Reptile & Amphibian Forums

but if you have 2 should you hold them at the same time, or let them hang out together in a seperate container? (once their around the same size), do they need to be around other snakes, or do they like to commune with others? and i don't mean during breeding season

sorry for the extremely beginner question

First of all, they don't "like" to be around each other at all. They simply respond, negatively or positively to various urges they have according to their instincts in relation to the specific environmental conditions in which they find themselves at any given moment. "Like" never enters into the formula at all, except when humans insert that concept through anthropomorphism (seeing human qualities in non-human scenarios).

That being said, there are less dangers present in simply holding animals at the same time, or placing them temporarily together in the same container, than are present when they cohabitate on a full-time basis. Cannibalism is not an issue so long as you watch them, and they are not likely to stress one another to dangerous levels on such brief encounters.

However, another issue for keeping corns separate, is the issue of cross contamination, which can occur even though the keeper of the corns is a good keeper, and has no idea that one or more of the corns he has is sick with something contagious. For a frame of referrence, look at the earlier two posts dealing with the person who recently discovered that crypto had killed one corn and was the likely killer of another that had previously died.

Keeping them apart is not only best from a husbandry perspective, trying to eliminate stress, cannibalism, and unwanted eggs, it is also the ONLY way to begin to ensure that unseen diseases are not passed from one animal to another. Some of these "bugs" can wipe out an entire collection, and you simply cannot know that there is a problem until it's too late.

Hope that helps some...
-----
Darin Chappell
Hillbilly Herps
PO Box 254
Rogersville, MO 65742

thank you the reason i asked is one of my friends asked me if corns like to "play" together and i couldn't answer him with a yes or a no...

at first i had 4 together (since they were babies)found out i had 3 females and i male.hatched out the eggs the females had and kept one baby.then when he (found out the snake was a male from the mating) was about the same size as my other corn snakes i put him in the cage( that i designed) with my other corn snakes.i have never had a problem.they all eat the same day,all in seperate shoe boxes.then when they are done eating their rats i wash their head's off in a bowl.they have plenty of hiding spots but usually they all curl up together for the day.i know some believe not to have them together but it's worked for me,the 4 have been together since 1999.maybe this week i'll post a picture of my setup.thanks for reading nina