you notice any problems or one snake start to show signs of stress you should separate. I am not recomending that you house corns together but if you insist on doing it it can work sometimes. Like I said earlier in this thread I think you should separate you snakes because you said one got jumpy.

 

[MegF.]

The problem with new snake owners housing two together is that often they don't know what signs of stress are. Even with experienced herpers the signs can be subtle, and sometimes you don't even know it's an issue until you change something and the snake suddenly changes behavior. If nothing else, avoiding the spread of disease is probably the biggest reason I can think of to house seperately. Until you've lost your whole collection, or several animals in your collection to infectious disease, you'll wish you never had done it.