perspectiveness in your # of corns

[louis]

I would just like to ask you guys a question-- I hear about yall getting about 7 corns or something and I just have one question. When you buy more than 1 doesn't take away your perspective of indivuduality. May sound strange so I will have to explain.


A long long time ago I owned a ball python and I really liked it and it never bite or anything and it was almost like a brother. Then my dad purchased me a red tailed boa and Having two snakes seemed to take away their indivdual personnalities and seemed to just make them snakes. Doesn't this happen with your corns?


I think One reason your buying so many is that when you bought your first one it was really really nice. Then you bought another and it seemed to take away from it being an indivudual and made it a snake. And you keep on buying and buying trying to find that point of happiness but it where you started.


This may be totally off base and you may just like snakes and this doesn't affect you but it did me.

 

[Iris]

Well I only have one now so I don't really know about those people who have 20+ corns
I'm not planning to get any more right now but when I do it will be because I know I have enough time to take care of them individually and take care of all of them.
Some people are commercial breeders too and it's not that they don't care about each individual snake but they are more interested in developing new morphs or producing "prettier" individuals of certain morphs. You need to incorporate lots of different genes to help make what you want so I guess having a lot of snakes would be a must.
of course this is only what I think and i could be completely off track. but I like to speak my mind

 

[Elaphe_Mo]

Well I do have a lot of snakes. The first few I got are the ones I feel closest too I guess. I have a lot and keep buying more because the genetics and the different varieties really interest me, and eventually I do want to breed them, so I guess I have a few that are really pets, and some that are future breeders. I do make time to play with all of them though. I just love corn snakes, what can I say, they're addictive!

 

[LizS]

One of the reasons I have more than one snake is that there are periods of time when I don't handle a particular individual, specifically when it's in shed or after a meal. Having several snakes enables me to play with one that is not digesting or shedding. When I got my first snake I would stare longingly at the cage, knowing I shouldn't disturb it during those times. So I got more snakes and I get to have one on one time with each on different days. I do spend more time with them than I would with only one snake, and I enjoy it. I can't imagine having 50 snakes, as I only have 8 corns and a boa, and if I did have 50 snakes one day I would probably have some that are my favorites and play with those more. I see my snakes as friends (I don't know if it's reciprocal, tho), and just as my human friends I enjoy them all, with their different personalities and styles, and on their own timeframes. One nice thing about snakes is that if I'm too busy to play with them (which is rare) they won't get their feelings hurt. Playing with them is a very zen experience, very much a type of meditation, and my life is enriched with them in it.

 

[LizS]

One more thing...

On a more pragmatic level, since I was going to spend $50 on shipping, it made sense to pack as many snakes in one box as possible. Makes perfect sense, to save money by spending more, no? Nevermind having to start my own mouse colony to feed them and all the caging and food requirements for both snakes and mice. My husband wonders where all the money is going, and I tell him that behind every great man there is a wife that spends more than he makes

 

[Serpwidgets]

If you have 8 kids, do you love each of them only 1/8th as much?

Then you bought another and it seemed to take away from it being an indivudual and made it a snake.

I think it's the other way around. When you only have one, it is just a snake... you don't realize what a diverse population of individuals is out there until you get to know at least a handful of them.

I enjoy having a good variety of corns with differing personalities, and with 15 of them, I know all of their personalities. I have promised myself that if I ever couldn't name them and remember all their names, that would be the point at which I have too many. I'm not near that point yet.

The way I see it, if you were to add 1 corn per year to your collection, you would eventually max out at about 20 corns. You'd also have an entire year of 'getting to know' that new one before you added another.

 

[Simon]

I would totally agree with Serpwidgets.
At least for me, my love for them is expanding each time I get one or a few more. My love towards them haven't decreased one bit after my first......in fact as Serpwidgets said, my love for them have increased in stead of decreased.

 

[Susan]

Serpwidgets, I'm not too sure what you meant by that if we get 1 new corn a year, we would max out at about 20? I don't know about you, but I plan on living more than 20 more years! And since I already have over 60 corns, then I must have died 40 years ago!. That explains alot!!! Now if I can only get the IRS to believe I've been dead for 40 years, maybe they'll refund all the money I've had to give them!

 

[Serpwidgets]

Serpwidgets, I'm not too sure what you meant by that if we get 1 new corn a year, we would max out at about 20? I don't know about you, but I plan on living more than 20 more years! And since I already have over 60 corns, then I must have died 40 years ago!. That explains alot!!! Now if I can only get the IRS to believe I've been dead for 40 years, maybe they'll refund all the money I've had to give them!

It's not how long you live, but how long they live. Whatever their lifespan is, the oldest ones will be dying off at some point and you will reach a maximum. I've heard all kinds of estimates on their average life span, and decided to go with about 20.

(One record I saw said something like 32 or 33 years.)

 

[jim]

irs....

susan, if you ever find a way to convince them please send me the details. thanks, jim
p.s. i'll pay good money!!!

 

[jim]

lifespan???

serp, (just to be a pain in the nether-region")
if i get 2 per year will they only live half as long?....jim

 

[monna62]

Dear Louis, I can understand

Hi, Louis, I know what you mean, and do understand. I have had horses all of my life. I know that when I had more than one horse at a time, I am not quite as close to them as when I have only one at a time. The most I have had at one time was 5, and the most I have worked with is 12, at a riding stable. I loved them all, but the time I spent with each was severly limited, therefore I did not feel the bond I feel when I had only one. I have only one horse right now, and I feel very close to her, like a friend and a partner! So, I personally will only get one snake, so that I may spend all of my time with the one indiviual, getting to know their personallities,ect. I am sure there are lots of people out there that can devote enough time to more than one snake, I just know me, and I do better if I only have one. Hope this makes sense, and does not offend anyone. I love all my pets!