Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I am looking at getting a pair of BRB and I have a 36" vision cage would it be OK to keep a a pair in one large cage or should I forget the pair idea and just get one. I am not trying to breed or anything but like the idea of a male/female pair.
I plan on puting them in a 20Gal first and then once they grow into the move them into the vision cage.

Any experiences or thought on this idea?

Should be fine. Recomend having the female slightly larger than the male, even though you're not planning on breeding. My pair are fine together, they cruise around together in a vision display cage. wonderful animals

I think it's better to -not- keep your animals in the same cage. Snakes are solitary animals, and on top of that they are quite territorial. They should have their own enclosures that they do not have to share. It's also harder to monitor feeding, defecation, shed cycles etc. If one gets sick then the other will get sick. Some people do not encounter problems when housing snakes together, but I've also heard of snakes being fine together for awhile and then suddenly trying to kill each other when they headed for the water dish at the same time.

Perhaps you should speak to your breeder about it too and get a more professional opinion than what I can provide.

Christine,
. I know there are many people who agree with your opinion on this. But!!! I have been keeping BRBs together in cages for a long time. My snakes are precious to me. I am very much interested in keeping them healthy and breeding for me year after year. They stay very healthy housed together. I do seperate them to feed and never have any agresssion between snakes. I used to do lots of snake hunting and many many times have found snakes together in prime hiding places. Here in the south it is common to find Yellow Ratsnakes piled together in the rafters of abandoned farm buildings. I tend to agree that snakes are generally solitary animals but when they find an ideal place to be they often share it with conspecifics.
YMMV,
Jeff

>>I think it's better to -not- keep your animals in the same cage. Snakes are solitary animals, and on top of that they are quite territorial. They should have their own enclosures that they do not have to share. It's also harder to monitor feeding, defecation, shed cycles etc. If one gets sick then the other will get sick. Some people do not encounter problems when housing snakes together, but I've also heard of snakes being fine together for awhile and then suddenly trying to kill each other when they headed for the water dish at the same time.
>>
>>Perhaps you should speak to your breeder about it too and get a more professional opinion than what I can provide.

Thanks Jeff, that's interesting. Do you think BRBs tend to be less agressive or less territorial than some other snakes?

Would there be any cons to keeping them housed together as far as monitoring goes, or do you think that's not a problem if the owner keeps a close eye on them?

Christine,
. I think that monitoring them is the one point that very much argues against keeping them together. I keep track of which ones are getting ready to shed so when I find a shed skin in the cage I know which one it was. I have found that females caged together for several years sometimes get on coinciding shedding schedules. But, if I was to have one with a gastric problem with messy looking stools I would not be able to quickly determine which snake it was. I think BRBs are less territorial than some other more active snakes. Mine often are piled together inside the hiding spots. When I first put them together I watch to make sure that one is not dominate over the other and keeping the less dominant one from the prime hiding spots in the cage. The males are not tolerant of each other during breeding season. They do not actively or agressively fight but will push against each other and less dominant ones stay out of the hiding spots the more dominant ones are using.
Jeff

>>Thanks Jeff, that's interesting. Do you think BRBs tend to be less agressive or less territorial than some other snakes?
>>
>>Would there be any cons to keeping them housed together as far as monitoring goes, or do you think that's not a problem if the owner keeps a close eye on them?

In a general sense you may have a point but it is not absolute.
I have kept both Brazilian and Colombian rainbows (usually 1.1 but sometimes 1.2) together for as long as ten years with no problems whatsoever. Of course, I seperate them during feeding and gravid females get their own cage, but otherwise they are together. BUT, I make sure that both animals have been quarantined and my cages are plenty big. I have been keeping rainbows in this manner since around 1974 and have never had any problem except when I stupidly fed them together. Now THAT is asking for trouble!

What do you think about BRBs possibly being less aggressive than other snakes? I wouldn't house them together primarily because I'd be afraid of them getting into a conflict. I have a friend who recently had to seperate a pair of Macklots pythons because they bumped noses while headed to have a drink of water, and the male went after the female. Prior to that they hadn't had any problems sharing space. I don't know anything about Macklots though, so they could be more aggressive.

I never have had any maklots or other python of that type before but I have heard and read that some of the Australian and Indonesian pythons are like that.
Boas of the genus Epicrates are not like that. In fact, some of the insular species are often found togther in old buildings or under boards just like ratsnakes here.