Should my BP live with a corn snake?

I need advice! I own an 8 month old ball python, and now I also want to own a corn snake! This guy at the pet store said that if I bought a corn snake about the same size/age then they are okay to live together in the same cage. Is this true? Will it be okay for my BP? :snake: Please let me know what you think!

no...not ok

You can easily house both in a separate rubbermaid tub. Housing them together could result in your ball making a meal out of the corn snake. there are a number of reasons why this is not OK...i don't even know why they would tell you that's OK

no, you should not keep any snakes together. Same age, sex, kind, doesn't matter, if one get sick, so will the other, and that won't be good. Snakes also get stressed when they are living with another snake.

Definately do not house together. And please, don't listen to the pet store employees, they generally don't have much of a clue.

Not to mention that they most likely have different husbandry requirements. Admitably (is that a word?) I don't know the husbandry requirements of corns, but I don't imagine they're the same.


As Nate suggested, if you don't like your corn very much, you could house that little appetizer with your ball python.

Snakes do not desire, nor require companionship. On top of that, when forced to live together, they have no way to get away from the other one. If you can't afford to individually house each of them, pass on the corn snake.

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Originally Posted by Terjegirl

I need advice! I own an 8 month old ball python, and now I also want to own a corn snake! This guy at the pet store said that if I bought a corn snake about the same size/age then they are okay to live together in the same cage. Is this true? Will it be okay for my BP? :snake: Please let me know what you think!

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As several have said allready no its not ok.Please tell that pet store person to join here and we will fill him in on the TRUTH! By chance was this store a Petco :8: :8: :P ?

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Originally Posted by Terjegirl

I need advice! I own an 8 month old ball python, and now I also want to own a corn snake! This guy at the pet store said that if I bought a corn snake about the same size/age then they are okay to live together in the same cage. Is this true? Will it be okay for my BP? :snake: Please let me know what you think!

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Snakes are solitary animals so regardless of Species, Age, Size. 1 SNAKE = 1 ENCLOSURE.

Pet Stores will say anything not sure if it is lack of knowledge or if they would just say anything to make a sale. Probably a bit of both.:(

ahahaha!


just my :2cent: !

The answer is:



NO!

The end. :)

noooo way :colbert:

I have a related question. I have a mature BP, he's very happy, his enviroment is correct. Are there any reptiles that can live with BPs where both will be happy? I'm thinking maybe chameleons, medium lizards, maybe some medium sized frogs? My enclosure has two good hiding spots, a waterfall and plenty of foilage. I'm thinking of animals that are larger than my BP can eat, don't have teeth to bite him and occupy areas Jake wouldn't be interested in. Any suggestions?

I think most people here would say no. Snakes are solitary creatures and they will encounter the same stress sharing a cage with any kind of reptile.

I made an *cough* excellent post about multiple reptile housing on cornsnakes.com, so Imma repost here. You guys might recognize some of the references in the post. =)

Written for someone who was considering a ball and cornsnake cohabitation:

"The rule of "one snake + one cage" is good husbandry for all species of snakes. Snakes in cohabitation (except for breeding) can lead to numerous problems:

1. Stress. Two or more snakes housed together will be after the best "hunting" spots, the best hiding spots, the best basking spots, etc. Again and again as seen with snakes kept together, one snake will usually be dominate over the other, which can manifest the other snake to go off feed, to be less handle-able and ultimately, can lead to cannibilism. To get rid of the stress of the other snake, one may very likely eat the other, even if they are the same species and size, even if the smaller one eats the bigger one. And many with cannibilism, especially with the smaller eating the larger, it leads to death of the eater (as well as the eatee, obviously).

"But they look happy because they cuddle all the time." This isn't cuddling; it's one snake showing dominance over the other. For example, a good friend of mine purchased an adult pair of Vietnamese Blue Beauties which had been housed together their entire lives. The female, while sweet as can be to her owner, was totally dominant over the male, always making sure some part of her body was on top of the male's head. It looked cute, but my friend has reported that the male, now in his own cage, is finally putting on weight and is obviously getting healthier and happier being on his own.

2. Husbandry problems. In this example, cornsnakes and ball pythons, it will be impossible to provide the correct husbandry, that is humidity and temperature gradients and ranges, required by those species in a single cage. Ball pythons are orginally from tropical western Africa, whereas corns come from a range of the US that is generally much milder. A cage set up for the husbandry requirements of one snake will most likely lead to health issues and death for the other.

For more information on husbandry, please check these sources for good caresheets:
[put in links to cornsnake and ball caresheets]

3. Transmission. Unless you are getting the snakes from absolutely trustworthy breeders, and even then, it is good practice to quarantine all snakes to verify that each animal does not carry any parasites or health problems that can be transmitted. The big one here is mites. I personally experienced mites (may they rot in hell) and had I not quarantined my new animal (from a reputable reptile store) that turned out to have them, the mites may very well have spread to the rest of my snake colony.

Other transmittable cooties can come from wild caught snakes, especially within both the ball python and cornsnake species. It's easier to avoid with separate cages and quarantine procedures.

4. Pregnancy. You may be pretty certain you know the gender of your animals, but until they lock up and one lays eggs, there are still slim chances that the probing or popping was incorrect (although this may be more prevalent among ball pythons, from what I've read, or just people who were bad at sexing, hehe). Anywho, two snakes together can very well lead to breeding, which can lead to a gravid snake and babies. It can happen, as odd the chances would be for a ball and corn to breed, why even make it a remote chance? =)

So, these are the reasons why snake cohabitation is a no-no and why people get so hot under-the-collar about it. You are, of course, welcome to make your own choice, but fellow snake lovers and owners hope that these arguments explain why it's better for "one snake + one cage". =)"

how big do cornsnakes get???

No suggestions - whatever you add will only stress out your BP, not to mention, they will all have different husbandry needs. A ball pythons does not need, nor desire a companion of any kind.

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Originally Posted by rmune0750

how big do cornsnakes get???

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A mature adult will be somewhere between 3-5', although far less bigger in diameter than a ball python, obviously.

The female adult corns I've held have been about the diameter of a US 50 cent piece and 4-5' long...males will be a tad smaller.

Thanks for the advice, I guess I will scratch that idea for the sake of my snake

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Originally Posted by pmbassist

Thanks for the advice, I guess I will scratch that idea for the sake of my snake

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And I am sure your snake will thank you for that :)