Can i keep 2 corn snakes together in a 40 gallon tank?

Question

I am getting a corn snake on Fri from Petsmart. I was wondering if i could buy him a new friend that was in his tank with him. I would buy him him/them a 40 gallon tank now or eventually. What do you think about this? Could it be possible? Would they/he/she like it?

Answer 1

As long as the snakes are about the same size and you feed them in separate enclosures where they should stay for at least twenty four hours, I doubt you will have any problems. I kept several different species of rat snakes in a 100 gallon tank for over five years. I kept the aquarium clean, fed them separately and and made sure there were plenty of hiding spaces. However, quite often they coiled up together. One thing I did before placing them back in the aquarium after feeding them was to give them a bath and let them dry off. Be sure that if you feed them on the same day, to wash your hands of the scent of prey before taking another out of the feeding enclosure.

Answer 2

It is not recommended that you co-habitate any snakes. Cornsnakes are not social animals and they are never found together in the wild except at breeding time. I have never found one good reason to keep two together and a whole lot of reasons not to.
Number one reason: stress. Snakes housed together can show significant signs of stress. A new snake owner might not even recognize the subtle signs although they are there. I've known experienced breeders who co-habitated and then seperated snakes only to find that one that was doing O.K. suddenly thrived. If an experienced keeper can't tell how much stress, you definitely won't.
Two: disease spread. Mites, respiratory infections and other diseases are easily spread to the other animal in the same cage.
Three:regurgitation. If one of your animals regurgitates, which did it? Unless you see it happen, you'll have no idea which animal is in trouble.
Four: Rare but possible cases of cannabilism. This is most prevalent in young snakes
Five: Accidental breedings. Breeding a female that is too small and young can lead to egg binding and death. Even if you think you know the sex of the animals, mistakes can be made. Two males will fight if you're wrong about their sexes.
Petstores tend to be lazy and size constrained and will place multiple animals together. This is not because it's good for the animal, but because that's all the room they have. Ideally, they should be housed apart for better health.

Answer 3

A huge tank is likely to be overwhelming to baby snakes.

This is a great article on care and housing of baby corn snakes.
http://www.kingsnake.com/rockymountain/RMHPages/RMHnewpage11.htm

Corn snake housing and enclosure forum
http://forums.kingsnake.com/forum.php?catid=176


Chances are good that two corn snakes of similar size will get along ok together, although they must be put into separate containers for feeding. Opinions on whether to house snakes together or separated usually favor keeping them separated, particularly if they are of species that may become cannabilistic. Experienced herp enthusiasts who do keep snakes together, almost always recommend separating them into individual containers when feeding the snakes, both to keep an eager snake from accidentally hurting or trying to eat the other one, and to make the snakes associate food and eating with a place other than their main home.
The next time you buy a corn snake, look on the corn snake forums and sites and buy one from a breeder. Good breeders prices are usually lower than petshop prices even with shipping costs added, you get a baby or babies that has already started to eat well, are more likely to be healthy and have been exposed to much less stress, and you also get the benefit of being able to ask the breeder questions, get advice, etc. I recently bought two beautiful healthy baby normal corn snakes, a male and a female, who are het for (meaning carrying) several gorgeous recessives including motley, blood red, and amel, from a breeder who was advertising in a corn snake forum, for less than the local petshop price of two normals of unknown sex and no genetic info available. I've definitely made use of the advantage of having a breeder available to ask questions and advice of, and the breeder, like most good breeders, is happy to help me and advise me so that the babies receive the best of proper care!

Below are links to some good corn snake sites, forums, care sheets, and other good advice and knowledge.

This is the website of the author of the best book on corn snakes in captivity.
http://www.corn-utopia.com/

More cornsnake links
http://www.anapsid.org/mainsnakes.html
http://www.anapsid.org/corn.html
http://www.khaiser-corns.com/index.htm
http://www.reptimania.co.uk/cornre.htm
http://www.cornsnakesource.com/forum/
http://www.cornsnakebreeders.org/
http://cornsnakes.com/forums/
http://www.upscalereptiles.com/htm/corn.html
http://www.cornsnake.net/
http://www.moreptiles.com/
http://pcarsreptiles.com
http://www.repvet.co.za/snakes_caresheet_cornsnakes_elapheguttataguttata.php

These are only a few of the multitude of resources, forums, breeder sites, and other information on corn snakes. The corn snake, being beautiful, available in many gorgeous colors and patterns, easy to keep and feed, is very popular and thus there are many resources for corn snake information on the web.

Answer 4

Snakes should not be kept in the same enclosure. They are not social animals and it is not natural for them to cohab. Plus it causes stress and there is always the possibility of cannabilism. A 40 gallon is too large--a 20 gallon for each would be better, with lots of hiding places. Please go to http://cornsnakes.com/forums/showthread.php?t=28341 for detailed FAQ's. You can also search for "housing snakes together" for more detailed info. Snakes prefer to be alone.

Answer 5

The awnswer above is strange.
It would probobly work if they where both babys or the same age. I have some and they do fine. If they fight then you should get them seperated.