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Husbandry and Basic Care General stuff about keeping and maintaining cornsnakes in captivity.

Which Snakes Can Live together?
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Old 08-14-2010, 04:54 PM   #11
kathylove
Sometimes it works...

and sometimes it doesn't. It probably depends on how healthy and how prone to stress the particular animals are. If you are new to keeping corns, you probably will not be a good judge of stress levels. I guess it depends on how much risk you are willing to take to save some space. My recommendation - don't do it.
 
Old 08-14-2010, 05:01 PM   #12
wstphal
Quote:
Originally Posted by Blutengel View Post
I really think any snake keeper draws its own lines what is acceptable and what is not. We should respect that, as long as a keeper carefully watches his animals and never let them in a situation they are apparently don't thrive.
I take my husbandry seriously although I am a n00bie. I do not think anyone with less than many years of experience should cohab. But I know that Kathy Love discusses having done it in her book, and I think in the hands of someone with her level of expertise, it could be done safely because a person like that could detect which snakes tolerate it & thrive and which do not.

I also wish that we as a group would be willing to provide support to a study done by someone like her that would give the rest of us good guidelines.

I have read that garters can cohab safely in large vivs. That might be nice for someone who would like to cohab a colubrid species if it's true.

I have also read that some boa breeder cohab for the mating season, separating to feed but allowing them to live to together and mate when they wish. Those breeders could provide info on whether, say, 2 females would do well together if provided with more than enough space & separate feeding areas.

For the rest of us who lack these levels of expertise, I think we should stick to housing them singly! If you are worried about lack of space, the 66Q racks Nanci has look pretty spacious. Or a rack designed for smaller boids would be quite spacious for an adult corn while still providing compactness for the owner.

Of course, this is IMHO and YMMV. I have noticed European keepers may do more cohabbing, but from the pictures I have seen that they are cohabbing in very large vivaria, and I have gotten the impression that the Europeans who cohab colubrids are highly experienced with their species. So if you fall into those categories, MHO may not really be applicable to you, and I wouldn't criticize, and Blutengel, you sound like you are one of those folks, so don't take any of this as aimed at you. It's really aimed at folks who use tubs or racks and don't have a high level of experience
 
Old 08-14-2010, 05:02 PM   #13
starsevol
Quote:
Originally Posted by kathylove View Post
and sometimes it doesn't. It probably depends on how healthy and how prone to stress the particular animals are. If you are new to keeping corns, you probably will not be a good judge of stress levels. I guess it depends on how much risk you are willing to take to save some space. My recommendation - don't do it.
The queen has spoken
 
Old 08-14-2010, 05:11 PM   #14
reptile65
This may be off-topic, but I would just like to point out that some species of snakes, such as garter snakes, do very well in groups.
 
Old 08-14-2010, 05:19 PM   #15
kathylove
I have a teacher friend...

who kept a mixed terrarium or two in his class room. It had green snakes, and a few frogs and lizards, all insect eaters. He kept them for years and said they did quite well. In fact, I would like to do that myself sometime. But I would not suggest a beginner start out that way.

When I got my first ever ball pythons a few years ago, I tried to set them up and do everything in the most accepted, easiest ways suggested for beginners with ball pythons. I had kept and bred other species of boas and pythons years ago, but this species was new, so I did it "by the book" for the first few years. I believe that is the best way to START. Once you feel you are experienced enough to try new approaches and that you are familiar enough with your species and your individuals to note and understand their reactions, THAT is the time to try something out of the ordinary, IMHO. Why not make success more assured the first few years, instead of trying something that leads to problems more often than the recommended beginner approach?
 
Old 08-14-2010, 05:25 PM   #16
SnakeAround
Thanks wstphal I only have corns for six years now, as a noobie I just started with co-habbing 2 baby snakes because over here many people do so.

Reading about it made me decide to first house a new corn on its own until I know it has settled and I get to know it, so I can see changes in behavior if I 'need' to co-hab it. I have so far not 'met' many corns which just 'don't like' to be co-habbed, though some seemed just to be picky about their cage mates.

Our snake section of Dutch Craigs's list type web site, contains almost only photo's and ads of people co-habbing (photo's speak for them selves, so do ads for a single (usually pretty large) viv containing 5 snakes do). Others might only have 1 or 2 snakes but watch tv with them on the couch daily for hours (people tell those things in adds, really).

Those are not the quite large scale/serious breeders/keepers but the people with a couple of snakes to decorate the living room and/or to show they are cool people perhaps, you know what I mean. I have talked with people like that and seen their snakes, most of the time the snakes look healthy and seem to thrive. That does not mean I'd co-hab 5 snakes, but it does seem to add to the idea that the separate housing thing is not the one and only 'sacred' way to go for healthy snakes. Perhaps size of the viv or other circumstances are equally or more important.
 
Old 08-14-2010, 05:29 PM   #17
SnakeAround
Katy, I certainly agree with you. Before I hung out at forums, I was simply not confronted with people against co-habbing. I read some care sheets, mostly not mentioning anything about the subject, saw people co-habbing and decided that would be ok then. With new species I would indeed start the way it should be now, and reading about the species on the forums, because now I do know they exist I always tell people asking me Q's at fairs or by mail to join a forum!
 
Old 08-14-2010, 05:50 PM   #18
gob144
conclusion: Do it if you think you can handle it and know if the snakes are stressed or fine...Dont do it if you dont think it is right.
 
Old 08-14-2010, 05:51 PM   #19
Hypancistrus
Quote:
Originally Posted by starsevol View Post
Considering that snakes are solitary animals, I would have to say none...
Actually, Bethany, you are wrong. Kathy is too. I know she knows quite a lot, or so THEY say, but sometimes experience just isn't what it's made out to be. My trio of Softes stuffedis plushie snakes are doing great in a group. I have them in a 29 gallon because it will control their growth-- if there's no space they'll never outgrow it.

This is the male at an outdoor photo shoot:


He has a bit of a temper!


And one of his ladies, in red phase.
 
Old 08-14-2010, 06:03 PM   #20
bitsy
They look a bit overweight Lauren. Had you considered cutting down on their stuffing?!
 

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