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In a tizzy, need advice w two corns

Z

zooinmyhouse

New member
To make a long story short, my son "rescued" a corn snake a few days ago supposedly from a bad situation in a pet store that was going out of business, and threw it in with the one we have. (Unfortunately he sometimes gets his unwise decisions regarding animals from me and my nature to try and rescue EVERYTHING)

I discovered it today. He got his due lecture and punishment, however now we have the problem of having two corns in one tank which I know is a bad thing. Here is my problem.

1. Can't do anything about quarantining snake because they have been put together already.

2. Just suffered a layoff at the job, so till I find another one I will not be able to afford a 20L tank for the new snake.

3. We have quite a few other pets to take care of, and my fiancee will not approve of adding another animal, tank to what we have already. Especially since I spend all of my extra money on our dogs and fish tank.

4. Store said no returns as they are closing

Stats are: Our corn (Little Gherkin) is two years old and a male, probably two feet long. The corn my son brought is slightly bigger and he said the lady told him it is also a male.

20 long tank, with under the tank heater, moss, sticks, hiding tree and water dish. Repti-Carpet for substrate.

The only thing I've done was added another hiding driftwood log to the tank so they can have separate hiding spots. I checked out both snakes and see no sign of fighting or trauma. I am going to go to the pet store I frequent on Monday and see (beg) if they will take him from us to find another home for him. What can I do in the mean time?

I belong to a few animal forums and believe me I myself try and instruct people that mean well and are not taking care of their animals properly and want to argue about it. But the damage is already done and I did explain to my son all the reasons why this was not the proper way to do things and everything bad that can happen. So please don't get mad, just give me the advice I need. :awcrap: thanks so much
 
If you had a storage tub big enough, could you maybe keep him in there until you find a new home for him? And maybe you could sell the guy to someone else if the pet store will not take him back.
 
Daenerys said:
If you had a storage tub big enough, could you maybe keep him in there until you find a new home for him? And maybe you could sell the guy to someone else if the pet store will not take him back.
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I agree I would go out and buy a clear rubbermaid (or similar brand) container put lots of holes in it for air. You can use paper towels or newspaper for substrate and you can make a hide out of a cardboard box. I aslo agree if you can not afford to keep it it would probably be best if you try to rehome it. Good luck.
 
Congratulations on being a responsible pet person. Your son's heart is in the right place, as well.

The advice given so far is good. I'd like to offer another possibility for keeping them separated. Plastic bins take up space, and they can be challenging to heat. Separate vivs mean separate heaters also.

If you don't have the space to add another viv or a plastic bin and don't want to buy another UTH now, there's a way to keep them both in the same big viv safely, without spending a lot of money. You can make a divider with foam board. I have a 40-gal tank divided that way for two of my adults. Foam board is that stiff material sold for students to make posters and presentations. It's cheap and easy to find, since places that carry poster board often carry this as well.

Measure carefully and cut the foam board so that a sheet will fit snugly in the tank. From the smaller "scraps" that you cut, make two notched "feet" for the base so that the sheet will stand and not scoot around easily. Depending on the type of lid your viv has, you may need to lay a book or some other type of weight across the top of the foam board when the lid is closed. Screen lids, for example, will flex up and allow a snake to go over the divider. The book keeps this from happening. Also, the UTH can go beneath the divider so both snakes get heat.

One word of caution: a determined snake can find or force a way around the divider, so I'd never do this with snakes of different genders.

Good luck with whatever you decide about keeping or rehoming your rescued snake.
 
Thank you so much to everyone that answered....Caryl that is a GREAT idea. We showed the new snake to my fiancee last night and he didn't kick us out. :) My son really wants to keep him so we have some sorting out to do. I take care of the majority of the maintenance for all the animals so perhaps if I do the divider and he agrees to pay for the extra food and assist with the cleaning. I would still need to find a cheap 40 L but that's cheaper than a whole other tank set up. I already have a brand new UTH that I could put right in the middle.

One more question though. Being that I just found out about him I have only been able to observe their behavior last night and this morning. Last night they were both out in the tank and kind of staying away from each other. Little Gherkin usually spends the day napping in his tree. As I said I added a driftwood hiding log for the other snake. This morning I find them both curled up in the tree on top of each other and wound up pretty tightly. This made me nervous so I took the tree out and rubbed them both gently and they responded so I know they are both alive. They appear to be sleeping there because they want to. My son says since he has put the new one in, that's how they sleep. WHAT THE HECK DOES THAT MEAN? I really hope the store owner did not misinform him and that it is truly a male also. I bought Gherkin from a breeder so we know he is a male for certain. When I can get them to come out and untangled I will try and check.
 
What you're seeing when they're curled up tightly atop one another is competition, corn snake style. Corns in the wild live alone and are territorial. Yours are competing for the best spot and trying to establish dominance. They're unlikely to hurt each other, but it does raise their stress levels. We humans can't always see the results of the the stress, but often in long-term cohab situations one snake (the less dominant) develops feeding and growth issues.

By the way, I'd hold off on feeding them until they've been separated for 2-3 days. Healthy corns can go for a long time without food, and the competition issue can cause regurges. They can't regurge if they didn't eat, so opt for the "ounce of prevention" in that area.

I'm glad your fiance is a reasonable fellow, lol. Let us know how things work out. Oh - the name Gherkin is adorable, by the way. What's the new one going to be? Dilly? Sweet Chips?
 
zooinmyhouse said:
Thank you so much to everyone that answered....Caryl that is a GREAT idea. We showed the new snake to my fiancee last night and he didn't kick us out. :) My son really wants to keep him so we have some sorting out to do. I take care of the majority of the maintenance for all the animals so perhaps if I do the divider and he agrees to pay for the extra food and assist with the cleaning. I would still need to find a cheap 40 L but that's cheaper than a whole other tank set up. I already have a brand new UTH that I could put right in the middle.

One more question though. Being that I just found out about him I have only been able to observe their behavior last night and this morning. Last night they were both out in the tank and kind of staying away from each other. Little Gherkin usually spends the day napping in his tree. As I said I added a driftwood hiding log for the other snake. This morning I find them both curled up in the tree on top of each other and wound up pretty tightly. This made me nervous so I took the tree out and rubbed them both gently and they responded so I know they are both alive. They appear to be sleeping there because they want to. My son says since he has put the new one in, that's how they sleep. WHAT THE HECK DOES THAT MEAN? I really hope the store owner did not misinform him and that it is truly a male also. I bought Gherkin from a breeder so we know he is a male for certain. When I can get them to come out and untangled I will try and check.
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Meaning.. they both like the same spot but this could be stressing out the snakes tho you can "see" it. and the pet shop won't know the sex of the snake. So good chance it's a male.
Try to separate them ASP.
 
Wow, what a surprise! I don't have any advice to add, just a big thank you for taking good care of your little ones. I wish you were in my area, I have extra tanks laying around everywhere that I'd love to find homes for.
 
Thanks

I wish I was in your area too because I would so love to have one of your extra tanks! :) This morning Little Gherkin was curled up in the tree and the other was sleeping under the moss by the tree. Maybe Gherkin won out? I will have that bigger tank soon hopefully and then I can separate them.
 
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