Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have a baby ball pyhton, 22 inches long, and a very good eater. in fact, he eats all the time. he could be shedding, it doesn't matter, he always has an appetite. i have been feeding him about every 3-4 days. F/T rat pups. i have read on some websites tell me that i should be feeding him as much as he will eat, being that he is still considered a baby, others say every 7-10 days. i don't want to hurt him by feeding him too much or too little, since he always seems to be hungry. Also, i am pretty sure that he is a male, but i have not had him probed. i bought him from a local petshop. can i keep a female with him in the same 30 gallon tank? would that make him a much happier snake? this is a great site. you guys have taught me alot.

I am no expert at all when it comes to feeding as much as the snake will eat because all of my snakes have been hard to feed. But as far as keeping 2 bp s together I did not have very much luck with that. I housed a male black back and a female normal together, seperately they fed fine but once housed together they stressed out and stopped feeding so I had to seperate them to get them feeding again, but I have known people who have sucessfully kept 2 together so I really cant say.

Personally, I would suggest spacing out feedings to every 5-7 days. This is better for the snake and your wallet! It takes about 48 hours for a snake to digest its prey enough to be able to start moving around at night and what-not. So if you are feeding him just after he gets to this point, he'll most likely get fatter (as opposed to getting bigger and more muscular).

I have had mixed results with housing bp's together. I have a pair that thrive together (and my wife SWEARS they cuddle!), but had a pair that did not do well at all with each other. Give it a shot, but pay close attention to signs of stress and disruptions to their feeding response.

I would feed weekly. I can't claim to have witnessed it, but I have seen "powerfed" snakes as adults, and I believe people that swear overfeeding lowers lifespan. If you're not in a hurry to beef the snake up, I don't think the snake is either. There's definitely nothing wrong with feeding *only* weekly.

Are you feeding him large enough prey? My baby BP comfortably eats rat pups, and she is NOT 22 inches by a long-shot. Maybe that's why your snake is "always hungry".

As for housing together, it is always better to steer away from it if possible. Snakes are solitary creatures, period. If given a chance, a snake will live alone. Some snakes *can* live together (garters are the usual example), but it would never make the snake happier.

IMO (no offense), if snakes can be housed separately, they should. And if a person can't, I question why they bought another snake to begin with.

I agree with everyone else: make sure you're feeding appropriatly sized food, and space the feeding out a bit. Also, count yourself lucky to have such a strong eater, lol.

As to the housing by themselves, I've had a lot of people tell me in one breath that it should never be done, and then tell me a day later about the pairs of (non-breeding) snakes they keep together.

It really depends on the personalities and sizes of snakes. Don't keep a 5' BP with an 18" BP, y'know? They have to be similar sizes. Also, if you do pair them up, make sure there's enough space and plenty of hides (more than two) so they don't have to compete.
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-Irish
My Snakes

thank you for your honesty and help, i will not be purchasing a philly for my male. i will keep him alone and feed him every 5 days.

*i will not be purchasing a philly for my male*

cheese steak? for a snake?

mmmmmm now i am hungry

Yea, thanks guys, I have been feeding my bp every other day, but I will feed it 2 times as much every week instead.