Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Well here are two females and one male hanging out with eachother.

-----
My roomates 1 boa(Flicka),2 corns, 1 cat(Morris) and 1 dog(Chance)

You should really consider houseing your corns seperate. Their are many health risks involved with keeping them together.

If my assumption from the photo is incorrect, my apologies...

health, smealth, to each their own, they were housed together when i got them. The only health issue is feeding time and i do that seperatly anyways.. thnks anyways for your concern
-----
My roomates 1 boa(Flicka),3 corns, 1 cat(Morris) and 1 dog(Chance)

i have 5 adult corns together.i had 4 together four about 6 years then 2 years later added one of their sons.i have never had a problem.i have had them all since they were babies.i have a large cage that my guy builded.i feed them sepretly all on the same day and wash all their heads off when their done.you know i have plenty off hiding places but they always all curl up together in one big container.it can be done.

>>i have 5 adult corns together.i had 4 together four about 6 years then 2 years later added one of their sons.i have never had a problem.i have had them all since they were babies.i have a large cage that my guy builded.i feed them sepretly all on the same day and wash all their heads off when their done.you know i have plenty off hiding places but they always all curl up together in one big container.it can be done.

COHABITATION
MY OPINION

Everyone makes their own decisions but I just thought I would offer this piece of advise, information or whatever you would like to call it.

I feel it is best to keep snakes separate.
I know a lot of people keep multiple snakes together without problems and it can obviously be done without being detrimental to the snakes. I just feel the possible drawbacks need to be expressed.
When a person gets the experience and knowledge of their individual snakes and wants to try cohabitation, that is up to them. They just need to be careful and able to read the subtle signs of their snakes.
There can be definite drawbacks.
If one snake becomes sick there is a very good likelihood the other/others will get sick as well.
It may also take a while (usually too long) to determine which one is the sick one.
If one regurgitates its food you won't know which one unless you happen to get lucky and see it.
If one has a problem stool you won't know which one. Once again one may have a problem but by the time you figure out which one the other/others could end up with the same problem.
Although this is only a slight possibility, it is still a possibility and has been know to happen, one snake could eat the other. The smell of a prey item could trigger one snake to eat the other. Or simple hunger accompanied by a ready food source.
Although uncommon, it has happened and is a possibility.
Another possibility is unwanted pregnancy. A female might get pregnant and you may not have the knowledge, desire or ability to incubate the eggs or raise the hatchlings. With hatchlings comes the responsibility to raise them or find them homes.
A lot of people rationalize by saying, "I will just put two males or two females together". That can work but mistakes can easily be made, especially with hatchlings. You could easily end up with a male and female.
There is also a chance of a female breeding too young or too small and becoming eggbound. Although uncommon, it IS a possibility and can happen.
With multiple snakes in an enclosure you stand the chance of loosing all of them if there happens to be an avenue of escape. Instead of losing one you could loose two or more depending on how many you decide to place together.
One or both of the snakes could be stressed by the presence of the other. Stress can cause a drop in appetite and lead to other health problems as well.
People will put multiple snakes in an enclosure and ask why one isn't eating.
When they are told it is probably due to stress caused by the other snake, the response is almost always the same "they like each other, they are always under the same hide together". Well this probably just means "that" hide or area of the tank has the optimum conditions they are looking for.
Snakes do not LIKE each other or ENJOY each other’s company.
There is no capacity for snakes to "like" or "enjoy".
I have kept multiple snakes together without problems but have made a choice to keep them separate. There is NO clear argument on why you SHOULD keep them together but there ARE clear arguments as to why you SHOULD NOT.
So, in my opinion, although people do it successfully I just don't think it is worth the risk.
If you decide to keep multiple snakes together, watch closely for any signs of appetite loss, regurgitation or any kind of "personality" change. These could all be signs of stress.
You would also want to feed them in separate containers and give them an hour or so before putting them back together.
My 2 cents
-----
Corn snakes and rat snakes..No one can have just one.
"resistance is futile"
Jimmy (draybar)

Draybars Snakes

-health, smealth, to each their own, they were housed together when i got them. The only health issue is feeding time and i do that seperatly anyways.. thnks anyways for your concern-

This seems to display a pretty irresponsible attitude. Although it is everyones choice how they house their snakes and it is true that many people house snakes together without apparent issue, the choice should be an educated and wel thought out one. Disregarding issues related to houseing snakes together is dangerous to the health of your snakes. Feeding time is definately not the only health issue when housing multiple snakes together. Draybars response pretty much spells it out and its senseless for me to repeat everything he has already said. Housing snakes together can and is done but the choice to do so should be backed up by good knowledge, research and education.
-----
0.1 Bearded dragon
0.1 mexican kingsnake
1.0.2 Leopard Gecko's
0.0.1 Rose Hair Tarantula
1.0 BTS
0.0.1 Reverse Okeetee Corn
0.1 Bullmastiff
4.1 Cats

>>health, smealth, to each their own, they were housed together when i got them. The only health issue is feeding time and i do that seperatly anyways.. thnks anyways for your concern
>>-----

I'm not going to get into the housing debate...but...I can appreciate your response. When someone like yourself shares a photo, the last thing you want is people jumping on you. Anyone who feels strongly against housing snakes together (they are always well intentioned and have only the snakes' well being in mind) has plently of opportunity to inform and educate people on the issue since there's usually about 3 or 4 "can I house more than one snake per cage" posts every month. That's the perfect time for advice - when someone asks for it.

-----
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Mike Heinrich
mike@amazontreeboa.org
www.amazontreeboa.org

I know what you mean. When i initially saw the picture i wasn't going to say anything...it was when i saw the "health smeath..the only health issues are feeding" that i figured maybe this person was just misinformed because he did not understand that there are several health issues with housing multiple snakes, not just feeding issues. But i do see your point.
-----
0.1 Bearded dragon
0.1 mexican kingsnake
1.0.2 Leopard Gecko's
0.0.1 Rose Hair Tarantula
1.0 BTS
0.0.1 Reverse Okeetee Corn
0.1 Bullmastiff
4.1 Cats

That wasn't really a post "jumping on" anyone, I didn't think.

I agree that it is usually best to reserve one's thoughts on this (or any) subject for those posts that ask for advice. However, there may be instances in which one would feel the need to kindly suggest something without being prompted, and I thought blkkat handled it fairly well, even though I didn't get the urge to do so from that picture alone.

I saw a picture posted once of a small baby boy sitting next to a large boid. Dad was showing off his two great sources of pride, and he wasn't asking for any advice either. However, as a father...I felt compelled to give it to him anyway, as I'm sure you can imagine.

I am not equating the two practices in any way, please don't misunderstand me. Keeping multiple corns together DOES NOT reach the level of idiocy that setting a baby next to retic for a "photo opportunity" requires! However, right or wrong...irresponsible behavior of all stripes will bring out the care of others, and that is the manner in which blkkat inteended that post, I believe.
-----
Darin Chappell
Hillbilly Herps
PO Box 254
Rogersville, MO 65742

Well said Darren
-----
0.1 Bearded dragon
0.1 mexican kingsnake
1.0.2 Leopard Gecko's
0.0.1 Rose Hair Tarantula
1.0 BTS
0.0.1 Reverse Okeetee Corn
0.1 Bullmastiff
4.1 Cats

I was in no way offensive...I did state "If my assumption from the photo is incorrect, my apologies..."

You will in fact more then likely have more then just feeding health problems. What do you plan on doing when the male breeds the females at too small of a size and they become egg bound over something that could have been prevented? Of course, egg binding is not 100% possible, but their is a high chance of it. Their is also the draining of physical resources that every breeding creates...This would of course be harder on an undersized female...

Just because they were kept together as babies by the breeder/store doesn't make it right. We should ALL know that from seeing some poor petstores in our neighborhoods (unless of course you're lucky enough to have high-quality stores in your area).

As I've always said...Just because a minority is successful does not make it right...Nor does it mean that problems can't arise!