Reptile & Amphibian Forums

i have 2 ball pythons and i am not going to lie but they are both in the same tank male and female we think they were both fine feeders at the start but now my male wont feed at all he doesnt show the slightest bit of interest when offered and the female takes a weiner rat no problem i am offering him the same but wont feed the only time he has fed was when a friend assist fed him but he wont even take it this way now they stay at the cold end of the tank all the time and never at the hot end and the female will only take her food when really warm i have been told by people on this forum that your not supposed to house them together but i love them soo much and cant afford another house for one of them and dont want to get rid of any of them someone please help
i will answer any questions you may ask

i have enclosed a photo of the tank they are in which is the top tank i have a common boa in the bottom tank

thank you so much for your time

several questions here. how big is your cage? temps? how long has it been since they fed? are you feeding them together? how old are your snakes? do you have multiple hides on your hot side and cool side? royals can go sometime without feeding. i have heard as long as 20 something months in some cases. i would definitley get them into seperate enclosures though. the tank that is pictured really doesn't look all that big. i have heard alot of people say what finicky eaters royals are. i have yet to experience this myself however. (knock on wood). they do fast occasionally though. the longest fast i have had was 3 months. this is nothing compared to some keepers though.
anyway, give us some more details and i am sure we can get you going in the right direction.

Ummm...I think you already know what you have to do. I know you don't really want to hear it, but if you love your snake gather up $100 and set up another tank with everything it needs....or if you don't love your snake, just let everything be and it will starve to death....which for ball pythons, can take a looonnngg time and can be very painful...can you imagine?

have 2 ball pythons and i am not going to lie but they are both in the same tank male and female we think they were both fine feeders at the start but now my male wont feed at all he doesnt show the slightest bit of interest when offered and the female takes a weiner rat no problem i am offering him the same but wont feed the only time he has fed was when a friend assist fed him but he wont even take it this way now they stay at the cold end of the tank all the time and never at the hot end and the female will only take her food when really warm i have been told by people on this forum that your not supposed to house them together but i love them soo much and cant afford another house for one of them and dont want to get rid of any of them someone please help
i will answer any questions you may ask

If you don't have the money for a nice set-up why don't you just go get a rubbermaid for like 5 bucks. Hell, if it's not eating use the money your would spend on found a get one.

I would also suggest you get a rubbermaid container. You can get one for $5 at Wal-Mart, Target, Kmart, etc., along with a $15 human heating pad. Drill some holes around the top of the sides of the container, secure the lid with bungee cords, set it on top of the heat pad (usually on low or medium) and you have a great setup for one of your critters until you can get something else that you like better later. I have all of my BP's in rubbermaids/sterilites. They always eat/shed better in those than in an aquarium setup.
Good luck!
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Randy
www.ball-pythons.net

That doesn't have a problem keeping multiple balls in a single enclosure. I've been keeping balls together for years and have never had a sick ball. The key is first to quarantine any new animals before introducing them to your other balls and to also make sure they are strong feeders before you introduce them. Once these two things are met I've yet to have them give me any troubles. Until you get your balls feeding regularly I would set one up in a rubbermaid (or both of them.) Oftentimes, picky feeders are more willing when they are in something that they can't see out of. Just my $.02 (although many won't like my $.02), LOL. Good luck, I'm sure they'll come around for you, Scott.
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