Sphinx, Jericho, and Morpheus

[SANDWiCH]

Sphinx is the orange creamsicle/albino/weird mix but kickass

Jericho is the okatee sweetness

Morpheus is the snow with the killer killer look

tell me what you think.....they are all males and all i need now is a female so I can have more

oh yea and to piss off all the thread kiddies....jericho and morpheus cohap....oh snap I started it now.....I think they actually like eachother, they always hang out together and have no problem with eachother

 

[SANDWiCH]

Sphinx is a Year and 3 months and he is 44 inches and about the size around of a fat highligher when he is not right after being fed.

Jericho is about 5 months and is 14.5 inches long

and Morpheus is 8 months old and 18.2 inches long

They are freakishly large snakes but I watched the last 2 get born and they both came from massive parents.....talk to me in 3 years and hopefully sphinx is over 6 feet

 

[Iguanagirl8662]

oh yea and to piss off all the thread kiddies....jericho and morpheus cohap....oh snap I started it now.....I think they actually like eachother, they always hang out together and have no problem with eachother

I was going to leave a nice comment till I read this part. The fact that you just had to add that to start arguments is extremely immature and uncalled for.

 

[SANDWiCH]

reaction

I was going to leave a nice comment till I read this part. The fact that you just had to add that to start arguments is extremely immature and uncalled for.

It wasn't to start an argument. I just hear a lot of members here talking about how cohabbing is not good for snakes and they end up having a problem. Its like every time the idea comes up there are a bunch of haters of the idea. For some reason I feel as though a lot of the cohabbing resistance comes from outside America. My brother is an EEOB (Environmental Evolutionary Organismic Biologist) and he reads this forum on a frequent basis and thinks the people commenting on live feedings being in-humane and the idea of co-habbing being bad is ridiculous. I have my own opinion on co-habbing and think that it is a challenge as well as a learned behavior. Its all about the development of the relationship. One animal has to be dominant and the other animal has to be non-resistant to the act of being cohab-ed. The experience I have had has been very rewarding. The snakes are removed from the viv and separated for feeding. They are both doing great, and have no signs of increased stress. The socializing has turned the little Jericho into a great handling snake and has really seemed to work for myself.
Morpheus only eats live, which I do not like because its a little pain in the ass to try and find live feeder mice in my area. I have tried everything to switch him over.
As for the immature comment I feel as though I may have come accross wrong and you may have misunderstood my sarcasm/personality. I don't mean to piss anyone off but I want everyone to see a shining example of co-habbing working out great for both snakes. My local vet is actually a herpetologist at Michigan State University (which is one of the top...1 or 2 vet schools in the United States) and he has handled,babysat, and taken some time to study my snakes and he says that it would be detrimental to now separate the snakes because there is an obvious bond on the snakes.
Now don't get me wrong, Cohabbing might not be for you, or for anyone...but maybe....just maybe its not as terrifying and horrible as many posters on CS say it is. A lot of comments say "haven't had a problem YET" which is a totally false statement. If the introductions are done correctly and there never is a situation where they are presented with the opposite sex or food at the same time, there will never be an issue.

Sorry for the ramble and long response but I feel that explains my stance on the issue as well as you being offended and personally attacking my post.

thanx for the almost nice comment tho.

 

[marinneli]

It wasn't to start an argument. I just hear a lot of members here talking about how cohabbing is not good for snakes and they end up having a problem. Its like every time the idea comes up there are a bunch of haters of the idea.

I'm not going to participate in any sort of arguments which this topic may rise, but I want to tell my opinion once, and that's it.

I agree with you, SANDWiCH - mostly.

For some reason I feel as though a lot of the cohabbing resistance comes from outside America.

I'd say exactly the opposite. At least in Scandinavia (and assumably other parts of Europe too) cohabbing is the commonly accepted and used method of housing corns, and EVERY finnish and swedish corn owner and breeder I know cohab their corns - successfully.

Most (if not all) statements I've seen against cohabbing has been from americans.

The snakes are removed from the viv and separated for feeding. They are both doing great, and have no signs of increased stress. The socializing has turned the little Jericho into a great handling snake and has really seemed to work for myself.

That's how I do it too.

And I've even experienced a similar case of where a "non-handleable" (is that a word? I think not... ) has really changed for better after cohabbing.

The case is my Taisto, miami phase female, who I had to handle with glove on. She really hated being touched and tried to strike at me several times every time I touched her. When she grew enough to be cohabbed I decided to try to cohab her with another female of the same age and size. The other female is the calmest, friendliest and loveliest snake ever. After only a week of cohabbing I could just go grab the previously so viscious miami female without any problems! No hissing, rattling or striking!

I guess even snakes can be marked (is that the right way to say it?) to eachother. I mean...when they live together they form a relationship, follow the other one's lead and do things the same way.

When I went to get the formerly angry miami girl for the first time out of the cohab-viv I was anxious. I lifted the flower pot underneath of which both of the snakes were curled up together. The miami female instantly lifted her head to see what's going on and whether she should defend herself. The other one didn't mind me stealing the pot and didn't move. I lowered my hand slowly and grabbed the friendly female right there infront of the miami's face. I guess she saw her friend doesn't mind being touched and lifted up, because then I could take her just as easily! And she's been just as easy ever since!

Now don't get me wrong, Cohabbing might not be for you, or for anyone...but maybe....just maybe its not as terrifying and horrible as many posters on CS say it is. A lot of comments say "haven't had a problem YET" which is a totally false statement. If the introductions are done correctly and there never is a situation where they are presented with the opposite sex or food at the same time, there will never be an issue.

Someone might say "Never say Never", but YES. This is exactly how I feel too.

 

[Kali]

here we go again

But I do agree with much of the previously stated. I'm still waiting for anybody non-american to disagree with cohabbing. I'm really not saying there isn't anybody, just agreeing that out here-in my case Belgium- most people cohab or agree with it, when done with some common sense. No I've never done a headcount, I can only speak of personal surroundings like fellow corn keepers and a few vets.
No personal experience with the handling issue, but still striking no?
And yes, you have to observe closely (but don't we all). For instance if two corns are quite dominant individuals, it might not be a good idea.
Just my opinion, hoping I'm not sticking my head in a hornets nest here.

 

[marinneli]

No personal experience with the handling issue, but still striking no?

Nope, no striking what so ever. She's a real darling now and I couldn't be any happier with her.

 

[Kali]

Nope, no striking what so ever. She's a real darling now and I couldn't be any happier with her.

not what I meant, my english apparantly isn't always completely understandable (eh...does that word exist? )
Just wanted to say that it *is striking* as in *remarkable* that the two of you have that similar experience

 

[GillianC]

And I've even experienced a similar case of where a "non-handleable" (is that a word? I think not... ) has really changed for better after cohabbing.

I've actually had the same luck! When my first nine eggs hatched successfully and I started watching my little snakes growing up, I knew I wanted another little one. There had been a 10th egg that had died during the hatching, though we're not sure why, but my mom let me get my little anery Carla at the next herp expo. To begin with she was very seclusive and was not exactly excited about being handled, and was also very skittish. But she wouldn't even move if I left her alone! I had them in several different containers for feeding and I didn't notice that I'd left hers open, but she was curled up under the papertowel and hadn't moved an inch. After the quarantine period I moved her in with my others since she was about the same size, and wow has she changed! She comes out with the others and explores, curls up with them under the hides, and isn't skittish anymore while being handled. I've never had any problems with cohabbing, even with my two adults that have been together for the past three years.

 

[SANDWiCH]

good thread.. i like where this went even if my snakes got ignored haha

 

[Kali]

Sandwich! sorry you are completely right!
Should have added in my message: awsome corns you have there!!

 

[GillianC]

Haha Sorry! You do have beautiful snakes. I especially like Morpheus, but I have a thing for snows. ^_^

 

[Michael823]

That Creamsicle/albino kick ass mix is pretty kick ass, I haven't seen one with such bright yellow before. As for your cohabbing comment, I think more people in america disagree with cohabbing, just read the thread on hating british forums.
I cohabbed my male and female and they got along just fine, but I agreed that seperating her was the best idea to prevent over mating and physical stress. I do have to agree with you though, I never had any problems except the pregnancy, and I know they never would have fought had they not been seperated. I just thought seperating was in the best interest of the female, and I didn't want her to get too stressed due to mating.
I respect you outwardly defending cohabbing in certain situations, because I hated the thread where everyone harassed cohabbing, and said people who did cohab didn't deserve to own snakes. I agree it isn't for every person or snake, but I monitored my snakes together as much, if not more than anyone who says it's horrible to do. And they weren't stressed, or cared for improperly because of it.
Awesome snakes, thanks for sharing!!!

 

[carnivorouszoo]

Very nice snakes there!

I don't know the why's on how I feel but I feel more comfortable with NOT co-habbing. I imagine part would be that for more than one snake the cage size would need to increase and the bigger the cage the more expensive. The other would probably be the fact I would not know whose sickly looking poo it was and would have to then take both snakes to the vet and pay double fees. Just seems easier to have 1 snake to 1 cage so that if anything happens you know exactly who it is and all that important info. I honestly would not know about the whole stress factor, I've found wild garters in piles of 4-6. No idea if they are different in the whole living alone thing from corns.

 

[Michael823]

Very nice snakes there!

I don't know the why's on how I feel but I feel more comfortable with NOT co-habbing. I imagine part would be that for more than one snake the cage size would need to increase and the bigger the cage the more expensive. The other would probably be the fact I would not know whose sickly looking poo it was and would have to then take both snakes to the vet and pay double fees. Just seems easier to have 1 snake to 1 cage so that if anything happens you know exactly who it is and all that important info. I honestly would not know about the whole stress factor, I've found wild garters in piles of 4-6. No idea if they are different in the whole living alone thing from corns.

I thought the same thing about garters, although corn snakes may have different social behaviors. I walked into the woods a few years ago and saw a huge pile of garter snakes, honestly there must have been 20-30, no joke.
I don't cohab anymore either, and understand the concern some people have doing so. I've heard a few people be very helpful in explaining the dangers, but I don't get why some others treat it like it's some sort of animal abuse to cohab. Especially if the person caring for them pays close attention, and has studied their behavior over a long period of time.

 

[Iguanagirl8662]

I cohabbed my corns for years and I'll be honest I had no problems(that I noticed then), until the mated then it all went to hell. I understand your's are males and they won't become gravid but I think you really should consider separating them, it really is better for them. If you don't and you know what could happen and you still choose to do it then that is your choice but I suggest next time you post to leave out the cohabbing part it does tend to start arguments here which no one really wants. Btw your snakes are looking good.

 

[marinneli]

I cohabbed my male and female and they got along just fine, but I agreed that seperating her was the best idea to prevent over mating and physical stress.

Well yeah, females and males shouldn't be cohabbed together except for a short period of time for mating purposes. The male's consistant attempts to "get laid" will eventually cause the female lots of stress and furthermore being constantly gravid is dangerous to her health.

I imagine part would be that for more than one snake the cage size would need to increase and the bigger the cage the more expensive. The other would probably be the fact I would not know whose sickly looking poo it was and would have to then take both snakes to the vet and pay double fees.

Of course more snakes means a bigger viv and more hiding places and larger heated areas inside the viv. But actually I find it cheaper to buy one a bit bigger viv, a bit bigger heating mat etc for two cohabbed snakes than two vivs, two heating mats etc.

Anyway, what comes to the poo thing... First of all I keep a diary of my snakes. When they've eaten and shed etc. If i find a sickly looking poo and don't know which snake's it is, I separate the snakes for a day or two and then look which one of them is sick. Because if the snake is sick, that one sickly poo most likely will not be the last and the only one. But of course if the snakes are cohabbed it's essential to ask the vet whether the other one who doesn't have symptoms should be treated as well.

So far I haven't had any health issues so no experiences on vet part.