Multiple species in one enclosure

[Albert Clark]

The only time I put animals together is during breeding. Brumating animals are also in their own enclosures. Every snake has their own space ever since I went to rack systems. When I was housing in tank setups I would house some pairs together and usually they were younger males and females. I quarantine for 30 days unless I see or hear something suspicious.

[bigsnakegirl78]

I tried introducing my eastern male to my checkered male once his quarantine period was over (3 months), to see if they'd get along and to house them together. I was hoping having a cagemate would help the checkered become less shy and I'd see him out more, but his reaction means I probably won't be able to have them together.

As soon as I put the eastern in his tank, he went straight to the defensive. He sat in place, staring straight at me and breathing fast. Despite the fact the eastern was crawling on him and he smelled the other garter, it was me that he struck at whenever I moved. The presence of the other garter had him extremely irritated and on guard, as he only strikes when he's really scared and he's never struck at me. I'm hoping he will be more receptive towards a female.

Now the eastern also gets overexcited/scared at the sight of other snakes around his tank to the point he jumps around like the checkered does and even musked, which he's never done.

I'm not sure if that's normal or even common or not, but that's my experience with it. I'm thinking it may just be that they're used to having their own space, as if I have them out of the tanks together they don't get worked up about each other.

[d_virginiana]

How long did you leave them in together? They're usually a bit nervous about a new snake at first, but that calms down pretty quickly in my experience. After about a ten minute freakout involving running to the other side of the tank whenever the new snake touched him, the two males that I usually house together calmed right down. One of the males that was always extremely skittish and basically impossible to handle was almost puppy dog tame within a day of having his cagemate there full time, and the other which was always very bitey and kind of aggressive mellowed out as well.

They are currently separated for reasons of illness, and almost immediately they both reverted to how they were before.

That being said, they don't really have any social need to be housed together, so keeping them separate is totally fine as well.

[bigsnakegirl78]

I left them in there for about 20 minutes, but I got worried Draco would bite Demigod because Draco just was not calming down whatsoever so I separated them again.

I did try to see how they'd react again. This time I introduced them together in neutral country (on my hand) before putting them together in a tank. This time, both stayed very calm regardless of who's tank they were in. But I think I'll just keep them separate anyway. At least I know he's got the possibility of being civil now.

[d_virginiana]

Yeah, sometimes nervous ones will freak out when a new snake is suddenly dropped into their little world I'm glad he was calmer for you this time.

[AntTheDestroyer]

Still looking for a cage mate. I have had better luck finding wild snakes then a cb buddy for my collection since the search started. The day after my wedding I realiazed I lost my $250 dollar ray bans. I searched all over the grounds until I found a baby garter snake crawling through the grass. He let me pick him up and was a very cordial little fellow. I am still trying to identify him from memory which isn't as easy as I thought. I took it as a sign and knew the day would be a good one, and not but fifteen minutes later I found my glasses unharmed buried in the grass.

In my search I have located some T. cyrtopsis ocellatus. They are certainly beautiful creatures I just do not know much about them. Does anyone here keep these? If so do you have any insight for me on temperament or care issues? Thanks all.

[guidofatherof5]

We've had a number of people reporting feeding problems(not eating). I had issues with that and socialization. They never trusted anything I was doing.

[AntTheDestroyer]

Interesting that is certainly not the type of snake I am looking for.

[d_virginiana]

I have two ocellatus. They are definitely not as friendly as my easterns. The female will tolerate being handled, but I'd say she's still jumpy for a female, and the male is absolutely insane. You can't handle him without getting bitten and musked (to be fair he is stunted and has neurological issues... so that may be the cause of his behavior). I personally wouldn't feel good putting either of mine in with another snake... It just seems like a fight waiting to happen.

As far as feeding issues, my parents own the parents of my two snakes, and they are constantly going on food strikes that get to the point of being worrisome. My two have never skipped a meal. I have a hunch that they are more sensitive to temp and humidity changes than some other species... I keep tropical species as well, so my reptile room ambient temp never strays out of a certain range, and I really think that has a lot to do with my luck getting mine eating.

They're a really beautiful species to work with, but if you want a nice social garter to be a cagemate for the one you already have they probably aren't what you're looking for... Eastern, radix, red-sided(parietalis), and checkered all seem to have reputations for being pretty calm and sociable. They might be a better fit for what you want.

[Tommytradix]

i had a couple black necks and at first the females were a bit angry but after some tlc they calmed down alot and were housed in a 75gal with female radix.

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