Reptile & Amphibian Forums

My four "growers" co-habit in a tank together.
All are ear marked for future breeding projects.

3 of them are coming up to 11 months old and one the age is unknown although I think he's probably a stunted 2 year old.

He is getting quite rampant and I've caught him breeding with two of the yearlings.

I'm assuming that the yearlings will be too young to produce eggs?

Any thoughts?

Any thoughts? Yes. Get each snake its own cage asap. Duffy

I've kept corns together for years.

Surely it won't do them any damage as long as they dont get too stressed out?

I have heard of corns producing eggs at 9 months of age.
Corn snakes are solitary by nature, forcing them to live together causes stress.
Like most snakes, corns are best housed individually.

Tim

Third Eye

Hey Tim, what is the color morph of your snake pictured called?? I just got 3 Corns today from a friend that is moving on to High Dollar snakes, and one of them looks exactly like yours. The other two are a Snow that is similar but without the pinkish, and an Albino. I am normally a Milksnake Keeper/Breeder, so am a little new to these snakes. Thanks!

Scott
Origin Reptiles

It's a snow. Snows are highly variable. Jimmy has a lot of beautifull snows if he would ever get back here


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0.1 Snow Corn "Hope"
1.0 Ball Python "Wilson" (Castaway)
1. Orange Albino Black Ratsnake "Chunk" (Goonies)
.1 Orange Albino Black Ratsnake "Peaches"
0.0.1 Mexican Black Kingsnake "Onyx"
0.0.1 Black Ratsnake "Molly" (Flogging Molly)

As we say in Missouri, "I ain't goin back to Missouri!"

Thanks!!

I had seen one advertised as a "Bubblegum Snow", my other Snow has light yellow instead of the pink and is more like the Normal Snows I had seen previously.

Again, thanks for the info!!

Scott
Origin Reptiles

Lots of folks have "kept corns together for years"... You asked, "Any thoughts?" and I shared mine.

Surely you understand that the fact the male is attempting to mate with the young females is, at the VERY least, likely to significantly increase the amount of stress in the tank. If not, then your "years" of experience did not yield years of knowledge and insight. The very fact that you are asking the question at this point says something...Right?

You know darn well that you are taking a calculated risk. If it is a risk you are willing to take...So be it. You asked, we answered. You get to choose to ignore the advice, as so many do, if you choose. Best of luck to you, whether you do the right thing or not. Duffy

most people aggree 3 years old is the best age for females to breed. Although some will breed a large two year old. it is not wise to breed less than that. I agree with Duffy, you are taking a major risk. If the female is too young, it will stunt her growth and she has a much higher risk to become egg bound! This could lead to death. So you ask if it is a big deal, YES it is!!

Seperate them. There are tons of reasons to not co-habitate corn snakes. Draybar has a big posting on it.

I would think that if you have kept corns "for years" you would have done some research in this area. This is most likely going to be the advice that you get from this forum. Not that I speak for everyone, because I do not. Seperate enclosures just seems to be the general opinion, along with not breeding yearling females.

Good luck
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****Misty****

"Everyone has the right to be stupid, but don't abuse the privilege"

1.1.2 bearded dragons
1.1.1 water dragons
0.0.5 leopard geckos
7.17.4 corn snakes
1.1.0 jungle corns
2.5.0 king snakes
1.0.0 Sinaloan milk snake
0.1.0 Tri-Hybrid milk snake
0.1.0 rat snake
1.1.0 Leucistic rat snakes
0.0.1 royal (ball) python
1.1.0 red headed agamas
1.1.0 Congo African Grey Parrots
0.1.0 German Shepherd hybrid dog

I would have to agree. Ecxept with the fact of housing say 2 females together, There is nothing wring with that right? Oh boy I opened up the can now. If you have the cash for an enclosure large enought to house 4 Corns and they are but part of a even bigger breeding project then you should very well have the cash to get there there own cages, Why risk it?
My Research and Collection

jason, you didnt open a can of worms.... its true, i know a few people with MUCH experience do let 2 females live together...BUT that is only b/c of lack of room, mostly b/c of hatchlings or other things... is it a good idea??? not unless you want to keep a very close eye on them. PLUS i'd make sure they were of equal size and age. putting, say, a 4 footer with a hatchling... not a good idea.... the biggun might get hungry and think, "what a tastey lil snack i have here..." as to the guy with the stunted 2 year old.... i would have....with my lil experience....i would have seperated the sexes. males in one tank, females in another....IF they are all hatchlings, which they arent, and you were looking to get them a larger encloser ASAP. i mean, heck, hatchlings anly need a lil bit of room... shoot....a deli cup would even work for a hatchling.... just go larger everytime it grows... golly jeepers......

~kin
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~SNAKIES~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Corns:
.1 Normal (Gertrude)
1. unknown hypo? normal? (Romeo)
1.2 Miami Phase (Hector, Emily, Charlotte) thanks jeff!
1. Amel het Blizzard (Dunesbury)
1. Classic het Hypo, poss het Amel, Anery (Cobra)
1.1 Classics (Henry VIII, Cassy [Emilys babies])
.1 Amel (Pepperoni)
1.1 Hypo zig zags poss het Caramel (Bernard, Abegail)
.1 Classic het Hypo, Stripe (Gracie Lou)

Rats:
1.1 Black rats (Willard, Cecily)

Cal Kings:
1.1 Striped Cal Kings (Dweezil, Skunky)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~LEOPARD GECKOS~~~~~~~~~~~~~

1. Normal het Midnight Blizzard (Mr. Spot)
.1 Blizzard (Blitz)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~TURTLE~~~~~~~~~~~~
.1 white cheeked mud (Opel)

If you house two females of similar size together you are eliminating some, but not all, of the risks of cohabitation. You would still need to be more watchful (and hopefully more experienced) than if each snake had its own cage. In fact, I have 12 snakes in 11 cages. Two female corns are kept in a 55 gallon aquarium. There you go...I break the very rule that I so often drill people on. Let me tell you...These 2 are healthy females who never refuse a meal and never regurge. FIRST sign of ANY problem and they would have been separated ASAP. Most of the people who ask the cohabitation question are, in fact, beginners. And I REALLY feel that beginners need not push their luck on this issue. Too many of them will not recognize a problem until it is a BIG problem. All that said, ALL of Jimmy's (Draybar's) reasons AGAINST cohabitation are correct, and one snake per cage is the best rule of thumb. ( I call them "Jimmy's" reasons because of the thoughtful, excellent post which he has saved to cut and paste over & over again when this issue comes up). Duffy

I just thought of a good point. Why is the 2yo stunted, Did he posably breed it young? I dont recale but I think he said it was a male wich breeding shoudl not stunt it. I would be interested in finding out how this snake got stunted.
FOOT HILL REPTILES

Sounds like he picked up a male that is small for his age. It may actually be "stunted" or it may just be on the small side. There is enough variation in feeding practices that two year olds can vary widely in size. There may well be nothing "wrong" with the small male, he probably just came from a home that keeps a more modest feeding pace. He is unsure of the age, guessing at two years. Sounds like an active and healthy male, however. And he's probably stressing the daylights out of the young females in the tank.

I have to agree as well. If I were a female snake, I would not want to be housed with a male that is going to chase me around, trying to mate all the time.
Where is Jimmy anyway. I figured he'd paste his cohabitation post by now.

Jimmy (draybar) I dont feel like typing up all the reasons against cohabitation. Where are you?!
lol
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****Misty****

"Everyone has the right to be stupid, but don't abuse the privilege"

1.1.2 bearded dragons
1.1.1 water dragons
0.0.5 leopard geckos
7.17.4 corn snakes
1.1.0 jungle corns
2.5.0 king snakes
1.0.0 Sinaloan milk snake
0.1.0 Tri-Hybrid milk snake
0.1.0 rat snake
1.1.0 Leucistic rat snakes
0.0.1 royal (ball) python
1.1.0 red headed agamas
1.1.0 Congo African Grey Parrots
0.1.0 German Shepherd hybrid dog

Isnt that what us males do? Runing around trying to breed 24-7? LOL sorry could not help that one. I personaly think this is a closed case. If he was going to listen he already would have. Its unfortunate for the snakes btu who knows maybe he hasnt replyed in a while because he is bussy husteling up the cash for some new cages.
My Research and Collection