do your snakes seem happy living together?

okay I realise theres an ongoing debate over housing corns together and I don't want to start another argument but I just wanted to get others opinions on from those who do house them together.do your snakes seem attached or affectionate at all towards each other? I know people say corns are solitary in the wild but mine seem to like being together if thats possible?,you take one out and the other wants to come and if one of them moves resting spot so does her companion and my friends who keep them together report the same in fact no matter what they end up curled up together in the viv and they even will both climb out into the same carrier together instead of the usual run for freedom when the viv opens,maybe they're in love they also seem to recognise each other and show no hesitation unlike with a snake they don't know ? so if they are that solitary why do they curl up together all the time?any ideas or opinions?,I ve only found this with my corns,my hognoses don't seem to if anything they avoid each other unless its mating time :uhoh:hence they now live alone because they seem happier that way

Aw, that's cute. I think yours like each other. I have 2 and are different sizes so they aren't kept together. Whenever I take them out and hold them together my larger one starts moving all jerky like. Don't know what thats about.

Let's see if people can resist turning this one into a debate. :twohammer

hey skyclad...

the jerking is a way snakes identify their sex when they're around another snake.

(no debate here. :laugh: )

very happy

both my roomate and i have corns, same size, same brood. we keep them together. they seem to recognize us, but don't like the other person. and after play time or feeding they will cruise the tank until they find the other snake, at which point they both relax and curl up together.
mine likes hangin out in the vines, and when its up there, the other snake will curl up underneat and wait. they are together in a pile almost all the time. oke:

stefmc24 said:

hey skyclad...

the jerking is a way snakes identify their sex when they're around another snake.

(no debate here. :laugh: )

Click to expand...

Thanks for the info, I'm glad he's not just pissed cause another snake was suddenly around. Do you happen to know if both sexes do this?


Cute thread Shimmer. I like. :cheers:

Skyclad8 said:

Do you happen to know if both sexes do this?

Click to expand...

it seems that males do it for more of a gender identification purpose and for mating purposes. i think females rarely do it (if at all) unless they are physically touched by another snake. and when that happens it just appears that they're saying "get off me!" (although i'm sure there is a reason..that's just the best way i could explain it).

so yeah, both do it. but under different circumstances.

Thank you StephMC. Yay I learned something new today.

"learn somethin' new everyday..." i always say.

glad i could help!

I house my corns together, and have since I got them. They've been around each other going on 7 years now, and they are almost inseperable sometimes. I was feeding the female today and my male looked like he was getting defensive about me grabbing his chick. They are always laying on top of each other. Whenever they are in different rooms, they start getting antsy. Almost like if they can't smell each other, then they suddenly get uncomfortable.

Question Regarding Jerky Movement...

stefmc24 said:

hey skyclad...

the jerking is a way snakes identify their sex when they're around another snake.

(no debate here. :laugh: )

Click to expand...

Hi - I'm new... Sorry to just barge in here...

I've had my (assumed) female corn for over 3 years now - I bought him/her as a teeny tiny little thing, and now s/he's right about 4ft long.

I bought her from a pet shop that specializes in reptiles - It's a little mom n' pop place, where they basically breed their own reptiles and sell them in their store. When I bought my snake, the guy said he was *pretty sure* she's a female. I haven't had 'her' sexed since... But I'll refer to this snake as 'Female, Her, or She' from here on, to make things easier to understand.

GETTING TO THE POINT:

I've got a sub-adult male who I just placed in the tank with my older (supposedly female) snake. The tank is 4ft-L X 2ft-W X 2ft-H with 6 hides and two large separate water dishes - So they have plenty of space to move around, hide, and drink away from each other.

When I placed the male in the tank with my female snake, he kept following her around, and every time the he would touch my older snake, she would do that 'jerky movement thing', looking like she was trying to 'get away' quickly. She ONLY did this when the other snake happened to touch her.

Does this behavior imply/suggest that my eldest snake is, in fact, a female?

hey jaqc--

i wouldn't rely on that behavior only.

best thing you can do to determine sex (rather than taking it to a vet) is post pictures on here. i would say that clear pictures of the tail (the underside is the best) would be more than enough for some really smart people on here to give you their expert opinion.

just so you know....a male's tail generally tapers gradually after the vent. a female is the complete opposite. their tail tapers very sharply and, in most cases, is very noticeable.

stefmc24 said:

hey jaqc--

i wouldn't rely on that behavior only.

best thing you can do to determine sex (rather than taking it to a vet) is post pictures on here. i would say that clear pictures of the tail (the underside is the best) would be more than enough for some really smart people on here to give you their expert opinion.

just so you know....a male's tail generally tapers gradually after the vent. a female is the complete opposite. their tail tapers very sharply and, in most cases, is very noticeable.

Click to expand...

Thank you for the quick response!

I don't have a digital camera right now, but once in a while I'm able to borrow one from a family member - I will post pics as soon as I can get some.

you're welcome....

and welcome to the forums!!!

:wavey:

Twitchy dance...

...my males will sometimes do the twitchy dance at each other if they haven't seen each other for a few hours ( I often have one or the other out for a while or apart for feeding and cleaning) but they get along well and actually live together with no fights. Some say it's a way of establishing dominance between males. The females do the twitchy dance too but from them I hear it's more a sign of annoyance...males do it to show annoyance too. You don't really see the young ones doing it, it seems to come on more as they reach sexual maturity.

Currently I have my 2 adult males housed together, my 2 adult females in individual terrariums and my 4 female youngsters from last year housed in 2 groups of 2. -so that's 5 terrariums all up. I'm not keeping them in groups larger than pairs as I understand they can get stressed if crowded but are OK with one other they're familiar with.

My 2 adult females who live alone are only alone as a lead up to mating to let them condition in peace but I'll probably house them together after they've recovered from laying.

Hope that answers some of your questions,
Adèle

do they seem happy with another snake?

hmmm, my 2 girlies lived very happily together for 3 years..... until one horrid day, one struck at the others face. luckily neither was hurt and i separated them immediately.

the little dance?

2 males will do it as a dominant thing, a male thing you could say. lol
2 females do it as well, am not 100% sure but i think its an intimidation thing.

a male and female will do it to determine what sex they both are, a mating ritual if you will.

I think Missy has hit it on the head, as i was going to put the same. :bowdown:

yea I have supposedly as my breeder checked them when I bought them, two females, which is what I wanted, and I was wondering what my older normal was doing when she would jerk around, always scared me, thinking she was having a heart attack or soemthing, but it was just when the okeetee was touching her, like you said, well, more like when I go into the tank with my hand and move stuff around, and they get (riled?) up and the younger will touch the normal and she starts jerking. But I havn't seen her do this for so long, and I dont want to see it, unless it's not a bad thing. My corns are constantly hanging around eachother, even with two hides, and a plant deal hanging off the side of a hide, making a third hide, they are usually around eachother, sometimes one is inside a hide, and one is just outside it, just because my hides are smaller ones though, but I will get bigger ones when I get a bigger viv.

I have 2 females nearly same age, weeks apart, that have been housed together for over 1.5 years. One female is an Okeetee and the other is an Amel or Creamsicle. I noticed the Creamsicle was always hiding and rarely out and about like the Okeetee was. Well, I changed the Creamsicle into a seperate viviarium and her hiding behavior was the same for six months. I thought the Creamsicle might be stressed so I had to make a change to see if that was the case. Both have been eating well, puppy dog tame, and I've never had any problems.
One thing suprised me about these 2 corns and convinced me that in this particular case with these particular corns, since all my experience with kings knowing that each snake has a different personality, that the corns have tolerated and thrived being together. An example is take them out in the backyard for exercise and 90% or the time they follow eachother around and outside on the patio or back in the desert they have the freedom to go wherever they like. I too think they enjoy eachothers company and since they have grown up together as babies they feel security being together. Just my observation with these 2 corns.
Happy Herping,
Uncloudy

I'm thinking the same thing uncloudy, I'm glad you are having good experiences with them too.

Well, I see most of the posts here are pretty much positive, time for my input.
I thought mine were fine together, though my amel was a bit smaller than my snow. But I wanted to seperate them anyway, they never fought or showed any annoyance to eachother (from what I saw anyway) but I seperated them anyway. Since the seperation they both have been so much more active, touring the viv much more often, and my snow even sleeps outside of a hide. My amel has even put on weight suddenly (I seperated about a month ago) and I can tell they are so much better off. I believe they were in the same hide because if one snake likes a hide most, the other snake probably would like that one most too, so will sleep in there even if there is another snake in occupying it.
I don't think that snakes enjoy one another's company, but of course the case could be completely opposite. The best thing to do is keep an open mind as any new findings are possible, but I prefer to go with the information we have now rather than what it could be.