Quote:
Originally Posted by MesoCorney
Because I have talked with experienced keepers that have no such troubles. I have seen first hand how it makes a very nervous male infernalis feel much more calm and comfortable. I have never had a single case of aggression with my two, due to the very simple rules I laid out before. Have you personally experienced any aggression between cohabitated garter snakes? Illness comes from sanitary practices not cohabitation. If I have two healthy snakes living together where exactly do you think they would get sick from? I will give you a hint, it is not each other. As you know you must always practice quarantine. There is a lake with in walking distance of my house, in urban Denver where multiple garter snakes can be found in close proximity. Colorado is not known for large populations of snakes so I doubt this is out of the norm. Where are you doing this reading? Until you find any post where Wayne explicitly says such, maybe you shouldn't represent his opinions. In your example he says he still cohabitates.
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Yes, I have actually. Back when I was still considering cohabbing Draco and Demigod together, I attempted to expose them to each other. Draco ended up striking at me multiple times (he's never done so any other time before), and becoming frantic. Demigod was fine. The second time I introduced them, it was Demigod who freaked out and Draco hid. The third time I introduced them on neutral ground and they were still wary. As long as they're in my hand, they're ok, but put them down and they get defensive.
In my example, Wayne said he was shying away from cohabitation and only cohabbed two single individuals, separating all his others. He later made an entire thread (iirc, could have been another thread derailed or something) and recommended several times outright against cohabitation, period.
Personally, the risk isn't worth it imo. I would prefer finding another way than cohabitation to calm a finicky baby. At most, I would only house a finicky baby with another garter until it was eating regularly, but even then I really would rather not.
Some illness don't pop up right away. If something goes wrong, how do you know which one is ill? Illness can pop up even with good sanitation. Say the snakes fought and the wound became infected, one of them regurged, or the power went out in the winter. Of the last one, you could argue that maybe all of them are just going to inherently become sick, I suppose, but some are hardier than others.
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