Reptile & Amphibian Forums

first off, hey guys. i'm new here.

second, a question:

i have two ball pythons. achilles, my oldest, i've had almost two years now; although he's almost three years old. the newest addition to my very small snake family, named "my precious", is less than a year old; i got her for christmas this year. i've also recently purchased an extremely large vivarium for the sweethearts. it's probably equivalent to a 125-150 gallon aquarium. achilles is almost 45 inches, and my little girl is just over 20.

my question is: how soon can i house them together? or more specifically, how big should she be before i put them together?

i've looked everywhere for information, but when it comes to this, most information i find is more vague than i want it to be. haha.

thanks ahead of time.

Most people on this forum will tell you not to house two balls together. They are solitary animals and do not want or need companions. Housing two together can create stress which can lead to eating disorders, among other things. If one get sick, they both will get sick, you'll have double the vet bills, etc.

With that being said, there are those of us who do have two housed together and they are doing really good. Two of mine have been housed together since they were hatchlings. I wouldn't try it with older pythons tho, but I know it's done and worked out well. Also, I am planning on separating them when they reach breeding size.

If you do decide to house them together, make sure they don't have to compete for any hot or cold spots make sure you have multiple hot and cold sided hides, and make sure you feed them separately.

Hope this helps.
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Tosha

3.7.0 Ball Python (Harry and Fluffy and currently un-named)
0.1.0 Siberian Husky (Kita)
0.2.0 Feline (Pippen and Pandora)
0.0.1 Dessert Tortoise (Pope)
7.9.5 Fish (1,2,3,4...)
0.0.1 Frog rescued from pool skimmer
0.0.2 Lizards rescued from pool skimmer

I would say not to keep them together as it can cause much uneeded stress for the snakes. Also remember that you should keep them seperate from each other as a health precaution 3-6 mnths.

My two males have always been housed together including sharing the same hide. I feed them separately; otherwise, they do fine together.
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www.JackieandAlan.com