Communal snakes?

[Experiment397]

im just wondering, i dont have any plans. but are any snakes commnual for life? im talking normal snakes, normal people keep(sorry snakeguy your rattlers dont count as normal). i have a friend who keeps 3 central american boas in a custom 9x3x6 but they are all babies, and he doesnt plan on keeping them all, they are a grow out project. i know some people keep multiple adult cornsnakes but are there any others? i have heard rosy boas and mandarin rat-snakes but is that true. if you know of any communal snakes, or keep any please let me know. if you have pix go ahead and post them too

 

[Sylvias]

There is no such thing as a communal snake. They are not social creatures and would much happier alone than with others. SOME species in the wild will share dens in the winter but that is as far as it goes. Aside from breeding they want nothing to do with each other.
People who keep snakes together and assume they 'like' each other because they both cuddle up under the same hide log are seriously misreading the behavior. Even if you provide multiple hides and hot spots there will always be one spot that is just the BEST spot and all the snakes want that spot...so they all curl up there... it might not look like much of a tussle to us but rest assured there is an argument happening and someone if not all snakes involved are getting stressed.
Now is this going to be deadly? In most cases, no. But you always need to keep in mind the problems that are associated with co-habbing snakes... This includes but is not limited to difficulty figuring out which snake is producing suspicious feces, or regurgitating, if one get parasites of illness they all get it, and even if a species is not known for being cannibalistic snakes are opportunistic feeders and it can happen.

 

[Experiment397]

yes i am aware of those factors. like i said i am not planing on doing any snake communities anytime soon. i was just wondering if there are any snakes known for being kept communally with minimal aggression/territorial issues. i have heard of and know people/places that keep some species in communities and was wondering if anybody knew of any species that where known to be "ok" in this setting. but thank you for your concern, in case anybody serious about just buying some snakes and keeping them together where to read this thread.

 

[Joao M]

Some garters (don´t know if all species) are communal. At least that´s the way they´re kept by breeders - not only whn breeding but all year around.

What Sylvias said is valid as a general rule/guidance, but there are exceptions

 

[Toby_H]

There are associated risks and concerns when keeping multiple snakes in a single enclosure... and for that reason most people will get all up in arms when anyone suggests they are considering it...

As a kid I did a lot of 'snake hunting' and it was very very common to find several (or more) colurbrids in the same location. While they are not "social" saying they are not "communal" is simply not true.


As mentioned, keeping multipe snakes together will almost ensure, if one snake gets sick they all get sick. Also as mentioned, it makes it impossible to know which snakes is leaving suspecious feces. It also makes feeding in a seperate bin a necessity. I've had two snakes grab opposite sides of the same worm and one snake swallowed the other then the larger one died from swallowign too large of a meal (the other snake).


Some species, such as King Snakes, are well known to actively seek out other snakes as food thus making them an obvious bad choice for such a tank. But there are a great number of Colubrids that would do "ok" in a communal setting.


Naturally having a larger enclosure and employing a lot of duplication in the decor will give you the best potential for success.



I do not want to mislead anyone to think such a set up is a simple risk free opportunity, as this is not the case at all. But with proper research in species and the needs of each species conciered... along with intelligent planning of the enclosure... coupled with dilligent monitoring and care of the animals... it is possibly to (realively) safely keep such an enclosure........

 

[snakeguy101]

I think that this is something that CAN be done but for the most part, shouldnt be done. I don't think that there is a problem with keeping a few of the same species together (particularly with non territorial species like nearly all snakes) as long as there is enough room, hides, basking areas, and separation during feeding. If you are going to mix species then all of the above should be applied and you should also try to get species that inhabit different environmental niches. For instance, a heavy bodied ground dwelling snake and a slender arboreal snake that are from very similar habitats would probably do alright together given enough space.

I think that the argument of multiple snakes is taken to the extreme. Yes, some snakes will not get along but if they are found together in the wild commonly and if they do not eat each other then the amount of stress is minimal (and when you think about the huge difference in the amount of stress such as predators, drought, inclimate weather, etc. a wild snake goes through compared to a captive snake then it is really hardly a factor).

Bottom line is that you have to know the animals very well before you can really make an accurate assessment of whether they would do alright together.

 

[gigas12]

Hi,I agree with snakeguy101!

 

[Experiment397]

i was wondering if someone would mention ground dweller and arboreal. that was wat i was mainly curious about. i know people keep lizards from similar habitats together all the time. like anoles and house geckos, or i have seen knight anoles with baby green iguanas, and communitys of agamas. thnx for all the feedback everyone.

 

[felixxx]

As i child i kept a common corn snake with a great plains rat snake for a number of years, only problem was at feeding time due to the rat snake being rather timid. At this point we adopted the practice of using a feeding tank for temporary isolation.