Cohabbing Misfortunes.

You wouldn't know what happens in our little country... I once saw a viv at a buyer's place measuring about 7,5 feet x 7,5 feet x 16 inch. It had cork lining on the rear wall and mutliple shelves and some plastic plants placed on it. There was one sink sized waterbowl. He had about 6 hatchlings/juvi's housed in there. They were looking at the world from their high hiding places, it was cute to see. He put in the three he bought from me with them. Not sure how I felt about that...

Little country? It's a quart bigger than mine!

wow 9 litlle ones together? hmm.

mkay... maybe co-habbing is more common in smalle conutries since we are all packed in our buildings too? If I see all those large houses surrounded by a garden in American documentaries I understand why they can have so many snakes without co-habbing...lol

lol in urban surroundings, I'm sure there are small appartments there too

So the question then becomes: If (generic)you don't have enough space to house the snakes, why do (generic)you have so many?

Not really you know.
It's just not considered 'not having enough space' as cohabbing is generally accepted.
Unfortunately some people don't have any common sense and don't learn about their pets habbits and ways of life. I'm sure you have that kind of people too, even apart from the cohabbing issue.

Originally Posted by Shiari

So the question then becomes: If (generic)you don't have enough space to house the snakes, why do (generic)you have so many?

In the case of the cohabbing set ups I saw, there was much more space devoted to the elaborate vivs than a rack system would have needed. It was like a reptile display in a zoo.
I know I said ages ago about cohabbing that there isn't a problem until there's a problem, but in this particular case, the breeder kept his small collection of corns in naturalistic displays that must have taken a lot more effort to make and maintain than any rack, and all his snakes were very healthy.
I prefer my easy to maintain rack system, but don't necessarily think an experienced keeper with large cohabbing vivs for adult snakes is doing wrong.

I really respect people who can find joy in keeping a smaller amount of corns in a couple of naturalistic displays which need a load of time to set up and maintain. Those are the ultimate snake keepers to me. I am not like that, as most snake keepers are not like that. However, I, as most snake keepers over here do, still want my snakes to be as happy and healthy as they can be within the environment I create for them. Both rack keepers and co-habbers fail compared to the ultimate snake keeper type mentioned above.

Originally Posted by Jessicat

Just want to point out that it is a common misconception to think that because snakes utilize the same hides they must also "like" each other. Assigning human emotions to animals is something that many of us do, but realistically corns don't experience the same human thought process that we do of others of our own kind.

The snakes are most likely hiding in the same area because that temperature may be what their bodies need to do whatever it is they're doing.. digesting for example.

Try taking both snakes out, cleaning the cage, and placing the snakes in the tank at the same time. If you observe jerking motions, "sparing", and excessive pooping, the snakes are most likely being unnecessarily stressed by sharing a small environment together.

Please, before you attack me, re-read what I had said
I stated that I KNOW snakes do not get attached or enjoy each others company. I know that they don't love, and that they don't like to be played with, and that they really would prefer to be left alone. I also said that these were two hatchlings in a 20 gallon long tank with plenty of spaces to hide and that they were together only for a few months until my roommate and I went our separate ways. This was already several years ago. So taking both snakes out and cleaning the cage really is not an option. I also stated that I do not cohab any of my current pet snakes, only a few hatchlings that I don't have the ability to house individually unless they go without heat.

I just got myself what I think is a snow coral hatchling at Petco, and they had 7 hatchlings in a 10 gallon tank.

I seemed to get really lucky with mine because so far she eats like a champ and is incredibly active, but needless to say I made sure to check for respiratory / mite problems pretty thoroughly before buying mine.

Was really sad to see like 4 hatchlings under the same hide (which, incidentally, was one of those giant half log turtle hides... way too big for hatchlings).