I hesitate to even post this as it may be construed as advocating keeping snakes together and feeding live rodents - I do not advocate that. I have a long FAQ detailing the dangers of doing so, which I have emailed to Sillygirl already (email me if anyone else wants it). But there are two sides, so here is my very long opinion about the matter. Take it for whatever it is worth to you.



Although it is easier to be successful following the usual advice of keeping them separately and feeding frozen/thawed rodents, there are many who are successful doing the exact opposite. To those who are very careful and doing everything right while going against the norms - you can't argue with success! Even though it is more difficult to keep track of things with two or more together (and often, but not always, more stressful for the corns and can result in early pregnancy and other problems), it doesn't mean it can't be done. There are added precautions to be taken as well as added risks. It is not usually worth the added effort or additional slight risk for most people, but that is something that each person has to decide for themselves. The main problem is that it is usually beginners with new babies who want to do it - just asking for more problems than they might already have. I can tell you that even though I consider myself pretty experienced in corns, if I start working with a totally new species, I will follow the generally accepted advice with that species while gaining experience. Only when I feel I have some success with that species will I start to tinker with the accepted "recipe for success" that has already been established. On the other hand, nothing new would ever be learned if some people didn't experiment, keep records, and report their success and failures.



On the subject of risk, we do risky things every day and have to judge the risk vs. the benefits. The most dangerous thing IMHO is probably shipping them, although if done properly it is not very risky. In carefully controlled circumstances, I feel that housing together and feeding live rodents can be a lot less dangerous than shipping and other risky things we do. But please do not construe this as an invitation for beginners to throw all of their newly acquired corns together in a bin with a bunch of live rats!



Some experienced keepers offering advice get into the "never" or "always" do or don't this or that. But I go more for "usually" something works better than another thing . But each circumstance is different. Keepers who have a little experience and actually think about the likely consequences of what they are doing (and how to deal with them) can often successfully do things that beginners or "non-thinkers" will do haphazardly and unsuccessfully. Listen to all good advice, and then make your own informed decision based on your own circumstances and judgment.



Sorry for the long post, but I think this side of the "debate" should be aired, too.



Good luck!

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