I separate them by sex at between 3-6 months, then they stay in pairs until sold or beyond for holdbacks, for the most part. I’ve got a trio of three year old females still housed together. Several pairs of 2023s, trios of 2024s. Only issue I’ve had so far was a one off incident where I let a feeding interval go on too long and one of my boys latched onto his brother, but after a cooling off period and a meal they were back together with no further issues. I’ve yet to have any serious problems with this arrangement, knock on wood.
6 Likes
Corns are well suited for cohabitation despite what novices with no experience might repeat from their favorite bad care sheets. “They are not social animals in the wild.” Ok, but they don’t interact with great apes either, but they seem to do extraordinarily well with that too in captivity.
I only don’t do more cohab because it wouldn’t save me much space as I use tubs. I do cohab same-sex baby and juvie groups often.
4 Likes
It’s always nice to hear multiple perspectives from actual experienced keepers. Thanks for this info. I’m assuming males—even siblings—are eventually separated in all cases? Or do they do pretty well, too, since they’ve been familiar with each other so long?
4 Likes
I usually do try to separate the males so they don’t start fighting during breeding season with all the pheromones around, though I’ve still got a couple of pairs of 2023s and two trios of 2024s together for now. The pair I mentioned that had the issue where one bit the other (mistook him for a snack), those were 2023s, but they’re back together and haven’t had a problem since. All of my cohabbed animals are roughly the same size, I will not leave any snakes together with any sort of notable size difference due to the issues it can cause.
4 Likes
Adult males do fine together. I’ve seen them “combat” in Spring, but it’s a pretty non-violent thang. Just a bit of neck wrestling. Mixed sex groups do well too, but inevitably at least two get along too well. 
6 Likes
Gee, I wonder…whatever could you mean, Dean? 
4 Likes
Updates on Sylvie’s clutch: I fed a few of them a couple of days ago. 3/4 of the ones who took meals the last feeding took another. I was disheartened by the 4th refusing, but it turns out she was going into blue! I also managed to get one of the problem feeders to take a meal. Then tonight I decided to offer meals to some of the other problem children who didn’t take one last time and another two ate! Hopefully they’ll digest just fine, it’s supposed to be pretty chilly here this weekend. I’m moving their bins to a warmer spot in the room just in case. I’ve got one more thawed pinky I’m hoping one of the remaining three will take. If everyone digests just fine, I’ll likely move the one from the third bin who ate tonight into the second bin, and move the sibling who didn’t eat over to the third bin so I’ve got the three feeding in one, and the three not in the other. That just makes it easier to try drop feeding with the stubborn ones.
4 Likes
Gotta appreciate progress! Have you considered setting up little nursery stations with heat to reduce worry of babies puking? I usually just have a heat mat against the wall behind stacks of babies. I have more than my share of problem feeder babies, but my babies never regurge.
5 Likes
Do you not have the baby bins sitting on heat mats?
5 Likes
Nope, and I won’t. It’s usually not an issue. The incident where I had a bunch regurg was because I accidentally set my air conditioner a bit too low. As for worrying about their recent feeding, we had a cold snap and I haven’t yet uninstalled my AC for the season, so even with it off there can be a bit of a temp drop. I’ll likely be taking it out this weekend and set up my heater instead. We also haven’t turned the house thermostat up yet.
No, I’ve never once had them on heat as I keep my whole room a consistent temperature (for the most part). Heat mats/tape/lamps/any other form of plug in heating like that are the leading cause of fires for reptile keepers, and I’m willing to risk the occasional regurg versus an electrical fire.
5 Likes
Yeah, lots of people do it that way without issue. I’m paranoid. I need another level of insurance. And when I’m devising baseless superstitions to explain non-feeders, I usually end up pointing a finger at temps whether it’s valid or not.
5 Likes
Totally valid, everyone has their little tips and tricks for getting hatchlings started. They don’t always need to be based in facts or even rational. I live in an older farmhouse that already doesn’t have the best wiring, so I’m incredibly cautious about how much extra stuff I’ve got plugged in at any given time. I’ve got a small heater that I can turn on for a bit to get the temp up while I’m in the room, and it should hold pretty well for the rest of the day.
5 Likes
Totally get the old wiring. Been there done that. The house we are living in now was new when we moved in back in 09 so I am more than comfortable with heat mat plugins. But I don’t have to worry about hatchlings though - at least for now……
5 Likes
It’s just been warm here so I unplugged most of my thermostats and heat sources. But I used to live in a place where just turning the living room TV on when the laundry was on would pop the breaker. So I totally get electric woes and concerns.
I’ll need to do a check of everything when they do go back online soon. Make sure all my tape is intact and dust off fixtures. (￣ヘ￣;)
5 Likes
So I did have one regurg from the last batch I fed, but it was actually one of Pineapple’s and the other two in that bin did not, nor did the other two siblings or any of Sylvie’s who ate, so I’m guessing the issue was unique to that one snake. Rather unfortunately, I’m not sure which of the trio in that bin it happened to be. They’ll just end up having a slightly longer feeding interval this go to be sure there’s no chance of feeding too soon.
6 Likes
Working on catching up with all the chores I got behind on due to my Texas trip and subsequent sunburn. Did half the enclosures and water dishes, just have to do the downstairs lot today. I’m also working on names for the two unnamed clutches. Right now the only ones that have for sure names are the two Palmettos, who I’ve decided to name after types of sprinkles. So we’ve got the boy, Jimmie, and the girl, Quin. I’ll have to get new photos after they shed.
4 Likes
I had to Google “Quin Sprinkes.” That’s a cute naming theme.
5 Likes
Since there were only two, I figured I could go with something a bit more limited. Their non-Palmetto siblings will likely get a second theme. I just love how the Palmettos have their little splashes of color.
5 Likes
HE FINALLY DID IT!That’s amazing!
5 Likes