Co-Habitation Among Snakes

Another thing that can happen with snakes is that they just "oops, made a mistake". Think about snakes that have hair-trigger responses to acquire prey, now try to imagine them falling asleep in the same enclosure as one another (& all creatures do need sleep): what happens when one of them decides to move around?

We're talking about 2 snakes that appeared to be fully compatible non-hostile room-mates, but I can tell you from personal knowledge that what happened with a pair of sidewinders is that when one moved, the other responded instinctively & nailed "the motion" right in the head, killing it very quickly. :tears: This had nothing to do with appetite, just the survival instincts to "bite first, ask questions later".

Nearby motion can either be food or a threat, & either way, survivors bite. Oops. If this had been non-venomous constrictors, the bite may "only" have injured but not killed so immediately & irreversibly, but even bites have consequences- blinding eyes, causing infections, etc. Co-habbing snakes is seldom worth the risk if you truly care about the snakes you're keeping.

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Originally Posted by Bogertophis

Another thing that can happen with snakes is that they just "oops, made a mistake". Think about snakes that have hair-trigger responses to acquire prey, now try to imagine them falling asleep in the same enclosure as one another (& all creatures do need sleep): what happens when one of them decides to move around?

We're talking about 2 snakes that appeared to be fully compatible non-hostile room-mates, but I can tell you from personal knowledge that what happened with a pair of sidewinders is that when one moved, the other responded instinctively & nailed "the motion" right in the head, killing it very quickly. :tears: This had nothing to do with appetite, just the survival instincts to "bite first, ask questions later".

Nearby motion can either be food or a threat, & either way, survivors bite. Oops. If this had been non-venomous constrictors, the bite may "only" have injured but not killed so immediately & irreversibly, but even bites have consequences- blinding eyes, causing infections, etc. Co-habbing snakes is seldom worth the risk if you truly care about the snakes you're keeping.

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last paragraph really stuck out to me here cuz recently i saw the effects of one copperhead envenomating another and it was not pretty and most sad - this aside i agree with this 100% - i mean that’s the whole logic behind tap training large constrictors is to have the means of waking up idle snakes and gauging them before fully interacting or handling them so that’s a big reason why the OP didn’t sit right with me because it’s like if we all collectively accept that as true re: tap training then why would we not then conclude what you outlined as well? that’s my thing with this

I've read anything from old school experience breeders doing it to people on forums talking like they know exactly what snakes want and feel... the truth is, what may work for one pair may be the exact opposite for the next enclosure. You're taking a risk, which, if monitored closely, is still maybe not the best choice. But, if you feel like you want to do it, determine if you're ready to accept the possibility that snek 1 kills snek 2. Have fun, be smart. Good luck.