# New Corn Snake Owner-to-be -Tank question



## emmyred18 (9 mo ago)

I am shortly going to be getting a couple corn snakes, both female if they've been sexed right. I've done a ton of research on the subject of snake-keeping, but all the same can't really find consistent/agreeing info on this one subject. For financial/space reasons I do not want to buy two small tanks and then have to buy two big ones later and have no use for the little ones. Is it possible to raise both the two from scratch in a single 20 gallon tank full of lots of areas to hide so they aren't exposed/stressed out by openness, and then clear out some scenery and move one of the snakes to a second 20-gallon once they are big enough? Some say yes and others say no way.


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## ian14 (Jan 2, 2008)

If they're both female, yes


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## emmyred18 (9 mo ago)

@ian14 On the off-chance the breeder is wrong and one or both is male, does that make a difference? I know they have to be about 3 years old before they breed and I'd planned to separate them well before that age just in case I somehow wound up with one male and one female.


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## Saladmander (12 mo ago)

emmyred18 said:


> @ian14 On the off-chance the breeder is wrong and one or both is male, does that make a difference? I know they have to be about 3 years old before they breed and I'd planned to separate them well before that age just in case I somehow wound up with one male and one female.


3 years is the recommended age to breed for healthy size and weight.
They are capable of breeding much younger, which could be detrimental to a female. 

Just get two larger enclosures now, or just the one snake


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## Malc (Oct 27, 2009)

emmyred18 said:


> I am shortly going to be getting a couple corn snakes, both female if they've been sexed right. I've done a ton of research on the subject of snake-keeping, but all the same can't really find consistent/agreeing info on this one subject. For financial/space reasons I do not want to buy two small tanks and then have to buy two big ones later and have no use for the little ones. Is it possible to raise both the two from scratch in a single 20 gallon tank full of lots of areas to hide so they aren't exposed/stressed out by openness, and then clear out some scenery and move one of the snakes to a second 20-gallon once they are big enough? Some say yes and others say no way.


If you enter the search phrase "Co-habit" I'm sure you'll find all the previous discussions on keeping two or more snakes together in the one enclosure.

It's not just the chance that one will actually be male due to being incorrectly sexed, it also makes feeding more complicated as unless you have a massive enclosure and can give each one enough distance you will have to remove one for feeding, which is not only stressful, can also lead to you being bitten as the snakes are expecting food and can smell the defrosting rodents. Granted a cornsnake bite is hardly life threatening, but it's something to be avoided for both you and the snake.

If you have no intention to breed them, then keep them in separate enclosures. It removes all the pitfalls. Even if you were looking to breed, keeping the two together could end up killing the female as the make will try and breed again once she has dropped a clutch of eggs...which is not good for the female as she needs time to recover and get back on food.

These are just a couple of the reasons most of the advice is to house them separately. If you are really looking for a social snake that co-habits well, then look at garter snakes.


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## Taff evs (May 5, 2020)

Get the large enclosure keep them in really useful boxes until the are large enough to go into a 4ft viv. You can start off with smaller boxes and increase in size as they grow then use the boxes to store stuff in after. Boxes go as big as 70+litres.


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## Jibbajabba (Jan 31, 2011)

I only ever had a few communal setup with snakes one was a pair of _Atheris ceratophora . _They lived together since birth and actually when I tried to separate them got stressed out so they stayed together. And one thing I can tell you - as @Malc says - you have to end up, potentially separating them when feeding. Two royals I had once together (also rescues and also together since 'birth' and got stressed when separated) were fine when fed in the same enclosure. The vipers, however, you don't want to feed them in the same enclosure - you feed one, you get tagged by another and end up in hospital  

The problem however when you need to separate them, is you need to move them back after feeding - which means you risk regurgitating ... and that's not great for the worms. 

As for corns, I only ever had corns as feeder snakes for baby King Cobras (sorry) but they can be nippy too and in fact, just like king snake (not Cobra, but Cali Kings) - they love food and regurgitate easily (in my experience) .. 

What I have done for a friend of mine that housed two Diamond Back Rattlers together, I modified his 8ft viv with a separator you could slide in ... so you move each snake to their respective side, put the divider in, feed them in enclosure and take divider out when done. 

Bottom line - don't do it ...


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## Malc (Oct 27, 2009)

Back in the 1990's it was fairly common to co-habit corns and other snakes in a single enclosure, but feeding was done by taking out one snake and placing it into a tub to feed and then return said snake back after the other snake had finished eating its meal in the enclosure. The problem came from two directions. First the removal. Even if you are defrosting the food in the room furthest away form the enclosures they still know food is about, so are often switched on to any activity such as a nice warm hand coming towards them. Now this is not so much a problem with Corns as their bite is not really a big issue.... taking one from an adult python or boa is another matter.

Ok, lets say you managed to grab the snake and plonk it into a tub, which it will be stressed over and will look to try and get out, possibly even in search of the food that it can smell stronger as by now you should be at the stage where you can offer the food, so its close. The snake then focuses on food, you place the lid on and then feed the snake left in the enclosure, hoping that it will be equally as hungry so that the time you have the first snake out of the enclosure is kept to a minimum. Lest say both feed quickly... now you have to return the snake from the tub to the enclosure. Both snakes are now highly strung and fully in feeding mode....rather then risk a full on feeding bite you use a hook... you manage to get the snake supported and place it back into the enclosure. Next thing you know is the snake that remained in the enclosure has smelt the scent of the rodent on the other snake and the two are locked in a coil trying to constrict each other. Now eventually they will release, but the whole incident will have left both snakes stressed and uneasy at best. 

No I'm not making that up, I'm talking form experience. It happened to me one day with my boa's. Fortunately the female at the time was puppy dog tame, and I could lift her out of the tub without issue, but in the resulting tussle as the male struck and bit her when returned left a 6mm tooth embedded in her neck, just behind the head in what is a snakes most vulnerable area . The following week the male was moved on and I started to look at how I keep my snakes and my husbandry procedures. Since then I have kept snakes individually, and only allowing them to co-habit when being paired for breeding.


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