Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have a simple question (I hope). I understand there is some controversy over keeping snakes together.
I'm relatively new to snakes and my kids(4) would like to have a few. Is there any type of snake that that could be kept more than one to an enclosure? Providing they had enough space of course. We will probably end up with a separate tank/enclosure for each, but I thought it would be much simpler if there were some type that could get along in a group?
Does anyone do this?
Thanks for any information/insight you can offer.

Yes, people do. Your best bet, especially if you are fairly new, is to keep each snake in its own cage. There are lots of reasons. If you want the LONG answer, post your question on the cornsnake forum and ask draybar (jimmy) to cut and paste his response.

Actually, I would suggest that you start with just one or two snakes, each in its own cage. A corn would be a great starter snake, so there's another reason to check out that forum. As you gain experience, and perhaps more snakes, you can decide if you want to bend the rules a little. But first learn the basics and what to look for if you push the limits and something goes wrong. Good luck Duffy

We have a corn snake that my youngest son got. Which is what started the desire of the others to want one. They all love it. I started out thinking I would just get them all corns in seperate tanks. It just seemed like it would be nice if they could all share the same habitat. One enclosure for them all. That's what made me wonder if one type might get along better together than another.
Is there a thread about this somewhere?
Thanks for the reply!

The biggest key IMO to keeping multiple snakes, keep them as close to the same size as possible, and feed them in a seperate containers, all outside of their habitat.....also the one big downside, is if one gets sick no way to know which one!!!

just a couple helpful hints if you choose to try to put them in together.....oh and if you feel you want the challenge get like 4-5 garters, they tend to do fairly well in groups

A.J.

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A.J.
1.0.0- Amel Motley Corn- Valentine (R.I.P 5/20/05)
0.1.0- Snow Corn- Artica
1.0.0- Normal Corn- Ember
1.0.0- Ball Python- G.T.

It is actually more work to keep multiple snakes in a single enclosure. You'll find that out if you do it. And if you do decide to go this route, use a larger cage than you would for one snake.

It is better to have as many snakes as you have (or can fit) cages. If you really only have room for a few cages, then you ideally should have only a few snakes. In a perfect world.

Cornsnakes can be kept together, but because they get to a decent size as adults (like 4ft), you'll need an appropriately sized cage. Figure about 2.5 sq ft per cornsnake minimum.

There was a post a while back on the boa forum with pictures, I can't find it, where two siblings were kept together. After they were each fed a mouse seperately, they were put back in the same tub. The smaller of the two ATE the larger one. Never got an answer what eventually happened to the winner, it may have died as well. It did eat two mice and a larger sibling all in one day.

Morals of the story are:

1) Duh, safer to keep seperate
2) Having same size animals does not always mean they will leave each other alone.

Way back when before I knew better I kept a corn along with a larger gopher. The corn chewed on the gopher and left some nasty wounds.
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Thanks,

Dave "Rainbows-R-Us"

0.1 Wife (WC)
0.2 kids (CBB)
2.7 Brazilian Rainbow Boa (adult breeders)
2.5 Brazilian Rainbow Boa (sub-adult from 2004)
4.8 Brazilian Rainbow Boa (sub-adult from 2005)
2.1 Hypomelanistic BRB
0.1 Het for Hypomelanistic BRB
0.1 BCI "Elvira" normal from 1989
1.0 BCI Albino / het-anery
0.1 BCI Salmon / het-albino
0.1 BCI Anery / het-albino
0.1 BCI Salmon (possible super)
1.0 BCI Albino het stripe
1.0 BCI Salmon
0.1 BCI Ghost
0.1 BCI Super salmon, possible jungle
1.0 BCI Salmon, possible jungle
0.1 BCI Super Ghost

lots.lots.lots feeder mice and rats

How long has your youngest son had his corn snake? Also, how old are your children? Four snakes require a lot of care, expense to feed them, vet bills-- no matter how you house them. Do all of your children sincerely desire a pet snake, or is there a novelty factor to consider here? They want them today, but will they clean the enclosures tomorrow?

I keep 20 snakes, plus a bearded dragon. My son kept a colony of six leopard geckos and a group of six golden geckos for many years. A little over a year ago he enlisted in the army, leaving me with his legged reptiles. Taking care of them is added work. However, when I let him get the lizards, I knew that someday they would probably become my responsibility.

Captive bred snakes can live 10 years with good care. Responsible keeping is making a commitment to care for a creature for it's lifetime. This means not only daily care, but veterinary care when needed, etc.. Are you, and your children, prepared for this?

I don't mean to discourage you. It's just that there are issues to consider beyond how many snakes to keep in an enclosure. You might consider adding one more snake in it's own enclosure, with a care schedule for the children. In six months time it will become clear which children really are mature and interested enough to be junior herp keepers.

My son acquired his geckos over a span of years, as he proved to me that he was responsible enough to care for more of them, breed them, etc.. It was a rewarding, positive life experience for him. I wish your children the same type of experiences!
rgds,
althea

Actually only 2 of the others want a snake. They are 9 and 13. They are pretty responsible...and I don't think (compared to a lot of mammals) that snakes require all that much care. I'm rather fond of them myself, so it's no biggy for me to take care of them if it turns out that way.
What started me thinking of it was the fact that we have a tank that measures 12 X 48 and it seems rather large for one little snake. Maybe we should just get a snake that will fit the cage when it grows up.

Reply to AJ's post>>
Does anyone have CB garters, or all they all WC? I guess we could just catch a few of ours out back. but I was concerned they might not eat if they were WC.

Thanks for all the replies!

Forget about the garters for now. Especially wild caught ones. Stick with the corns and get 1 per cage, at least for now. Later on if & when you are more experienced, you may try keeping 2 females of the same size together. Don't go there right now though. My two cents. Duffy

I have corns, and the three of them are fine in one tank together. I did get them all at the same place though, and roughly the same time. If you're getting more later, you'll definitely need a month or two of separate quarantine before thinking about putting them together. Also, you'll always have to remember to feed them in separate containers. Otherwise, I've not had any problems with keeping corns together! More experienced folks will probably have better advice, though. Good luck,

-P
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0.0.1 Normal corn snake (Frito)
0.0.1 Creamsicle corn (Tang)
0.0.1 Ghost corn (Raynham)
1.1 Bay of LA rosy boas (Rivet and Cali)

From your post, it looks like you are unsure of the gender of your corns. Is this still correct? Are they breeding size yet? Are you aware that if a female corn mates before she is large enough she can become eggbound and die? How large an enclosure do you have your 3 corns in? I'm just wondering if you know all the pros and cons of keeping multiple snakes together. If your snakes are quite young, and will outgrow their enclosure as a trio, now might be a good time to think about splitting them up. Just a thought. Duffy

They're all well less than a year old, and I keep them in a 50 gallon tank. As they get big enough to get probed, if they're all one sex I'll keep them together. If not, I'll keep the two same-sex together and move the other out. I'm aware of egg binding troubles, and that some corns will go ahead and breed without being cooled, so I'll definitely be sure to separate them before that can become an issue! Thanks,

-P
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0.0.1 Normal corn snake (Frito)
0.0.1 Creamsicle corn (Tang)
0.0.1 Ghost corn (Raynham)
1.1 Bay of LA rosy boas (Rivet and Cali)

I bought 4 cornsnakes at 1 time. I kept them all together for a year, but the more snakes you have in 1 tank, the more cleanings you have to do. They don't got to the bathroom all at the same time, and you have to separate them to eat. It is less hassle to keep them separate, but it can be done with corns. If you do it, I would buy them at the same time as babies of the same size. Derek