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Keeping Corns together.....

A

Asphalt_World

New member
I know this is a hot topic and have read the 'sticky' thread. Sorry if this is discussed in detail elsewhere and I've missed it. Please point me to it if I have.

Basically, a lady I got my corns from has bred corn snakes for over 20 years and has always kept them together. She tells me she has never had a problem. I know it only takes one issue and it could be dreadful.

My question is this. I have 4 dogs, it's not unheard of dogs suddenly deciding to get aggressive and attack other dogs in the pack despite living together for years. The fact is though, it's not very common so I take the chance that my dogs will be OK. I always have owned multiple dogs together and they spend their days and nights all in the same rooms. I also take the chance with my 4 rabbits that live together, 5 guinea pigs, 20 plus chickens which include 5 cockerels, plus my ducks which include multiple males all living together. To be completely safe, I could carry out some safety measures including locking all the dogs in separate rooms whenever I go out, but I don't.

I don't expect an exact figure to exist as that would be impossible, but is it really that common for a problem to occur?

I appreciate this is a heated area of discussion and I don't want to cause aggressive arguments between forum members, I would simply like to get as much info as possible.

Many thanks in advance.
 
Consider that all the critters you listed are considered social animals. Though rabbits are territorial, they do often live in groups in the wild, even though they aren't horribly tight-knit. Guinea pigs also thrive in a herd, dogs in a pack, ducks in a paddling, and chickens in a flock. Snakes are solitary, meeting up only to mate. Sure, some species do share burrows when brumating (garters on the California coast come to mind) or when appropriate hiding places are in short supply due to weather or natural disaster, but the overwhelming majority of the time they don't seek each others company in the wild.
 
I appreciate this social side of other animals, but pack animals do fight a lot to get the pecking order in place.

I'm just curious about the frequency of it.

Plus dogs do sometimes try to kill other dogs, and indeed humans, just not that often.They may not want to eat other dogs and humans but an attack can kill.
 
The frequency for adult corn snakes to attack and/or kill each other is quite low (although cannibalism is more common with baby corn snakes). That being said, I will repeat that they are not social animals at all and being trapped in a small space with other snakes will stress them out. They will feel like they're constantly competing for space and resources. They may not express their stress levels very obviously (although some may stop eating or become aggressive), because showing weakness in the wild will get them killed.

It's not something I would ever do with my snakes and I wouldn't recommend it to anyone else.
 
There is no point in comparing corn snakes with any mammal. :) It's a comparison that has no validity (the quality of being logically or factually sound; soundness or cogency)
What we do know as a fact is corn snake hatchling's have eaten a sibling or cage mate.
If you want to hear that the odds are small to give you some peace of mind and validate co-habitation well the odds are small with hatchling's and I've never heard of a case of cannibalism with adults. But as the keeper and protector of your pets it is your responsibility to act in the best interest of your snakes. Cohabitation in general with corn snakes is found to have numerous negative issues beyond cannibalism. Stress is the trigger to many health issues in reptiles and is one issue of the many problems it creates.
:)
 
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I kept a pair together for a few months, it was a convenience thing for me and was supposed to be temporary. I had one sub adult female and a slightly younger and smaller male. All was well for the most part but then I had a regurge from the female. They had both ate and the male decided he wanted the hide she was in and for whatever reason she puked up her mouse. He is more aggressive then her and she is quite shy.
Anyway that was the end of that. They are now happily housed separately again.
 
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