Can Cornsnakes Live Together?

Having heard that Cornsnakes can be cannabalistic, we keep our recently acquired baby cornsnakes separate. We have two cornsnakes in an Exo Terra with a divider, so one snake in each side. Ian (my son - keeper of the Cornsnakes) came down this morning and said the Ryoko (our little Crimson) and Kyuni (our little Coral Snow) were curled up together. Ryoko has obviously found a way of getting in beside her next-door neighbour. They seem to be quite content cuddled up together.

Do others keep Cornsnakes together in the same viv? I don't want one cornsnake trying to make a potential meal out of the other.

Yes they can cannabalistic. Can you keep them together? Possibly. Should you? No. It's always better to have separate cages. Try using shoeboxes.

Corn snakes are at their most cannabalistic during their younger years. While they may be nicely curled up they could be seeking heat or attempting to establish dominance. Snakes are not social creatures my nature and while they may look "cute" that doesn't mean they should stay together.


I have two hatchlings that despite all of my attempts at a separator would not stay on their separte sides of the tanks (little rascals!). I eventually end up putting the UTH inside my 29 gal. tank and putting them in shoeboxes I purchased at the container store for $1.60 a piece and melt holes around the sides with a soldering iron. They are quite content and eating better as well, as one had refused food for 2 weeks prior to this and the other had regurged once. Make sure their temps are okay (77 cool side 88 warm side, as everything I've read from Kathy Love and Rich from Serpenco suggest a little warmer temps for hatchlings).

Just to put it out there, I've read on the cornsnake forums that some breeders keep their hatchlings together for convienence sake (less cages needed) and have experienced no problems while others have experienced cannabalism. It's a huge discussion over there as well, but all seem to think the best solution is to take no risks and keep separate. Kathy Love has a book out (The Ultimate Corn Snake Manual...or something close to that) and she does make suggestions for ways to introduce older snakes to each other if you want to try communal housing.

Whatever you decide I wish you luck with the little ones!

Yes. I'm inclined to err on the side of caution knowing that they can be cannabalistic.

We still haven't worked out how Ryoko managed to get in beside Kyuni. Only thing we can think of is she managed to get her nose underneath the divider and lift it enough to sneak through. Cheeky little thing:laughing: