Introducing A New Adult Corn to My Current Adult Corn

COHABITATION
MY OPINION

I feel it is best to keep snakes separate.
I know a lot of people keep multiple snakes together without problems and it can obviously be done without being detrimental to the snakes. I just feel the possible drawbacks need to be expressed.
When a person gets the experience and knowledge of each individual snake and wants to try co-habitation, it is up to them. They just need to be careful and able to read the subtle signs of their snakes.
There can be definite drawbacks.
If one snake becomes sick there is a very good likelihood the other/others will get sick as well.
It may also take a while (usually too long) to determine which one is the sick one.
If one regurgitates its food you won't know which one unless you happen to get lucky and see it.
If one has a problem stool you won't know which one. Once again one may have a problem but by the time you figure out which one the other/others could end up with the same problem.
Although this is only a slight possibility, it is still a possibility and has been know to happen, one snake could eat the other. The smell of a prey item could trigger one snake to eat the other. Or simple hunger accompanied by a ready food source.
Although uncommon, it has happened and is a possibility.
Another possibility is unwanted pregnancy. A female might get pregnant and you may not have the knowledge, desire or ability to incubate the eggs or raise the hatchlings. With hatchlings comes the responsibility to raise them or find them homes.
A lot of people rationalize by saying, "I will just put two males or two females together". That can work but mistakes can easily be made, especially with hatchlings. You could easily end up with a male and female.
There is also a chance of a female breeding too young or too small and becoming egg-bound. Although uncommon, it IS a possibility and can happen.
With multiple snakes in an enclosure you stand the chance of loosing all of them if there happens to be an avenue of escape. Instead of losing one you could loose two or more depending on how many you decide to place together.
One or both of the snakes could be stressed by the presence of the other. Stress can cause a drop in appetite and lead to other health problems as well.
People will put multiple snakes in an enclosure and ask why one isn't eating.
When they are told it is probably due to stress caused by the other snake, the response is almost always the same "they like each other, they are always under the same hide together". Well this probably just means "that" hide or area of the tank has the optimum conditions they are looking for.
Snakes do not LIKE each other or ENJOY each other’s company.
There is no capacity for snakes to "like" or "enjoy".
I have kept multiple snakes together without problems but have made a choice to keep them separate. There is NO clear argument on why you SHOULD keep them together but there ARE clear arguments as to why you SHOULD NOT.
So, in my opinion, although people do it successfully I just don't think it is worth the risk.
If you decide to keep multiple snakes together, watch closely for any signs of appetite loss, regurgitation or any kind of “personality” changes. These could all be signs of stress.
You would also want to feed them in separate containers and give them an hour or so before putting them back together.
My 2 cents

Specter_Blue, you could buy a 55-gallon tank and keep it divided into two separate living areas--that way when they got older, if one was very large, you could un-divide the cage and put one snake in it. The larger tanks often give you more options as the snakes grow, or if you decide to keep larger species and move your corns to smaller cages.

yeah, thats a pretty good idea. I may have to consider that

Here is an example of a divided 55 gallon tank

it seems very narrow..... or.... squished.... like, even tho it becomes 2 22.5 gallon tanks, the dimensions are all wrong. that would only really house two hatchlings right?

Hm....it doesnt look THAT squished, that looks like a cat feeding bowl. Those are quite large. So to me it doesnt look too bad. And it's very nice too! It looks fine to carry two hatchlings. But i'm no pro.

Jessica

im thinking ideally id like to get 2 30 gal long tanks for the snakes, maybe just raise them in there. should be fine as long as I provide several smaller hides (smaller than what an adult snake would be comfortable in) for the snake..... should be fine right (and better than cohabitation)? the 20 gal long tanks just seem so small for a 5 foot snake.

I am a newbie and have read most every word on this site, understand some, nothing about genetics, but still enjoy it. I must say I have had my first snake for three+ years and am amazed I didn't kill him/her, from all I read here.
As a newbie you probably first see corns in the pet store cute little babies maybe 15 in a viv, one national chain says it's OK to house corn together! Pet store owners either don't know or say it's fine. I have yet to find one tell me co-hab is a bad idea. I stumbled on this site when I put my second snake in with the first, all was well for a while, but than they got very aggressive with me and each other. I followed the advice here and seperated them, now all is fine. Now my worry the older on was sexed wrong is a female and will lay eggs and I won't be prepared (aggressive behavior or sex) as I know for sure younger one is male. Probably wouldn't have thought twice about before, but even if i have this worry, I know where to go for the answer. Thank you from a newbie who is learning a lot, enjoying, with a healthy dose of concern for my ability to care for these creautres.

I'm pretty new to keeping corns too (I love reading about them) but I just found this thread and I think the statement:

There is NO clear argument on why you SHOULD keep them together but there ARE clear arguments as to why you SHOULD NOT.

sums it up completely.

WOW this post answered what I was wondering that is just awful poor little guys.