New to garters, not so new to snakes. Hi there!

[Floof]

Some may think I'm dumb... but because of housing issues I had. My male checkered and a female okeetee corn together in a 36"x18"x 18" tank for several months before then introducing 2 albino checkered females. Only till shortly after adding the albinos did I notice the corn seemed stressed and at that time seperated her. Took her a month to git her back to her old self but now have a male for her.
I had no problems with them (same size) untill I added the other 2 females. So that's my experience.

I wouldn't be in the least surprised if the corn was stressed the entire time she was housed with the male checkered, and you only noticed when that stress was compounded hugely with the sudden addition of two more snakes (more "competition," in the corn's psyche).

My reason for saying this is snakes don't show their illness, stress, etc until it's a serious problem. If they showed these weaknesses when they first came up in the wild, they'd end up food in no time.. So they've evolved to hide them. In other words, the corn hid its stress from you (and any predators) until the addition of two more snakes had her... Well, the best way I can describe it would be panicking; imagine a human hyperventilating. A nervous breakdown would be the human equivalent of what point the corn was at by the time she was stressed enough to show it.

If you have her housed with the male corn, I bet she's still stressed... Probably even more so, since this is a male that will actually, actively breed with her (as opposed to a garter that wouldn't be interested), which presents another issue with cohabbing that exists in ALL animals (even communal species)--breeding too young, or too often. If she isn't large enough, breeding can potentially kill her through egg binding, and, if she's not in good shape, can take so much out of her (vitamins and nutrition) that she becomes emaciated (as well as being another egg-binding risk).

Really, corn snakes aren't made for cohabbing. They aren't communal in any way shape or form. They don't brumate together. They only come together for breeding, then they leave each other. The mothers lay their eggs and leave; they don't have anything to do with their offspring. Once the babies hatch and leave the nest, they avoid each other until they're ready to breed.

My point is, you should move the female into her own enclosure for her own good. Though cohabbing may work for your garters, it won't work for your corns. Even if you can't see the stress, it's there. Separate them. If you don't have room for another enclosure, or have some other reason you can't separate them, then get rid of one of them... Just get the female by herself before something horrible happens and it's too late.

One of my favorite quotes from the corn snake forum, concerning cohabbing: "It's not a problem until it's a BIG problem." And big problem, in this case, usually means life-threatening... Cannibalism, egg-binding, stress to the point of food refusal or chronic regurgitation... Etc, etc.

Sorry for the novel, but I really couldn't let it go. In the end, the decision is up to you, but I really hope you decide to separate the corns. It's in their best interest, even if you can't see the stress (yet).

On that note, do you have any pics? I love good quality Okeetee corns. Absolutely stunning animals.

[HazAnga]

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