Live to F/T and 2 snakes 1 cage.. questions

Hi All,

It's been a long time since I've visited this place, but need some opinions.

Yesterday, I found a beautiful pair of corn snakes, both adults. The people say they are about 2 years old, but I'm guessing they are older. The 2 snakes have been living together since they were babies. I am at a point when I am I not sure I want to buy both, but the thought of taking one and not the other, seems difficult since they have been together all their lives. I know that it is not advisable to keep 2 in one cage -- but in this situation?

I would keep them together (if i bought both) in a 40 gallon. I believe the term for the 40 gallon was "breeder"? They are currently in a 20 gallon tall.

Anyhow, another issue I'm having is that both have been on live feed all their lives. I am not comfortable feeding live to the snakes if only because of the risk to them. How difficult would the transition from live to f/t or prekilled be? This is the greatest issue for me. And will be the determining factor..

Thanks for any insight.

As far as taking one snake away from the other, there will be no problems. Even though they have been together all there lives, snakes don't have the same kind of attachments to cage mates that other animals might have. They will probably be better off being separated.

Now as far switching to F/T. My experience is that it should be pretty easy. I have purchased a few adults that were fed live all there lives and they still readily took F/T.
If they refuse to take F/T then there are a few tricks you can try to get them to eventually switch over, like stunning their prey or dangling the mouse with tongs and moving it so they think it's alive.

Here's my opinion, which you may use, abuse, fold, spindle, or mutilate to your heart's content.

I don't see any preference between buying neither snake, one snake, or both snakes. Snakes are not prone to separation anxiety, so if I only wanted one, I'd have no hesitation taking just one. As they have been together their whole lives, if I took both, I would have no hesitation housing them in the same cage. However, if they are kept together and are male and female, you might find them producing eggs, which you may or may not want.

I'm not familiar with the dimensions of a 40 gallon tank. If it is 16 inches or less high, it should be fine for a pair of average sized (3-4 feet long) corns.

For 95% of all corns, transition from live to fresh killed rodents just requires putting the dead mouse in the tank and leaving the snake alone for a little while.That was all I did with my first pair of corns, which were wild caught adults. (This was before CB babies were readily available.) Transitioning to f/t might require tearing a little skin off the mouse's head. But you will have to feed the snakes separately, because the second snake is almost certain to try to take the mouse from the first.

Hope this helps.

I have a yearling bloodred that was fed entirely live for her whole life. And I can see the difference in her feeding style when live food is used versus f/t.

I fed her live when she first got here and then gradually got her switched over to f/t.

I started out by first freshly killing the mouse and placing it into the feeding container while it was still kicking around..excellent feeding response, she didn't even notice the difference.

Next I did a pre-killed one that wasn't moving anymore..but was still warm and fresh smelling. That wasn't as attractive to her, but after a few minutes of pushing it around the container, she finally latched on.

Then I tried f/t..wasn't interested in it at all. I use warm water to thaw out my rodents, and I guess it was the differing texture and smell that put her off. However, when I reached in with the hemostats to remove it, she struck and coiled around it as it was on it's way out. She continued to eat.

I had to do move and wiggle the f/t one more feeding..and then she just now starts eating them without me having to move the prey.

That's just my snake, I got her with the advice that she is only a live feeder and was never interested in f/t. So I worked using that assumption.

Some snakes however readily accept either live or f/t. They'll eat whatever they're offered, and if the last place of residence only wanted live..they'll eat it. When you get it/them home..it doesn't hurt to try feeding f/t. Cause by the time they've had their week long settling in period, they'll have bound to have missed a feeding.

I agree with Steve, snakes don't long for companionship..and I'll bet they do better once separated.