Reptile & Amphibian Forums

???

NO NO NO NO

That's what I thought. I met this lady and she has a couple of them together. Two to be exact. She want's to get another. I told her that I thought that it was not a good idea but she told me that the guy that she got them from (whome I know and has been keeping snakes for years.) does it and that he keeps them in groups too. I thought this a little strange. I will see if I can talk her out of it. I like this guy but I have seen him mix snakes. In one cage I saw a ball python, bci and a jcp! I couldn't believe my eyes! Thanks for the info. I will tell her not to do it.

Kings just have this huge tendency to eat each other. If they're well fed, they might not, but it's a giant risk. The BCI, BP, and JCP thing isn't a hot idea because they probably weren't quarantined.
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"The serpent crams itself with animal life that is often warm and vibrant, to prolong an existence in which we detect no joy and no emotion. It reveals the depth to which evolution can sink when it takes the downward path and strips animals to the irreducible minimum able to perpetuate a predatory life in its naked horror."
Alexander Skutch

though not advisible some "lampropeltis" can be housed together, i house my prarie kings together year around never a problem they are fed seperate of course, and i house some getula ssp. together for periods of time mainly spring IMHO as long as they are well fed they can be housed together without probs for short durations,course should they be or get hungry?well ya'know,,,,,
thomas

I've housed adult FL Kings together without any problems, but the babies have eaten each other.

?

I have a friend that keeps all his baby cal kings together and never had one eat or attempt to eat its sibling. He breeds mice, and keeps those snakes very well fed. It can be be done, but I don't think it's worth the risk.

There may a few exceptions but in general, no!!! We have a pair of w/c Fl kings & my brother in law (Ed) has one of the babies from 2 years ago along with a Cal. King about the same size.
Ed's story...he came home from work early one day to find his Cal King wrapped around his Fl King. He ran water over them & got them apart & QUICKLY put them in their own tanks from then on. Lucky he came home early.
Our story...Our Kings had 8 babies last year. Ed said the breeder he knows kept his together & didn't have any problems. We have a 5 foot long tank so I figured "ok"...I went to offer them their first meal one day & couldn't find 3 of the little buggers. I moved the water bowl & there were 2 of the hatchlings wrapped in a ball so tight I couldn't tell head from tail. I remembered what Ed had said & ran them under water. Both came out fine. The funny part was the 3rd baby was sitting there coiled looking at the ball of 2 snakes looking like it would have eaten the winner after it ate the loser. Seperate tupperware after that.
Lastly, our "exception" to the rule...our adults won't live seperately. He got out one night & we found him laying on top of her tank (we had seperated them for breeding) looking like a lost puppy. She also got out of their huge tank one day after the door wasn't closed properly & I found her (about 8 hours after the door had been left open) laying in front of the tank looking at him. I put her back in & she promptly received a love bite from the boy (not during mating season).
They live happily together now & we have no problems as long as they are together.
Like I said, those 2 are odd.
Hope it helps.
Terri