Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have a 4 foot long corn snake currently, and have recently aquired a 1.5 foot long baby.
My question is, has anyone ever heard of corn snakes being cannibalistic, or has anyone ever had any problems with keeping a smaller snake with a much larger snake?

Short answer....No
Long answer:
i woulden't because there have been cases of canabilism in corns but it is usually because of food, and if you keep them together the younger snake may stop eating from stress, i suppose the stress could get to the adult but it is bigger, the smaller corn may feel intimidated. and it is easy to keep a small corn for a while, just use a plastic shoebox with holed drilled in it for air and put a heat pad in it. I'm shure if i am wrongg someone will tell you and me.
So no i at least woulden't keep them together.
DF

It seems like most cannibalistic tendencies occur when the cornsnakes are babies. However, I did hear of an adult corn snake that ate a young rosy boa. While I know you are talking about 2 cornsnakes, not two separate species, I wouldn't risk putting them togeher when one is so much smaller than the other one.

Have you done a six-month quarntine on the new comer? Everyone has to decide for themselves how much risk is too much for them. I guess it also depends on how fond you are of your cornsnakes. I don't know if you have read this or not but here are some risks I typed up a day or two ago for another forum user. I don't mean to sway people one way or the other, but I just want your descision to be an informed one.

You can sucessfully keep two corns together, but there is also a lot that can grow wrong. I personally keep most of my corns housed alone, but I do have a few females that sharge a cage while I am making room for them. Honestly though, if I have a certain one that is either very expensive or one of my favorites, I can assure you I won't take the risk. Here are some cons...

1. One or both corns may get stressed out. A beginner keeper may not even notice the signs of a stressed out corn and prolonged stress can lead to illness.

2. It will be nearly impossible to tell who is the culprit if someone regurges or leaves other "clues" to illness in the cage.

3. If the two snakes are not from the same source a quanantine time of at least six months is advised or they can transmit parasites to one another. It is impossible to quarntine if kept together.

4. If the snakes are a sexual pair and not of breeding age, they will breed before the female is physically able to handle the demands of breeding and can very likly lead to fatal complications and perhaps unwanted hatchlings.

5. If it is a sexual pair and they are breeding size, they will breed. Female corns need to be alone while they are gravid, and having another snake in there will only stress out the female during a time where she should be made as content as possible. This also can lead to fatel complications with egg-laying.

6. Lone males put together may fight unexpectedly and suddenly during mating season. One day they may be fine, the other they may be engaged in a battle.

7. I have heard of a few instances that even though the corns were fed separately, when put back together in the same cage one "smelled" the lingering mouse smell on the other and constricted it's cagemate to death.

8. Caniballism in corns is not THAT rare. I've seen hatchlings attempt it in my own home both this year and last.

I am sure there is some I left out, but those are some serious risks to consider before you decide. Oh yeah, I forgot the pros.

1. It saves you a little bit of space.

as always there are pros and cons

its just that. some people like to consider more of some than the other

if you are new to corns i would highly not recommend it. i dont have any experience with introducing a small corn to a much larger corn. i dont see why that would be a problem for many reasons.

but i do agree that you shouuld qurantine the new one to make sure its healthy before putting them together.

and if anyone has any experience with putting a small and larger snake together, they can answer that questions.

you should be asking questions like: how can I make my habitat better for my snake?

It's just my opinion but fun and drive of reptile ownership should be the challenge of providing the best possible habitat for your animals. Something that truely makes the snake feel at home. I like to do research on the habitat of my snakes and even go to zoo's for decorative ideas. Snakes are extremely addictive (I have 12, I know trust me), and once you've been bitten by the "snake bug" it's hard to shake that feeling of always wanting one more. This should not distract you from taking the best care possible of each and every one of your animals. It's definitely not about how many can I squeeze into one tank to show my buddies.

If you can afford the snake, typically you can afford the 10G tank from petco for $25 or the sterilite for $2.

It's not "can you" but rather "should you" and the answer is an astounding no...

Good luck and congrats on your new snake.

....

I appreciate your concern, but he is currently housed in a ten gallon with all of the necessary items (heat pad, a lamp, etc.). I too own many reptiles (a breeding pair of columbian redtails, 4 leopard geckos, 4 mourning geckos, a savannah monitor, a ball python, and a brazilian rainbow boa) and that's only what I have NOW, not what I have owned in the past.

"It's definitely not about how many can I squeeze into one tank to show my buddies."
No, it definitely isn't. It's about how many can I SUCCESSFULLY house in one tank so that I can have extra room for different species. But thanks for assuming.

I really didn't ask "how do you take care of corn snakes" I just simply asked if anyone knew of cornsnakes being cannibalistic. Again, I appreciate you trying to help, though.

Don't take this forum to seriously. There are a lot of very helpful folks, but there is also alot of people who read something and think it's the law not just one persons opinion. It sounds to me you have enough experience to know whats best for your snake. As far as cannibalism it is very rare, but all it takes is one person to post a picture of a snake eating another snake and, you know what I mean. Good luck with your new baby Jim

I mean all you have to lose is an innocent baby snake...

God for it!

Good luck

n/p what a long day

I took the baby and placed him outside of the bigger cornsnake's tank, and the bigger one shot out of his hidebox and started rubbing his nose on the glass trying to get at the baby.
Crazy ass snake. It weird though, because he's not aggressive at all towards me. So, I decided that probably wouldn't be a good idea. Thanks everyone. =)

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Dianne
AKA IcedGoddess
0.1 Snow (Ruby)
1.0 Anery A (Breaden)
0.0.4 Normal het-snow (no names yet)
1.1 Bloodred (Vlad the Impailer and Natasha)
0.1 Anery Stripe (Morticia)
1.0 Candy Cane (Kane)
0.1 Amel (Christine)
1.3 Cats (Alexys{f}, Mikki{f}, Timothy{m}, Seven{f})
0.1 Child
IcedGoddess Creations
Castle Serpents

I had a baby ball python in the tank with a three year old once. The baby would ride around the tank on the big ones back like a horse. It was fun to watch, but as a general rule I wouldn't recommend it.

my two largest corns are each in 20g-long tanks and I think the snow is outgrowing hers. She's about 48" and is only 3 years old. Her future boyfriend is my yearling anery, who's only about 35" and about 2/3 the diameter of the snow. He's not outgrowing his tank yet, but I'm building a rack to keep all my snakes in and getting rid of all these tanks. But I want to also build a nice big "naturalistic" home that I could use for displaying my favorite girl, and considering keeping the pair together next spring, and maybe permanently.

I've had both snakes kept seperate for over a year now, and neither has ever had a bad shed or regurge, so health wise I think it will be an okay match. Also, both snakes have very mellow and I guess you could call it, brave attitudes, so I don't think either would be stressed out by living together, as long as the space was big enough. But they aren't that hugely different in size as a hatchling would be to a yearling or adult, and I have had them for so long I'm quite certain they're both very healthy.

I think it just depends on your snakes and you, the main thing would be the quarrantine time...just to be sure they're healthy individually first, then if a problem did arise, you could re-seperate them and hopefully have two happy healthy snakes still.
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Dianne
AKA IcedGoddess
0.1 Snow (Ruby)
1.0 Anery A (Breaden)
0.0.4 Normal het-snow (no names yet)
1.1 Bloodred (Vlad the Impailer and Natasha)
0.1 Anery Stripe (Morticia)
1.0 Candy Cane (Kane)
0.1 Amel (Christine)
1.3 Cats (Alexys{f}, Mikki{f}, Timothy{m}, Seven{f})
0.1 Child
IcedGoddess Creations
Castle Serpents

In your case it sounds like you wouldn't have a problem keeping those two together for now, but after a few witnessed breedings, I'd take the male out. Like any other typical male, they will constantly be trying to breed. I had the same set up you describe and even after multiple breeding the male was pursuing the female everyday for a week before I decided to separate. Females can be extremely picky about thier envoirnments when gravid, they want to find the perfect spot and relax until it is time. If they don't find this "perfect secret spot" they will roam frantically for other options. This wears them out and also causes them to sometimes "hold on" to thier clutch longer than then normal creating problems for egg binding and dead eggs. Gravid females are very fussy things! Good Luck!

Now that I think about it, you may want to do it the other way around. Keep them together until after a few breedings and then put the FEMALE in the rack. I bet she'd enjoy the privacy of the rack system a little better than being on display. Just be careful to wipe them clean after feeding and keep them separated for about 30 min. The most commen cases of accidents (AFAIK) happen right after reintroducing the pair after a feeding.

Thanks, I haven't figured out yet what I'll do, but I know I want at least one in a big "naturalistic" display. I may just wait till I have a female big enough to house her with.

I plan to build the rack with a friend of mine (who actually owns a few power tools) and we'll be making it big enough for all of my snakes to have adult sice tubs. It'll be a while before I get a display cage built anyway, so I have lots of time to decide
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Dianne
AKA IcedGoddess
0.1 Snow (Ruby)
1.0 Anery A (Breaden)
0.0.4 Normal het-snow (no names yet)
1.1 Bloodred (Vlad the Impailer and Natasha)
0.1 Anery Stripe (Morticia)
1.0 Candy Cane (Kane)
0.1 Amel (Christine)
1.3 Cats (Alexys{f}, Mikki{f}, Timothy{m}, Seven{f})
0.1 Child
IcedGoddess Creations
Castle Serpents