Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Does anyone have experience with keeping Pits together?

There has been a fair amount of interesting talk about this practice over on the kingsnakes forum over the years w/many respected (at least by me ) keepers/breeders touting such a model.

I realize there are potential hazards to this (passing of illness between snakes, id'ing which snake is ill, competition for food, etc).

But if kingsnakes have shown the ability/desire to be communal I'm curious if Pits do as well and if there is anything interesting to be observed by keeping them together.

Anyway, if you have experience with this I'd love to hear about it. Thanks.

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/scott

I keep my 1.1 AD Blk.Pines together till winter then keep'em seperate for eight weeks, after the female sheds and eats a bit the male attacks her for few weeks then they lay together all summer in the same hidebox, even when there are two available, eggs are few in # but huge size and consistant every year.

I keep my 1.1 AD Blk.Pines together till winter...

Cool...thanks for the response!

I have some black pines that I was thinking of doing this with so it's good to know others have had success with them.
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/scott

These two have lots of hide options in the room they live in and often wind up like this. They've never mated though and I do feed them separately of course. Whatever the reality is, they sure seem to like each other

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See all my snakes at SerpenTrack.com

Funny you should post that shot because I think you've posted that one or similar ones before which is one of the thing that got me wondering about it (I remember thinking how content they seemed :.

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/scott

I have a pair of Black Pines that have been living together for 7 years.

Sometimes they do this:

Third Eye

Sometimes they do this:

That would certainly qualify as interesting behavior!

Thanks for responding.
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/scott

My 16 month old Kingsville x Stillwater bulls Alfonzo and Zoey; I have tried separating them but the male gets really bummed out looking for his sister when I do. (old pictures, much bigger now)

My Pacific gophers Lorenzo and Zumbida. (old pictures, much bigger now) They have two big tubs joined together:

Also have an unrelated pair of striped Pacific yearlings, ZigZag and Zola, who live together (new picture taken this morning)

They also have two tubs joined together.

Everybody is fed in feeding containers, so there is no chance of food fights.

I have seen pits together in the wild when herping. Like, two under a sheet of plywood.

I also have kings, but don't trust them to not try to dine on each other, so they are all in separate cages. I have a very small striped gopher and a really huge Pacific, and they are also in separate cages. I only put snakes of comparable sizes together.

Should down the road I get a gravid female I will separate her so he doesn't eat her eggs.

Great stuff!!!
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See all my snakes at SerpenTrack.com

Nice setups!

Those are great...thanks.
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/scott

I have house some pits together when cage space was limited for a short amount of time. But one time I did pay the price for doing so!

Thanks Jason

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Jason, are the eaters in these photos all the same kind of pituophis? Also, what type are they; sonoran, great basin, etc? I ask because they all look to be the same kind, and I am wondering if some sub species are more prone to cannibalizing than others.

They are San Diego Gophers. I had about 25 hatchlings. I was housing them in a 30 gallon aquarium. I would separate them to fed them but I guess one of them was still hungry.

Jason

Well, that is a relief! I only have two at a time together, none are hatchlings, they all get fed frequently to avoid getting too hungry, and they are all NOT San Diego gophers. Still, I will keep this possibility of cannibalism in mind.

I think my biggest Pacific Gonzo would eat anything I put with her!

She is not vicious just a hearty eater! LOL!

But one time I did pay the price for doing so!

That would be a real bummer.

I realize there are no guarantees in trying something like this but I wonder if incidents like that are more likely to happen w/younger snakes?

(Jason: two of the candidates I was considering for this little trial were the McGurdy het SDs I got from you -- they are both doing awesome).
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/scott

Yeah I think it was a fluke incident but ya never know. Knowing what happen, I still would do the same thing.

Jason

First time seeing that :0

But, I watched a baby corn eat a runt baby corn today! I need to start taking a camera to work.

This makes me love SDs more for some weird reason.

Damn, at least it didn't eat the snow!
PS Pituophis

I've housed pits together on and off for years and have never had a problem.

byron.d

I've housed pits together on and off for years and have never had a problem.

That's great to know...thanks.
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/scott

I figured it was easier to revisit this thread vs. starting a new one. Anyways I currently have 1.1 adult N. Pines and just got a pair of adult Black Pines from a friend. As far as housing goes I have 2 55 gallon tanks, a 30 long, and a 40 breeder. I plan on building a very large cage over winter, but haven't gotten around to it yet. Anyways I want to separate them all in hopes of breeding them next year, but I do not want to put a 4.5 ft. Black Pine in a 30. Do you think that both male pines will be okay if housed together in a 55 gallon tank overwinter? I would think so but just want to check. I would plan on separating them before any combating takes place in the spring. Any suggestions?