The excape artist is back !

[NennaMeerkat]

Originally Posted by Aaron_S

I hope the two people who replied about keeping snakes together and they 'curl up' and 'socialize' realize that snakes don't socialize except for mating. They also don't 'curl up' for companionship. They do that because that's probably the best hiding spot or hot spot.

These are solitary animals. Besides that fact, what if one has a really runny poop and seems sick? How would you know which one has it?

EDIT: How do you know their level of stress decreases with being group housed? Did you keep them all individually for a lengthy period of time, in the exact same manner and keep records? Did they all not eat? Did you house them properly in the first place?

Of course I know snakes don't socialize. The aquarium we had our two guys in was quite large, large enough where two snakes could easily separate and not even see one another. We have several different hiding spots and under aquarium heating pads on either end (they didn't cover the entire bottom so there were cool spots). In the winter we added two heat lamps on either end as well with low wattage bulbs in to make sure they got the heat they needed. We were living in Kansas in a really old house...was always cold in that durn house. If they wanted to be separate they could easily have done so.

At the same time if one of them had gotten sick (thankfully it never happened) we did have smaller "back up aquariums" that we could temporarily observe them separated. These things were not meant for reptiles and kinda small, to small for me to be comfy with leaving them in there all the time. We also separated them in different bins to feed. I never feed my snakes in the place they live.

I am not saying that every corn snake can be housed together, or that it is the BEST option. But at the same time I had two healthy snakes that ate well, never got sick, and they lived together. It isn't an impossibility that two snakes could be comfortable in the same space as long as it is large enough and adequate space is given when they want to be apart.

[Aaron_S]

Originally Posted by NennaMeerkat

...I am not saying that every corn snake can be housed together, or that it is the BEST option. ...

This is the only part of your post I need.


EDIT: If it's not the best option for your snakes then why do you do it?

[Marica]

I am very glad your escapee turned up, and very cute story how it was found

However, I have to agree that housing multiple - especially young - Corn Snakes together is not a good idea. I've heard of more instances of cannibalism in baby/young Corns than aggressiveness in cohabbed adults, though I believe that they should be housed separately at any age. There are so many legitimate reasons not to cohab, and no legitimate reason to cohab. I have seen way too many pictures like the ones below.

Note: If the pictures need to be removed, a goggling 'cannibal cornsnake' will bring up an assortment of images.

[Aaron_S]

May I save those pictures if they are yours? I'd very much like to have them for future threads like this.

[Marica]

They are not mine, however I would assume that their use for this topic would be permissible. I just Googled (not goggled...lol) these pictures for this thread and there's plenty more online.

[Will0W783]

I have to agree with Aaron and Marica here...housing an entire clutch of corn snake babies together is not a good idea. Most breeders, at least the respectable ones I've seen and dealt with, immediately separate babies into individual shoeboxes in a rack once they've hatched. Why risk them eating each other? I know hatchling racks can get costly, but I figure it's better to make the initial investment than to risk vet bills down the road. Just my $.02, but I feel it's better to give them each their own house, from babies up to adults, and only put them together for breeding purposes.