It's relatively rare. I've hatched out hundreds (but not thousands yet) of corns, and I've only had two or three of them be truly cannibalistic.



I did have one SFE (stupid feeding error) in which I had two corns housed together, and had fed them mice separately. I then put them back into their common enclosure, and the one started to attack the other. I realized that the mouse smell was still on the two snakes, and one of them wasn't quite satsified with her meal! However, while still a real problem with cohabitation, it is not an example of true cannibalism.



True cannibals are almost always young snakes that are problem feeders. Animals that will ONLY take anoles or some other food item, seem to be more prone to cannibalism than are mice eaters (save the SFE example above).



In my limited experience, this is found in somewhere around 1% of all of the hatchlings I have bred. That is a tiny fraction, but when you consider that many of the problem feeders are also often found in the more pricey morphs...it can be a very expensive lesson to learn!



The problem is that there is no way to know for certain which animal makes up that 1% as a cannibal. At least...not until it eats its cagemate!
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Darin Chappell

Hillbilly Herps

PO Box 254

Rogersville, MO 65742

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