Reptile & Amphibian Forums

First of all i know not to house multiple snakes together and i am against it (except for breeding). But at another forum i visit (not able to say the name, e-mail me if you want it) people are saying how snakes can do just as good/better than by keeping them singly. And because i am 13 people won't believe some of the stuff i say. For example someone at another forum (not able to say the name, e-mail me if you want it) said "i paired most of them" and "theres 4 redtails in my big cage". Can you give me some reasons not to house multiple snakes together?
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0.1 "Tremper" looking Albino Leopard gecko (Lex)
0.0.1 normal ball python (felix)
1.1 Feral cats that we adopted (Fuzzy, and Bear)

ideally...snakes are best housed seperately...in my experience however, housing boas together has never really been a problem...save for the feeding aspects; feeding animals in the same cage is not fun and can lead to trouble....if you feed them in seperate "bins" and them place them back into the cage it can work usually...though I once watched a snake do that after feed "yawn" and provoke a fight.
I house the majority of my boas individually but I still do have a few younger boas here and there housed in groups ....it usually takes longer to feed those groups and is typically a temporary situation....if I feed 2 in the same cage I check on them constantly while I feed the other snakes in the room to make sure that they both finish their meals together or keep the first to finish at bay w/a hook until the other is done...but sometimes this can take a while, and w/bigger animals can be a full time job as older animals seem a bit more persistant to check out the kill on the other end of the cage....so ideally for the sake of feeding I like mine housed individually.
Now if we were discussing Retics or kingsnakes ...multiple snake housing would NOT be a good idea...but boas (bcc/bci) generally seem to get along.
Hope some of this helps.
-dinopolis

It can be harder to keep track of how each snake is doing, especially dropping wise. If someone throws up you might not know who. Cannabalism is a very rare but possible incidence in many kinds of snakes. Snakes can compete over basking and hide areas and quietly stress out until one or all are sick

Most of these problems can be overcome by experienced keepers. Cage design can be a big factor, as is having established and healthy snakes. But it is a definate no no for newbies. Also, you should basically NEVER feed two snakes anywhere close to each other.

I keep many of my sand boas in groups, but they happen to be a species that does very well in group settings, and have to live together for a pretty long time to make sure they've bred.
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Eryx - All the fun of a boa in a convenient pocket size!

To the sand boa owner that houses them together. I had a 1.2 trio of albino het snows housed together for six months. I posted them and had them sold within a week. When I went to check on them there were only two and one of those two remaining was really fat! You may want to reconsider housing them together as well.

Did you post this on the sand boa forum recently? I'm trying to figure out if this is the second or third time I've heard of this. Were they adults or juvies?
The thing about these guys is you really have to have them together for a few months to make sure the female is good and gravid. It's nice that they're less hungry in the winter!
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Eryx - All the fun of a boa in a convenient pocket size!

No, I've never posted this before. They were all about 1.5 years old but the one female that ate the male was always an aggressive feeder.

Wow, that's three times. Interesting. Twice with juveniles and once with adults. Now I have to worry about my poor tiny males being eaten when all they wanted to do was breed.
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Eryx - All the fun of a boa in a convenient pocket size!

I also keep several boas and a few bloods and balls togather with others of their own species. Just seperate them at feeding time and you shouldn't have any problems. I think it also depends on the size of the cages. I use 6' x 3' cages for my adult boas, each cage then usually has 2 males or 2 females.
I've had more problems housing lizards togather then with any of my snakes. And like was said already, snakes like kings and milks would be better off alone.

Housing snakes together is more for the convenience of the keeper than anything the snakes profit from. A number of species of snakes will cannabalise cagemates, so that is a major reason to avoid it. Another possible pitfall is pair breeding too early, before they're really mature enough for it...this can be especially harmful to females that can have health complications or even die from being bound up from eggs or unfertilized ova (for live bearers). Then there are the obvious reasons in that it is harder to keep records (sheds, defecation, regurges, etc.). If one snake is ill, often it will have spread to all cagemates before it's discovered...the same goes for parasite infestations. While I do currently house some juveniles boas together, and have housed same sex adult boas together in the past, I typically prefer housing my snakes individually unless breeding them. IMO it's better for the snakes and easier for the keeper in regards to record keeping. If nothing else, it's better to err on the side of caution.

Raven