I have recently aquired a female redtail boa who is 7ft long and weights 15.4 lbs. She was purchased from a man who allegedly 'breeds' snakes. She apparently dropped a clutch of slugs and therefore was no use to him anymore. I got her for a steal. Here's the catch - She apparently had gone off food and was not eating. He claims that she was up in the 40lb. range prior to going off food. She also had a burn scar on her back. He claimed that she was very tame and docile. Immediatly after bringing her home, we took her to the vet for a basic check up. All looks good and she appears to be the picture of health. I do believe that the previous 'owner' doesn't know squat about snakes. Just a personal observation. She ate well for us. 2 live large rats on week 1 and 2 live rats jumbo on week 2. Despite the fact that she was apparently on frozen for her whole life (3-4 years) She is a pretty girl who will allow you to remove her from her enclosure and allows you to touch her head and face. She hisses almost constantly when you are just holding her (a barely opening the mouth hiss that almost sounds like a cold but vet assured us it was a hiss) She then waits until you are least expecting it and firmly and quickly BITES your forearm. Always in the same place. Always lets go. No coiling. Then she is fine again.

I have come to think of her as a bit of a testy little thing.

Here's where my question comes in. I have a male I purchased a while back. He is about 5 1/2 ft long and slimmer than she is (he has not been weighed) He is a verocious eater and a quick killer. But aside from eating he is as tame as a kitten. My 4 year old handles him regularly with out any problem. I know that males are generally smaller than females and they are the same age. But I was wanting to build an enclosure that would house them both. With a separate enclosure for feeding and the day after feeding. But with her snappy little temperment and size advantage I am unsure about it.

Any advice about how to tell if they would be compatible together in an enclosure? Are their sizes too different? If she wasn't so bite happy during handling I wouldn't have thought twice about it. But now I am just not sure due to her strange temperment. And I don't want to loose one in the process. Any ideas/advice?

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