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I'm starting to love this thread! Everybody is sharing, sometimes disagreeing, but no attacking and namecalling at all. That's so great!
I do agree that this can be a very useful thread to refer to the next time a new member asks about cohabbing. At least everything is in one place.
There are lots of downpoints in cohabbing, most of them because it's done without some good sense. And I think most here agree at the least that it should not be suggested to newbies as a good thing.
For the rest, opinions are different and always will be.
I myself have a few that I cohab most of the year. Individuals I have kept quite some time alone (as you should in quarantaine when you get them of course) and I know their 'normal' behaviour. I believe I mentioned it somewhere before: one of them I tried to cohab and it didn't work out. He didn't regurge, he didn't go off food, he didn't get sick. But his behaviour change was subtle but obvious if you looked for it. Had I left him there, I guess I would have gotten to those problems, but I'm not trying that out. He is in a viv alone, not to be tried to cohab again.
I have vivs for all of them, to seperate when nessecary, but some of them I put together when possible.
There are so many things that can go wrong, and if you don't want them to happen, you have to have a very keen eye for everything. This I think you only learn to see when building experience over the years.
Maybe a list is not a bad thing?
** Cannibalism: mostly in hatchlings, sometimes juviniles.
** breeding too young: sometimes people are told they won't breed at that age, sometimes the animals are sexed wrong (mistakes happen!). Breeding at too young an age is mostly dangerous for the female, as it increases chances for eggbinding.
** Stress: this can be the cause of several problems. Behaviour change (like spending more time in hides), refusal to eat, regurges, shedding problems, sickness, ... etc.
** When an individual gets ill or regurges, you don't know which one it is.
I probably forget a few here...
In the heated threads usually somebody asks for the benefits of cohabbing. I do cohab some, so I can answer this question here: there are none for the snake imo. All the benefits are for the owner.
And here is where that keen eye comes in: when this is the case, and you (like me) as owner still decide to cohab, responsability is yours too. Don't think "oh it won't happen here", because then your guard will go down.
But it IS your choice. Just make that choice with all the facts in your head.
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