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Introducing me and my snakes

G

gigergal

New member
Hi, I'd like to introduce myself. I'm a new snake owner from Kent, England. After thoroughly researching snakes and their care I decided to plunge into the wonderful world of snakes and purchase two corns of my own (from a reputable dealer). One is a Carolina Corn and the other is an Anery Stripe. Both seem to get along great together (they're roughly the same age and size) and seem to have settled in well in their new vivarium.

But I'm fretting like a new mother. The Carolina (his name is Socrates) just curls up in his hide over the heat pad and sleeps most of the time. He does come out to slither around but quickly goes back from whence he came.

The other (Scooby) is out all the time, slithering around and being totally inquisitive. When I handled them both in the shop they handled well, were calm and really seemed to like me.

I've not fed them yet, they're due for their feed on Friday (tomorrow).

Should Socrates be sleeping all the time? Should Scooby be slithering around all the time? Can anyone give me a little reassurance please? I know I must sound really dumb but I just keep fretting over them.

BTW, this forum is so much nicer than the other one...really great posts and informative and helpful answers....plus NO PORN...GREAT!

Thank you for bearing with me.

gigergal
 
Hi - I am from Kent as well! If you don't mind me asking, which part of Kent roughly are you in?

Anyway welcome to the forum and congrats on the new snakes :cheers:

By the way - as a helpful hint for you, snakes don't really like being kept together. It can cause problems with stress, feeding, etc. :wavey:
 
Welcome to the forum. Your first descriptions of the behaviours of your snakes could be due to the stress of being kept together. Please do a search on cohabitation, and you'll see why it's really not recommended.
 
Hi all,

Firstly, I'm from Swanley in Kent.

I did do a lot of searching before I bought the snakes and some places say corns don't mind being kept together as long as they're the same age and size. But other places seem to discourage it.

Having said that the breeder I bought them from said that it was ok and he has corns kept together. Most people I've spoken to (in real life, not over cyberspace) have kept one or two corns together with no problems but of course there are always the exceptions.

They are not fighting or striking at each other at all. Yesterday I found them curled up together in a heap. But Scooby is definitely the more active of the two by a long shot. Although he's not doing that tail shivering thing (not sure what it's called but I read it was supposed to be a sign of stress). What I should do is perhaps put another hide in the tank. Scooby seems to favour the cooler end of the tank while Socrates seems to like the warm end. Maybe it's because they're different varieties.

Please don't think I'm trying to negate what you guys have said. I'm a newbie so what do I know. It's just that I seem to get conflicting information about the co-habitation thing. Like some people say live food is best but others will only use frozen/thawed out. I feel a little confused really but don't want people to think I'm not open to advice. I can remove Scooby and put him in another container to see if he calms down a little but I was told to leave them alone for the first couple of days til they settle in to their new home.

Blast! I'm fretting more than ever now :(

Thanks for the welcomes though :)

BTW I will take some pics soon as soon as I've got myself sorted out with them.
 
I agree that some people have kept corns together successfully, and these are your snakes and its your choice how you keep them.
Having said that the worst case scenarios are one snake eating the other, then dying, like in this link
http://www.cornsnakes.com/forums/showthread.php?t=31192&highlight=cannibal
Or one or both snakes refusing to feed because they are not social animals.
As they grow older, if they are male and female, you run the risk of them being a mating pair before they are old enough, which risks the female's life through egg-binding.
 
I did read the links that Penman668 suggested. To be honest I'm just more confused than ever. And yes, I saw the horrible pictures in the link you've suggested - really nasty! I do agree with you that they're not sicial animals, obviously they don't cohabit in the wild. So why do people say they're so easy to keep and that two can live quite happily together. Also the breeder told me that Corns don't tend to be cannibalistic, not like other species of snake. I specifically asked him if I could keep two Corns together and he said yes - and he is a reputable breeder and has kept snakes for many years.

My daughter suggests we take one back. It's a real shame and something I don't want to do. I'll get another viv tomorrow. I'm just so confused because I've been told so many different things, that Scooby is merely lively and exploring his surroundings, to he is really stressed out. Of course they've not even been fed yet (something I was going to do with each seperately of course), so I don't even know if I'll have feeding problems. For a snake that is supposedly 'easy' to keep there sure seem to be a whole host of problems turning up.

Thanks for your advice though, it is appreciated.

gigergal
 
I think people say it mainly for the same reason I've heard new fishkeepers told a future tank-busting pleco would be a great community fish for a small tank, to secure a sale! Keeping corns communally is more common in Europe, just as using all-glass vivs is more common in the states.
It can be done successfully, but probably best to start off with single set-ups at first. Now, when are you going to post pictures of your snakies? :)
 
I'm so glad you didn't take my posts the wrong way. I really didn't mean to sound offish or anything. I did do a fair bit of research before buying them and have thought about it and discussed it with my daughter for some time. I just get rather confused when told different information. I realise people in the States do some things differently but I do see the sense in keeping them seperatley. At the end of the day I want to do what's best for Scooby and Socrates. So saying I'm off to buy another viv in the morning. Am putting my laptop up for sale too - to raise funds and pay my daughter back as she's lending me the money. I REALLY don't want to have a situation where I find one of them eaten by the other - I'd not forgive myself.

As for pics - as soon as they're settled in their own vivs I'll post some. I'm made up you asked to see them. Thanks. :)

gigergal
 
gigergal said:
I'm so glad you didn't take my posts the wrong way. I really didn't mean to sound offish or anything. I did do a fair bit of research before buying them and have thought about it and discussed it with my daughter for some time. I just get rather confused when told different information. I realise people in the States do some things differently but I do see the sense in keeping them seperatley. At the end of the day I want to do what's best for Scooby and Socrates. So saying I'm off to buy another viv in the morning. Am putting my laptop up for sale too - to raise funds and pay my daughter back as she's lending me the money. I REALLY don't want to have a situation where I find one of them eaten by the other - I'd not forgive myself.

As for pics - as soon as they're settled in their own vivs I'll post some. I'm made up you asked to see them. Thanks. :)

gigergal
Click to expand...

You've definetly made the right choice. Well done to you - you are going to make a great snake mummy! ;)
 
Don't fret, giergal. I, too, was told by the breeder of my snakes that I could cohabitate them with no problems. I, too, had done a good bit of internet research. But I didn't stuble upon this site for quite a long time because I was googling "cornsnake," not "cornsnakes." After being here a while I saw the threads on the disadvantages of cohabitating. I didn't freak out, as I had already been doing it with no problems for a couple of weeks. But when I had the time, I went and got another set-up so that I could house my snakes separately. And then, my own anxiety level went way down! Becuase I was no longer worrying that my snakes were stressed and was just doing the most conservative thing. I say, when in doubt, just do the least risky thing, which in this case is to house separately. You're doing that, so no need to feel badly about not knowing better before!
 
Very warm welcome to the site!!! :santa:

I would say that Scooby is active for a number of reasons:

1. He is just exploring his new home
2. He is stressed
3. He is "hunting", you mentioned you hadn't fed them yet so it's possible he's just hunting around for food (my one big guy does that when he's hungry! He sleeps on his "ledge" the rest of the time! lol)

It's impossible to say for sure without seeing him...lol I have heard of people keeping corns together without any hassles but personally, I prefer to always be cautious, if there is any chance of the snake being stressed or something going wrong, I will do my best to prevent it! lol

Corns are exceptionally easy to keep once their setup is 100% so do not loose heart! :santa:

By the way, are both your snakelets the same sex and are you 110% sure of this? Even the best breeders can make a mistake, my friend bought 4 males from a very reputable breeder and very temporarily housed them together while other cages where being arranged. Turned out one was actually a female and the males mated with her!! She was very young! Luckily she layed all her eggs without becoming egg-bound!
 
Thanks you guys - you've all made me feel a lot better. But what I really feel much better about is the decision to get another setup. I really do feel that Scooby is stressed. I've noticed Socrates won't let him on the heat mat at all so Scooby has to stay down the cooler end of the tank. Socrates is slightly bigger so prehaps is the dominant snake. As far as I've been told they are both males but I don't know for sure without having them probed, which I'm NOT going to attempt myself. I'm also not going back to that breeder. I'm getting far better and more worthwhile info and advice from you guys. As they are now being kept seperatly sex shouldn't be an issue. I just hope, if one is a female, that they didn't mate. I've only had them sice Wednesday and was told that the temp has to be just right for mating to occur.

Of course Scooby could be hungry like Velvet suggested but I feel in my gut that he's stressed too, not being allowed on the warmer side of the viv. That Socrates - he's not being very fair is he?

Anyway, I've found a better place to buy the new viv from. Can't wait to go get it. Question - should I wait a couple more days to feed them so that they can really settle in to their respective vivs? They are due to be fed today but seeing as Scooby is stressed right now he may refuse or something. Will it hurt them to go another day or so?

Thanks guys for your great welcomes and advice :) - I wish I'd found this site sooner but like Desertanimal, I was googling 'cornsnake' instead of 'cornsnakes' - oh well, better late than never.

Gigergal
 
More or less how old/big are they?

I fed my new hatchlings two days after they arrived and they were fine. As long as they aren't handled or pestered too much...

Might be a good idea to wait until you have them in seperate setups...especially if Scooby is stressed. Depending on when they were fed, they can go quite a while without food with no ill-effects!

From what you have described, it does sound like he is a bit stressed! Do not panic though once he is in his own viv I am sure he'll settle and be as happy as a pig in mud!!!

PS: It's nice to meet responsible pet owners like you!!! :santa:
 
Hi Guys,

An update on my slinkies. I went and got a new viv for Scooby this afternoon. Spent the rest of the day cleaning, disinfecting etc. Then to my HORROR I discovered that both of them had MITES. I rushed round to the guy who helped me fit out the new viv (he is a different guy from who I got the snakes from originally, he has 6 of his own and breeds too). He helped me with de-miting them. More disinfecting, more cleaning. I threw everything that came with the snakes originally in the trash. Then I sprayed them according to the directions of the mite spray. They both took it well, didn't struggle and were very well behaved considering.

Scooby did a very strange thing though - he opened his mouth really wide 3 times - looked like he was yawning. But they're both fine now - in their individual vivs on paper towling substrate. I put two paper towel tubes in and they seemed to love slithering in them and curling up. Funny thing is, they've both snuck down under the paper towels and are curled up underneath the paper on the heat mat. I've checked the temp and it's fine. Anyway, as soon as Scooby was in his own viv he settled immediately - definitely wanted his own place and seems contented. I'm so glad I listened to you guys. Socrates is sacked out in his viv - as usual.

When shall I feed them? They were due to be fed today but I thought it better to leave it as they were being de-mited. Shall I try them tomorrow or perhaps Monday. What do you guys think?

Velvet - Scooby is about 6 months and Socrates is about 7-8. They're about 15 inches long but Socrates is bigger in girth. I was told when I got them that Socrates has been eating 1 fuzzy a week and Scooby (the smaller of the two) has been having a pinkie. The guy I brought them off (I won't be going to him again!) told me that Scooby (the younger one) could eat a fuzzy but I thought 'no way'. his girth is much smaller than the other one's.

Anyway, they seem happy although they've gone under the paper - hope this is ok. Yes, they seem happy like 'pigs in mud' - and I'm so very relieved they're in seperate vivs now. I did have the heebie jeebies when I found out about the mites though but this other guy was really helpful. He told me to treat them again in 3 days and then in another 3 days.

Sorry this post has been long and a bit long-winded. Just wanted to let you all know how today went and get some more advice re the things I've mentioned above.

Thank you so much for all your help, reassurance etc.

gigergal
 
Great! I'm glad he settled down. Going under the paper just makes them feel secure. And I would wait at least 2 days to feed, that's just my opinion.

Hope the mites are gone!! I'd check carefully for mites over the next few weeks to make sure something didn't escape the cleaning.

Hope everything goes well!
 
Glad to have you on board.

I am a newbie also and just got my baby the beginning of Feb. I had her six days when I noticed mites on her. The easiest and cheapest solution was to get human hair lice shampoo and mix in 1 gal of distilled water. I sprayed the tank (I'm using a 10 gal aquariam) and let my baby swim in a 1/2 cup mite water/1 cup plain water solution for 5 mintues and let her swim in plain water while i cleaned her stuff and rinse with hot water. The plain water had a lot of white specks in it and from what I have read on this site that was stage 2 of a mite's life.

I tell you all this so you know that, from what i have read, mites on babies just home from pet stores are common. just keep an eye on them so they don't over run your two little guys. Mites have a two week cycle so make sure you double check your guys in two weeks.

Again, Hi and glad to meet you. :wavey:
 
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