Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi everyone,
I'm the proud new owner of a pair of baby motley corns. They're also hets for hypo. I am planning on raising them and breeding in about two years.
My main question is about keeping together. Since they don't eat each other, from my point of view I don't really see a problem, as long as there are adequate hides and space, as well as I separate them for feeding. Later on I would need to worry about premature breeding, or would I since they haven't been hibernated? Let me know what you all think in regards to keeping them together, and support your answers.

Thanks,
Taylor

Yes, indeed, you would need to worry about premature breeding.
While it is always best to keep snakes in their own cage for several reasons, many people will cage some together, especially when they are too young to breed. Be advised that this can, in some cases, cause undue stress on one or both snakes. If one gets sick, they will both often become ill. Be prepared to change your plan at first sign of trouble (regurge, failure to eat, etc). Good luck. Duffy

Would you consider yourself an experienced to advanced herper?If not i would flat out say no.There are more cons than pro's keeping them together.Save yourself some heartbreak now and seperate them.I could sit, and type, and rant, for an hour but i wont.Look down at some other great posts about keeping them together....Good Luck ..Paul.

It's fine if I shouldn't keep them together, but why? What are some reasons? Do corn eat eachother ritually, or do they take one look at eachother and commit suicide? You've told me not to, but given me no reasons.

Thanks,
Taylor

I'm one of the bad guys who houses more than one corn in the same tank. I will say one thing though, Housing two of the opposite sex will cause problems. I know from experience that males tend to mature sexually sooner than females. If you dont seperate them real soon your male will start trying to mate and cause a lot of undue stress on the female. They can breed their first year. This can cause problems and possibly kill your female. I never house snakes of the opposite sex, never. Just my opinion. Jim
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1,0 snow
1,0 amel

1,0 aney stripe motley
0,1 normal
0,1 anery
0,1 motley
1,1 oketee
1,1 tx rat
4,4 ball python
1,1 dumerils boa
1,0 columbian red tail boa
1,1 green iguana
1,0 leopard gecko
1,3 dogs
freezer full of mice & rats

At least one person here who does house snakes together, keeps them in a huge enclosure..something like 6'x3' floor space if I recall correctly. Even then, cornsnakes don't stay in close proximaty to eachother in the wild except during breeding season. Several snakes my congregate around a common plentiful source of foods (ie a farmer's corn field or barn where alot of mice frequent). But the common reasons for not housing snakes together is stress, spread of diseases, unwanted breeding and difficulty in determining which snake did or didn't do what. (ie have both snakes pooed in the last week? Or regurgitated mouse found in enclosure, difficult to tell who lost their lunch).

What it comes down to is you can keep snakes in the same enclosure and not have anything go wrong but the consensus is there is a higher risk something will go wrong if you do. The best way to properly care for an animal is to eliminate all forms of risk you can control. Separate containers and proper husbandry is something you can control easily. Some drunk in a car driving into your living room cause he thought that was the road and running over your snake cage..is something you cannot control. (have heard of several people doing this in my city over the last 10 years or so, though fortunately, to my knowledge no snakes were harmed)

I can't help but feel that some on this forum think I'm an idiot. Just for the record, I would like to give my two cents. I've been keeping reptiles for several years. I don't consider my self an expert by any stretch of the imagination, But I do have a little experience. I have learned a lot over the years. After giving two snakes and setups to a science teacher here at the school where I work I currently have 19 snakes,eight of witch are corn snakes. I house them in 12 tanks, 10 gal to 50 gal. All of my snakes are fat healthy beautiful animals. All of my corns ate last night. I can't remember when one didn't shed in one piece. Over all I think my snakes are doing just fine, thank you. As far as disease goes I've never had any problems If you take good care of your snakes, clean tanks, quarentine new snakes before introducing, etc desease should be minimal. If you observe your snakes carefully you can see sings of stress. My female anery doesn't like to be around other snakes. She hardly likes to come out at all. Needless to say she has her own tank. The snakes that are housed together have plenty of hides , but usually prefer to hide together, who would of thunk. I never house male and female together. I always feed in seperate tanks, but others don't and never have any problems. I never reintroduce them back into the tank until their bellies are full, thus cannibalism is not a major worry. What Im tring to say is, if your a med school student or third grsde student carefully observe your snakes. If you really know their ways and habits you can see problems when they come up. There is no rules set in stone that can't be adjusted if you pay attention to the needs of your animals.
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1,0 snow
1,0 amel

1,0 aney stripe motley
0,1 normal
0,1 anery
0,1 motley
1,1 oketee
1,1 tx rat
4,4 ball python
1,1 dumerils boa
1,0 columbian red tail boa
1,1 green iguana
1,0 leopard gecko
1,3 dogs
freezer full of mice & rats

>>I can't help but feel that some on this forum think I'm an idiot. Just for the record, I would like to give my two cents. I've been keeping reptiles for several years. I don't consider my self an expert by any stretch of the imagination, But I do have a little experience. I have learned a lot over the years. After giving two snakes and setups to a science teacher here at the school where I work I currently have 19 snakes,eight of witch are corn snakes. I house them in 12 tanks, 10 gal to 50 gal. All of my snakes are fat healthy beautiful animals. All of my corns ate last night. I can't remember when one didn't shed in one piece. Over all I think my snakes are doing just fine, thank you. As far as disease goes I've never had any problems If you take good care of your snakes, clean tanks, quarentine new snakes before introducing, etc desease should be minimal. If you observe your snakes carefully you can see sings of stress. My female anery doesn't like to be around other snakes. She hardly likes to come out at all. Needless to say she has her own tank. The snakes that are housed together have plenty of hides , but usually prefer to hide together, who would of thunk. I never house male and female together. I always feed in seperate tanks, but others don't and never have any problems. I never reintroduce them back into the tank until their bellies are full, thus cannibalism is not a major worry. What Im tring to say is, if your a med school student or third grsde student carefully observe your snakes. If you really know their ways and habits you can see problems when they come up. There is no rules set in stone that can't be adjusted if you pay attention to the needs of your animals.
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I don't think there is anyone here who thinks you are an idiot.
You have found the "key". You must know your snakes.
You have done a good job, learned your snakes and have done what works for you and them.
But, it is just safer for people new to snakes to keep them seperate until they have enough experience to see the signs their snakes may be giving. Then as they gain this experience, do what works for them.
I have done both without problem but I just decided to keep them seperate because it makes it mush easier to keep track of feeding, craping, sheding and growth.
For people bringing in two or more new hatchlings at the same time they forgo quaranteen which can be a problem.
oh well
good discussion anyway
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Remember, my posts are MY opinion only.
Jimmy (draybar)

Cow,you seem to have your stuff together.In 2 years you grasped more than i did in the first ten.20 years ago you went to the library for information,or the tattoo shop to learn about snakes.There were no reptile vets,still not many now,who you could turn to for help if something went terribly bad.Maybe it's why so many of us are against it.If it works for you great.Keep us posted....Paul..

Thanks to you all who replied. I've now come to the conclusion that, while it is possible to keep corn together (probably even young males and females), it poses more risk of problems. I am going to make two new cages, and move them apart as soon as I can.

Thanks,
Taylor
P.S. Do some of you keep males together? If so, thats wierd because I have ball pythons, and we can keep females, or males/females together, but not two males, even if there isn't a female near them.

I guess you see the point everyone is tring to make here. It probably is best to seperate if possible. Someday I'll have a whole house fuul of set ups and won't have to keep any of my snakes together. I just can't seem to put them in a rack just yet. As far as housing male balls together, probably not a good idea. I have four males, six, four, and two yearlings. The yearlings are housed together right now, but I plan to seperate soon. All of my bigger snakes have their own homes. Good luck, Jim
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1,0 snow
1,0 amel

1,0 aney stripe motley
0,1 normal
0,1 anery
0,1 motley
1,1 oketee
1,1 tx rat
4,4 ball python
1,1 dumerils boa
1,0 columbian red tail boa
1,1 green iguana
1,0 leopard gecko
1,3 dogs
freezer full of mice & rats

Thanks drabar & gargoyle, I'm through ranting. Sorry if I offended anyone I sure didn't intend to. I know it's not best for people new to the hobby to just throw a bunch of snakes in a tank and forget about them. I just get tired of people who say this is the only thing that works period. You guys have taught me alot and I do appreciate it. thanks, Jim
-----
1,0 snow
1,0 amel

1,0 aney stripe motley
0,1 normal
0,1 anery
0,1 motley
1,1 oketee
1,1 tx rat
4,4 ball python
1,1 dumerils boa
1,0 columbian red tail boa
1,1 green iguana
1,0 leopard gecko
1,3 dogs
freezer full of mice & rats

>>Hi everyone,
>> I'm the proud new owner of a pair of baby motley corns. They're also hets for hypo. I am planning on raising them and breeding in about two years.
>> My main question is about keeping together. Since they don't eat each other, from my point of view I don't really see a problem, as long as there are adequate hides and space, as well as I separate them for feeding. Later on I would need to worry about premature breeding, or would I since they haven't been hibernated? Let me know what you all think in regards to keeping them together, and support your answers.
>>
>> Thanks,
>> Taylor

I have found that when someone makes a post such as yours, they have already made up their mind and just want someone to confirm their choice.
So do what you're going to do. I doubt we can change your mind but....
This is always a touchy subject here.
There are many beliefs, ideas and opinions on the subject so I might as well give my own.
In my opinion it realy isn't worth the risk. Yes, there are a lot of people who keep multiple corns together with success, BUT ..there are things to consider.
If one of the snakes regurgitates its food or has a runny stool there is no way to tell which one has the problem.
If one gets sick it is a pretty high likelihood that the other will also.
Some corns are stressed by the presense of other snakes. You might have one or both of the snakes end up with eating problems and/or other problems due to stress.
There is always a chance of cannibalism. Even if you separate the snakes when feeding there is the possibility that the lingering smell of mouse could trigger a feeding response in one of the snakes. On feeding day you have two and the next day you look into the container to see only one and that one is extremely full. There is also a good chance that this hatchling could die if it can't digest a meal of that size.
You can get 6-quart Rubbermaid shoeboxes for around $2.00 each so habitat cost isn't high. For three or four dollars you can get enough aspen shavings to accommodate two "shoe box" habitats for quite a while. Heating is also pretty easy. You can get a heat pad at Wal-Mart for around $10.00.
Two shoebox habitats can easily share a heat pad.
So, in my opinion, although people do it successfully I just don't think it is worth the risk.
But, you will do as you will do.
Good luck

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Remember, my posts are MY opinion only.
Jimmy (draybar)