Quote:
Originally Posted by Shiari
Since you want the data, how about you set up the expiriment to create it? Cohab say... 20 pairs of corns, male+female and 20 pairs female+female and 20 pairs male+male in 20 gallon tanks and/or 30+ quart bins, and record weight each month and behaviour every day. Also have 20 males housed singly and 20 females housed singly. In three years, post the information. We'll see ya then.
If there's only ONE heat spot, the snakes are going to have to compete for access to it. If there's only one or two hides, the snakes are going to have to compete for access to them. Competition amongst reptiles is not going to look like competition amongst mammals or even birds.
Basically encouraging newbies to risk their snakes simply because *some* people have had okay experiences with cohabbing is unethical for the hobby.
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I do not encourage newbies, I only don't like that some people act like co-habbing is animal abuse without any data to support that. I don't feel the need to convince people that I am right, but many anti co-habbers do, if they want to impress me, they have to show me facts, not personal logic.
Actually I do have proof of many cases of co-habbing not gone wrong when it comes to cannibalism and pairs. Since it would be goofy to have a test group for that of snakes which are not co-habbed, I did do that part of the research. Of course, there is a tiny risk of cannibalism and problems with juvenile pregnancy involved, but since most of known cases happened to hatchlings, which I don't co-hab, and I do not put pairs together knowingly, I feel pretty safe about it.
Actually, I tell newby's about the risks and why many people are against it and I advice to get some experience with non co-habbed corns first and than decide if you want to co-hab. That's the best I can do in a country where they'll see people co-hab all the time. Why would they believe me if I'd be very fermly against it? They might think I'm exaggerating since I cannot provide them any data about it or tell about many cases of cannibalism or juvenile pregnancy's gone wrong. Where'd my credibility be? I do also tell them to not put pairs together for longer than until their second or even better their first breeding season and to put them back together if they want to when the female is large enough. And that co-habbing pairs can put much stress on the female during the breeding season, the same goes for males. You'd be surprised about the somewhat dissappointed looks on many of their faces, since they never thought about these things.
Again, no reaction to my opinion that co-habbing should be compared with racks instead of not co-habbing. I wonder if you use racks with drawers, Shiari?
By the way, I did have a disease in my collection a couple of years ago, when I did not co-hab since I had a rack (closed back, no room between shelves and sides) with drawers because I was told co-habbing is a very bad thing to do and I wanted more snakes. You know where all but one casualties (the first casualty) where housed? In the drawers... but the first to show symptoms actually was a non co-habbed male in a wooden viv, I still have no idea where it came from, since it did not start in the rack and I had not gotten a new snake recently, I did not even have the rack when the first snake started to show symptoms. Maybe the disease spreads faster in a rack with drawers? I am not implying anything, just showing how easily cause and effect can be made up applying 'logic'.