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Hello. New member, happy corn snake owner.

M

Mpress2570

New member
Hello everyone. Glad to now be a part of the forum. I currently own two corn snakes. A 2 year old oketee and a 4 month old charcoal. I'm excited to be going to the reptile expo this Saturday to search for my 3rd corn snake. Looking for a striped or motley. Blizzard, bloodred, butter, or sunglow.

They are housed in a 50 gallon long terrarium with custom made trees and second level. The two live together with no issues with more than enough hides and clutter to keep them happy
 
Thank you and photos will come soon when I have more time.

Thanks for your link and your concern, but I have owned 4 cornsnakes in the past 6 years the first 2 I gave to my girlfriend then these 2 soon to be 3. All of my cornsnakes have had absolutely no problems sharing their habitat. My girlfriends are still alive and healthy and are 6 years old.

I have come to the conclusion by experience that the controversy of cohabitation is speculation and personal preference, but still to be safe I have 4 hides throughout their terrarium and 3 trees and a ton of vegetation. Obviously plenty of places to stay hidden. My first 2 corns always shared the same hide no matter what even though they had multiple options to choose from. My current 2 use separate hides with the younger usually utilizing the leaves in one of the trees to hide her. I was nervous about a 2 year old and a 4 month old being together but after 3 months I introduced them to one another little by little and studying their behavior. Although their behavior never changed I still built a second level out of plexiglass just to give them the option to get away from one another.

I also have a friend who has been breading corn snakes for 10 years and houses 5 females together in an 80 gallon and 3 males together in a 55 gallon. Never had any behavioral problems or cannibalism.
 
It's never a problem until it's a problem. I tried housing two hatchlings of the same size and age in a 50 gallon tank; deep substrate, tons of hides, etc.

Cohabbing so stressed out the snow that after a month he stopped eating entirely, and even after being separated was a stress case and difficult eater for 2 years.

So no, in my case it is NOT speculation or personal preference. I actually had a bad experience. I've also had *two* different females attempt to eat other snakes (paired for breeding).

Also, until your snakes lay eggs, you do not know for certain that you have snakes the same gender. Your charcoal could end up being a male. Or your okeetee could be. Or both.
 
Here's Liam and Ferenea showing the size difference between them shortly after they were separated, despite being initially the same size. When Feren was 3 years old, he was barely 100 grams.

I bought both snakes as females, both turned out to be males.
 

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Untrue you do not have to wait until they lay eggs to know the sex. all of my corn snakes were either popped or probed by my breader. Corn snakes are no hermaphrodite nor can they change sex.

With my breader raising, handling, breading, literally hundreds of corn snakes. In 10 years never having any problems with cannibalism and or stress/eating disorders. He also breads boas and ball pythons and will not house them together.

His 10 years and my 6 years with absolutely no issues has given me confidence.

Now I'm not saying that people do not have problems because they do, but I think that only a small percentage of corn snakes experience problems with cohabitation.
 
Also he has never had any complaints for sex in a snake wrong and my 4 snakes I received from him and 2 more snakes that other friends have from him ranging from 4 months old to 7 years old all have been sexed accurately.
 
I have had 4 'popped' females prove out as males. One of them also probed female. I even had a very well known breeder pop one of those 'girls' that ended up being male. Someone who does hundreds every year. Popping and probing are not 100%. A female is not proven to be a female until she has produced eggs.

I've had snakes for 8 years now, and I have been unlucky enough to have problems. As I said, it's never a problem until it *is* a problem. And I'm not willing to risk any further problems. YOU need to be hyper-vigilant in order to make sure that you don't have any problems either. These snakes rely on you for their well-being.

Also, I don't think I've heard of *anyone* recommending housing snakes of such disparate size together. I really really hope you never come home to just one snake.
 
Sorry for the additional replies but I do not see an edit option, but I also wanted to add that my breader does warn his customers of the possible dangers of cohabitation.
 
My corn snakes are treated as good as my dogs. Fresh water every day and clean bedding every month. Fed on a strict schedule.

Never once did I say my breeder recommended housing 2 very different sized corn snakes together, but they have been together for 3 months ànd both are eating healthy and aggressively striking within seconds of being introduced their dinner. They are also never fed in their habitat but in a separate 10 gallon tank used only for feeding purposes.

I handle my snakes everyday and study them constantly just out of pure fascination in the species. With hundreds of dollars spent for an adequate habitat, constant attention, and care it would be safe to say I'm one of the most passionate owners of corn snakes. I don't just see them as show pieces. In fact I watch them in there terrarium every night watching them helps me fall asleep.
 
Furthermore im so obsessive to give them accurate living conditions I even simulate a summer day night cycle. Raising and lowering heat and humidity with custom made vents in which I will open or close to lock in or release moisture and 2 different wattage bulbs a day bulb and black light to raise and lower tempurate from 76-78 at night to 80-82 during the day
 
When you give snakes a plethora of hides and plants to retreat to, but they still sleep together, that's a sign of aggression or dominance.
From the sound of your posts, you're doing a lot of really great things to keep your snake children happy and healthy. I'm wondering why keeping them together is such a personal decision. Are you worried that they'd be lonely on their own?
 
I've personally never read a positive thing about cohabbing... I did a ton of research before I got my boys, and I still research almost every day...
Snakes are naturally solitary creatures, they prefer to be alone, they don't hang out with each other in the wild, and I certainly don't see it being the wisest of decisions for them to be forced together in a limited area, no matter the size tank.

I know it's a heated topic of discussion, and I don't think anyone is implying that people who cohab are bad or neglectful owners- it more comes down to the fact that it's just plain not safe for the health of the snakes involved, and never recommended by anyone.
 
I cohab do to lack of room. I have planned on buying a 100 gallon tank and dividin it but as you know tanks are not cheap. And my old two that used the same hide have done it since they hatched I chose them the minute they hatched and waited anxiously to take them home. I can see it being a sign of dominance if they weren't the same liter, but I do see your point.
 
Just curious how does one divide a tank? I'd be interested in knowing, I divided my betta tank but I'm pretty sure that process id's different considering snakes are escape artists.

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EffingWaterBuffalo said:
Just curious how does one divide a tank? I'd be interested in knowing, I divided my betta tank but I'm pretty sure that process id's different considering snakes are escape artists.

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Click to expand...

Well I've already made a second level in my tank out of plexiglass, but would just do the same thing but put it in horizontally. Just takes precise measurements. My second level I cut was a pain in the but to squeeze into the tank but it fits perfectly with no gaps between the glass and plexiglass
 
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