Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I am new to owning a ball python.. only had if for like 4 days now.. Haven't gave it it's first feed yet.

It is a baby regular.. and i want to get another one too.. I planned one keeping them in the same encolsure together.. right now i have a 20 gal long (30"L x 12"W) i have everything needed to keep the baby.. and well like i said i want to add another to the collection..

I bought this baby regular at a local pet store.. captive-born.. it's feeding on mice.. and i wanted to know when and if to introduce the other snake...

I planned on getting a grey and black ball to put in with the regular.. i';m not sure if sggression differs between the different morphs..

I have done a lot of reading on ball pythons and have heard nothing about keeping two ball pythons together.. just that i've heard of/seen peeps with two in one cage...

any help would be appreciated
Chris

It's almost never a good idea to keep two snakes of any species together in the same enclosure, unless you are breeding them.

This is for several main reasons:

- They can cause stress to each other. If one becomes dominant it can stop the other one from using the hide it wants to use, being in the right temperature zone, basking where it wants to, etc.; with balls, this stress could lead to a refusal to feed and greater susceptibility to illness or parasites. Snakes are not social animals in the wild, so they should not be treated as such in captivity.

- With two snakes it's much more difficult to monitor and control health - you can't tell which snake fecal matter belongs to, if parasites appear you can't know which one is affected, etc.

- You have to be really careful when feeding - if one snake still smells of prey, the other may attack it (this happened with a pair of kings belonging to a friend of a friend just the other day)

- Unless you can GUARANTEE the sexes of the two snakes, you can't be sure that accidental breeding won't result - and in young snakes that could be dangerous, plus an unwanted burden for you

I have a BP and a normal corn, and each have their own viv; if I was to get another snake, that would always mean getting another vivarium first. Especially as a relative newcomer to keeping snakes (18 months) I know that the snakes will do best for me if I can monitor them individually and if their stress levels are reduced as low as possible.

Hope that helps!

Simon

I don't think you're really going to find a long-term keeper that would actively condone keeping snakes together. They're just not social animals.

If you haven't even fed your new one yet, It's really not a good time to even start considering another one in the same tank. You're not sure how well yours is adjusting, etc.

If you're willing to quarantine the new one, pay the money for it, take care of it, etc., then being willing to buy another tank shouldn't be too much. Besides, in a year your 20G will be too small for two anyway.