Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Ok, I just got another baby ball (high-gold, I'm sooo proud). I have a very large tank that I divided in half. The juvi. female ball is on one side and the baby female is on the other. I have other snake species in similar arrangements without any issues. However, my ball pythons pratically break thier necks to be together! They will stretch and squeeze through the smallest cracks in order to be with the other one. Once one has managed to get in the other's space they don't share hide boxes or act like long-lost friends or anything. I would just give up and put them together because I'm afraid they are going to hurt themselves trying to get to one another, but they are different sizes/ages. Does this really matter? I'm concerned that my baby will be too busy worring about what is in the other cage to eat (because she hasn't yet). Any advice or similar stories with solutions would be much appreciated.

Can't you cover up the part between the two spaces? I don't know how the cage is separated but if it's by a glass wall I think it's better to cover it so they can't see each other. Maybe that will calm them.
Naara.net

First off, let me put in the disclaimer that you should ALWAYS quarentine your new snakes. Lord knows what kinda mites/ parasites/ infections they may have. Don't want to have two sick snakes on your hands, when you should only have one. Put the new one in a seperate cage, and as far away from the other snakes as possible.

That being said, I house two male BPs together in one cage. One of them is 3 1/2 feet, the other's about two. They curl up together sometimes, but mostly they do their own thing.

Now, as far as dangerous size combos go, I wouldn't put a 4'er and a baby together. But, according to me, a foot-ish size difference doesn't really matter.
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-Irish
My Snakes

Thank you both for your input. The tank divider is opaque - so they cannot see each other, but they can smell each other. I did quarantine the newby for one week while I made sure she didn't have anything I didn't want my other snakes to have. They just seem determined to be together. I suppose I will try putting them together and watch them very carefully for awhile. Perhaps then the baby will settle down and eat.

Only a week? Did you take it to the vet for a check up and a fecal? You're not going to spot anything but mites and ticks in a week.

What's the size difference with the two snakes?
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-Irish
My Snakes

The baby is about 8-10" and the juvi. is about 15", but heavier of course.

No, I didn't take her to the vet because I was familiar with the guy I got her from and he keeps very clean snakes.

A few inches difference won't be a big deal. Like I said, I have about a foot difference between mine, and there's never been a problem.

Oh, okay. As long as you know the conditions it was kept it. When you get a snake from a petstore or breeder you're unfamiliar with, yeah, longer quarentine. I always seperate mine for months no matter what, but I'm paranoid, lol. But I haven't always been, and I got lucky that no one had any nasties.

As for why they're staining to get to the other side, how's your heating set up? Are both sides getting a heat gradient? Maybe they just don't like how their side is set up, so they go see what's on the other side of the fence, hehe.
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-Irish
My Snakes

Oh yeah. If either of them refuse to eat, you might want to get them different cages. Sometimes housing together'll stress one out, especially a new baby who's in a new environment with a new snake and competing for the best spots in the cage. But if that doesn't happen, then roomy away!
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-Irish
My Snakes

Yeah, I know what you mean about being paranoid. I got snake mites in my collection once and it was NO fun. Thank heavens for Provent a Mite. Anyway, I think I am just going to try 'opening the door' between the two to see what happens. You could be right that they may just want to make sure that the other one doesn't have better stuff. If that doesn't work, I'll have to fire up the drill and make another snake cage. I will post pics soon, but I have to steal the digital camera back first, lol.