Geriatric Care??

[d_virginiana]

I've been thinking about whether or not my plans to house Houdini and Harley together eventually are going to work out, and I was wondering if you guys had any suggestions.

I don't mind baby snakes, but is there any risk (other than getting a litter of jellybeans) associated with having an older male mate?

Also, with Houdini being completely blind, is housing him with another snake especially after him being by himself all his life, just asking for trouble? I just worry that if Harley had even a slight smell of food on her he might mistake her for a treat. I know a couple other people on here have experience with visually-impaired snakes, so what would you suggest?

If it seems like a bad idea, I'll just continue to make sure he gets plenty of handling and chaparoned visits with Harley, but it'd be nice to let them live together

[kibakiba]

She'll get bigger than Houdini when she's older, and she could eventually be kept with him when she's his size.

[guidofatherof5]

It sounds like you are well aware of the possible issues that could occur.
I really comes down to your decision.
I know you would be heartbroken if something bad happened to Harley.

[d_virginiana]

Yeah, as of last summer when I got her, it wouldn't have been a problem but now idk. I'm thinking I might just find her another male to mate with next year and let Houdini have supervised family time with them (Darn, guess I'll have to get another garter snake...)
Ha, the way she's growing though I wouldn't be surprised if she's bigger than him by the end of next summer!

Just wondering, how old do people generally use males for breeding? I know it's pretty easy to tell when a female is getting tired and probably shouldn't be bred anymore, but is there some sort of age cut-off for fertility in males? Probably not going to purposely have Houdini mate with anyone, just curious.

[guidofatherof5]

They work until it doesn't work anymore.

[d_virginiana]

Well, if things are still working correctly at his age, I can only assume that Houdini is a reptilian Larry King

[PINJOHN]

the checkered male that farther'd char's little charmers is over ten years old, . and i suppose i ought to admit that there is something drastically wrong with my ability to estimate time gone past, i constantly understate the years and i am constantly corrected when i mention how long a family member has been dead so the likely hood is that the snake is several years older than i'm stating but it hasn't cooled his ardour

[d_virginiana]

I told Houdini this, and he greatly appreciates that point of view.

[RedSidedSPR]

I am choosing to house either all 5 of my snakes together in a big vivarium setup, or buying a 6th and seperating them into 3's. Have never been a problem for me, but there's always risks. I think my snakes benefit from being housed together and i can't get 5 cages so i choose to do it.

[d_virginiana]

Yeah, I'd love to house mine together, but my only worry is with one snake being totally blind, if Harley had food left on her or regurgitated or something she might end up being lunch. Especially with Houdini not being used to having other snakes around I would be worried that he wouldn't immediately realize 'Oh, this is another garter, probably shouldn't eat it'.