Reptile & Amphibian Forums

i have always housed my dumerils boa, 2 ball pythons, and blood python all together in the same tank. They seem very content this way. They even seem to like each other. They curl up together, follow each other around, and overall don't seem stressed at all. They all shed nicely in one piece and everything. I also have a brazilian rainbow boa, but she is housed separately due to higher humidity needs, but they all travel together when i take them places and they always get along nicely. I recently heard that boas and pythons usually don't get along. people were very surprised and even concerned when i told them about my snakes until i showed them pictures of them all coiled up peacefully together in one big snakey pile. Then they just said "wow, thats amazing. your just lucky i guess". I was wondering, is this really something special or is it common for them to get along just fine? any comments?

I normally keep all my snakes separate, but I kept a Colombian boa together with two Burmese pythons for several years. The only problems I ever had were between the two burms, and only twice that I remember (one saw the other moving and mistook it for food after I walked through the house with ducks in a carrier).

I mostly kept them together because I didn't have room for several large cages at the time.
-----
What goes up must come down...unless it exceeds escape velocity.

I think you are interpreting your snakes behaviour the way YOU see it and not the way a snake does.

Snakes all snuggled together means competition for heat sources or hide spots.

Following each other around...likewise trying to find peace or prey before the other.

How are the humidity needs met for all of them? Are there numerous hides with similar heat? Are there several humid hides so the more humid loving blood can get enough? Are there large enough hot spots that all could spread out and be happy?

Snakes do not seek company. They are solitary kritters that would likely grow best if their needs were met separately. Just because they are not obviously injuring each other is not an indication that they are loving it. They are doing okay now. Hope it continues but don't delude yourself thinking that it is what they would do best with.
-----
Sonya

I'm not mean. You're just a sissy.
Happy Bunny

I would have to say....touche' to all points!. But hey, what do we know?..LOL!

~Doug
-----
"Better to be silent and thought a fool, than to open mouth and remove any doubt!"

I agree with the general point of your reply, meeting the needs of the animals and them being different species and all. I'd like to add a tidbit of info about snakes being solitary, or not.

Fact is, snakes in nature also compete for or share suitable basking sites, hides, egg-laying areas, etc. I've seen the data for 5 boas in Peru found at the mouth of a crevice sunning themselves in the morning before retreating. Kingsnakes can be very communal. Rattlesnakes definitely during Winter. I've found 4 rattlesnakes sharing a piece of metal cover, and found three more near a rock not 4 ft away.

I think that snakes likely maintain a "personal space" much of the time, but alter that when needed. Kind of like humans. Point is, snakes are not solitary all of the time. Sometimes they are not solitary at all, by choice perhaps (mating) and sometimes by need (basking spot or shelter).

I wouldn't mix boas with pythons either, or African pythons with Asian pythons.
-----
Mark

You know I've heard these "don't mix them/ competition for space" arguments several times now, but my experience has been the opposite.

I've had 2 Ball Pythons, 1 Boa and 1 Corn Snake live happily in the same large tanks for several years and not use the same spaces at all.

I now have 3 Fiji Boas in the same tank with three hides, 2 branches and 2 bamboo tubes. They've been there since birth and (3.5 years) and will use one hide for a week or so and then another, so I know they are all acceptable.

Now here's the interesting part: often all three will be in the same hide in a big pile. BUT every now and again two are together and one is in different hide. Whenever that happens it is inevitably the two litter-mates together and the unrelated one alone. The litter-mates appear to distinctly prefer each others' company to being alone.

So I don't know. I understand they are not bunnies, but mine do seem to voluntarily "snuggle".

However, I do accept that if you are frequently adding snakes to a collection, separate housing is essential to avoid introducing and spreading disease, and if you house snakes together you need to feed outside the tank to avoid nasty accidents over prey animals.

Your observation with the sibling snakes holing up together is exactly what I have seen with kingsnakes, milksnakes, etc.

It is amazing that, when I post things like that, there is a bit of backlash here. I recommend to those folks to try it themselves and see the light.

If you are having success mixing species, carry on. I don't want to admit that I've done it. The animals did just fine. I think I too get caught up in the mindset of general keepers. We do hold onto certain practices without really knowing why. Of course quarantine is still the best insurance before you bring a new snake into a cage with others.
-----
Mark

I think that quite often new keepers put several snakes together (as I did), and then later get onto forums and clubs etc and find out it is not the done thing, and split their snakes up, maybe without a good reason.

I realise that you increase some risks by keeping more than one animal in an enclosure, but I think that you can avoid these in other ways (such as good quarantine procedures and feeding outside the tank).

Personally, as someone with limited space and resources, and who is not changing my set-up often, I prefer to have 3 snakes in one nice habitat than separately in a rack of small tubs. I'm not knocking the tubs per se, but my snakes do appear to like moving around and exploring their larger space, and changing their sleeping spots every now and again. I feel bad for a snake in a tub with nothing but substrate and a water bowl (even though I may be projecting emotions they don't have).

I'm very interested in your observation of sibling snakes staying together. Mine certainly do. Anyone else with similar experiences?

Link

One long-term field herper and a pioneer of kingsnake captive breeding has seen the same thing regarding sibling snakes raised together. His observations are for kingsnakes mainly, both in captivity and in the wild.

When I was young, I kept snakes together. Like you, I read things and was told snakes are solitary. Then I went the standard approach of one snake per cage.

Now I am seeing that snakes are not completely one way or the other as a whole. They can definitely cohabitate. Of course, the cage must be large enough.

Glad to see you have an open mind on these things. I hope you continue to do so and obvserve what happens, good or bad, with your own snakes.
-----
Mark

Thanks for the interesting comments. Just to finish my contribution to this debate, yesterday I was at a friend's house. Last year he had a snake escape, and only just recaptured it.

He put it into a large enclosure with plenty of hides, branches etc, and it straight away went to the (unrelated but same species and size) snake in the tank and has been in a huddle with him ever since.

These are all Fiji Boas Candoia bibroni bibroni.

So, back to the original questions, no I don't think it's weird for snakes to house together, certainly not with all snake species, but yet again I'd emphasis safety / health precautions need to be taken.

Helen
Link

Thank you to everyone for your replies. Of course i love all my snakes very much and their well being always comes first. I never have seen any problems with them living together and if i did i would indeed make adjustments. I always feed them seprately, outside the cage and they do have separate hides, yet prefer to stay together. I have moved my blood python to my rainbows boa's cage, where she can get more humidity, since she was having dry sheds. She seems happier and more comfortable there. She took to the moss box right away too. And the rainbow boa doesnt mind her there at all.