Cohabbing Misfortunes.

Yeah sorry for that, sometimes you feel like that Please continue as if I did not write that please

I was told by the breeder I originally got my corn from that my roommate and I could keep our two males together until they were two. I know I saw someone else's post in another section where their yearling was accidentally cohabbed and she laid eggs. I have to say, my year old corns are hardly the thickness of my pinkie finger, and I have some TINY hands (I feed them two fuzzies a week, so they're definitely eating right)! My roommate and I kept our two hatchlings in a 20 gallon long with tons of paper towel rolls, single serve cereal boxes, store bought hides, and even a pillowcase. I know snakes do not get attached to each other, but I think since they were babies they found each other's company to be comforting, because even though they were offered so many hides, they were ALWAYS in the same one together. Even if it was in the inside corner of the pillowcase. At the end of the school year we went our separate ways and the snakes were no worse for the wear. I don't keep any of my current pet snakes together though, even my two-year olds are in different tubs. BUT the hatchlings I have are together. I have three in one tub and two in the other. I would buy separate tubs for all of them, but since I don't have a room kept at 85 degrees that means most of them would be without heat. Thus being said, I know that there is always the risk of cannibalism and once these babies are gone the only time my two corns are going to see each other is in breeding season! I also do warn people who buy the babies from me about the potential for them to eat each other and other issues that may arise from cohabbing. I know this thread was probably started for negative stories, but my story is a story nonetheless.

I don't really think we are stirring the pot here. I just had to agree to a point and justify why I am saying "do as I say not as I do." I do think that the idea of this thread is a great one because when the question gets asked the next time, we can just give them a link and the thread is dead. Any even if there is a little discussion among us I think that is better and more constructive than if it is with someone who feels attacked. I also don't think it is bad for someone to put in here that they cohab either. Even if it is as simple as, "I agree with all of these point but I do cohab." We all know that there is going to be someone that see all of these bad points and still want to cohab but maybe seeing the ones that do. They will come to those and ask how they do it and avoid all of the negatives that can happen from keeping snakes together.

Cohabiting your snakes is a proceed at your own risk kind of deal. Just like we can't tell people how to raise their kids, we can't tell people how to keep their snakes. We can only suggest what we think is best and let the owner decide what they think is best for their critters.

I can also say that in the wild it's not like snakes are alone all the time (breeding season aside) if there was a nice pile of rocks, rubbish or other perfect hiding place for a snake I would imagine we would find many snakes hiding in it without issues. Just trying to look at the bigger picture here...

I loved your post and I agree completely with the first half. I do understand the second and feel I must add... Wild snakes may meet up as you say, in fact they likely do, however the main difference to note is that they can "escape" the other snake's presence whereas in a vivarium or tub they have a limited space and are unable to seek solitude should that be their desire.

At work we cohab all of the corn snakes together, and the small ball pythons and BCIs (boa constrictors) together. The majority of the time things go great... but when they go wrong, they go seriously wrong. And that's the bottom line about cohabbing, in my opinion.

Recently a little anery who has eaten well and showed no signs of illness regurged. Or I THINK it regurged. See, since there is more than one snake per cage I have no real clue who did it. So I have to guess, and hope it doesn't die.

This happened with a boa while it was in with the BPs, too. But by the time I found out it was already extremely sick and passed away.

We have a large Bp with an RI infection, someone throws a perfectly healthy BP in with it and BAM. Two snakes with RIs. See what I mean? There is not ONE SINGLE BENEFIT for the snakes. Period. But here ARE a lot of risks to their health.

Anyone who cohabs just hasn't been doing it long enough for there to be a problem. As soon as they experience one, which they most likely will, they usually (hopefully) decide against it.

Originally Posted by K. Rene

Cohabiting your snakes is a proceed at your own risk kind of deal. Just like we can't tell people how to raise their kids, we can't tell people how to keep their snakes. We can only suggest what we think is best and let the owner decide what they think is best for their critters.

I can also say that in the wild it's not like snakes are alone all the time (breeding season aside) if there was a nice pile of rocks, rubbish or other perfect hiding place for a snake I would imagine we would find many snakes hiding in it without issues. Just trying to look at the bigger picture here...

That happens as a fact. So, maybe they don't feel like hanging out if they have the space of the outside, that does not necessarily mean that they hate to be close to each other when they get what they are looking for. I have a very large viv for 3 male yearlings with many hides and a large warm spot covering a couple of hides at a time. Yet they lay together all the time, like they did when they were in a smaller viv too. I feel pretty sure that they don't have the exact same idea about what hiding place they need to be in at every hour of the day all the time. I think they like the tight feeling of being in one coconut with the three of them. Over here on a Dutch forum those 'tied up' strings of corn snake in a coconut are considered quite normal, yesterday I saw one with four corns inside...

Of course, separating them and putting each of them in bath room size vivs with plants and climbing material would be perfect... duh

Hmmm.... Thread: "Post your aneries"... replies: "Here's my amel!"

If I posted a thread about "Great benefits of cohabbing" would I get what I asked for in *this* thread, I wonder?

Originally Posted by Shiari

Hmmm.... Thread: "Post your aneries"... replies: "Here's my amel!"

If I posted a thread about "Great benefits of cohabbing" would I get what I asked for in *this* thread, I wonder?

Public forum. You've been around long enough to know you get what you get with cohabbing threads.

Someone in the thread hit the nail on the head... you can't tell people how to raise their kids (within reason) and the same applies for snakes. It's good to have photos of what COULD happen, but the fact is that it's rare and there ARE people of all sorts who will still take the risk.

Bluetengel is pointing out that in Europe it is considered perfectly acceptable to cohab. What is not being pointed out is that in Europe, their laws usually require MUCH larger vivs than ours even for one snake. As he said... 3 yearlings in a 100 gallon tank... that is a 6' x 18" tank. They CAN get away from each other if they choose.... there's a big difference between that and cramming 8 yearlings in a damn shoebox.

I'm a she

6' x 18" wow... that I don't even use for my triple yearlings cage. That's 6 foot long right?