Reptile & Amphibian Forums

OK last week I posted about my two problem children my little het clown babies that were well for lack of a better term "biters". I tried the T-shirt trick and within a couple of days the male had stopped biting and is now very puppy dogish. The female, tho she hasn't struck at me was still very panicky, would get into the strick position, etc.

Yesterday while I was cleaning out her tub, I stuck her in with the male. The phone rang and I chatted with my friend for an hour or so, went back to cleaning out the tub and since she was all curled up nice with the male, I decided to leave her there for a while. Last night at feeding time, I took them both out of the tub without incedent, she didn't seem at all concerned about me picking her up or holding her. I fed them (separtely) but put them both back in the same tub were they spent the night together. This morning I took her out and again, no problems.

I'm wondering if having the other snake around has possibly settled her or comforted her to where she can be handled now???

What do you think, any theories? And should I leave them together for a while or separate them?
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Tosha

8.10.0 Ball Python (Harry and Fluffy and currently un-named)
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

Sorry, I don't have any insight, but would be interested in knowing too since my ball is aggressive, maybe getting him a friend would calm him down too. I thought they all automatically got a long. Do snakes actually "fight"?

Ball Pythons should be housed separately...always.

Some will say communal caging is okay...until they search this forum for a thread posted a few months ago. Three Ball Pythons in a single cage quickly turned into two Ball Pythons in a single cage...and one in a trash can. =(

Play It Safe,
Chris
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My favorite Ball Python morphs: Albino, Piebald, Ivory, Pearl, and Blue-Eyed Leucistic

Tosha,

Glad to hear they're playing nice. =) I'd probably still keep them separated. As the male grows a bit bigger, he may feel a bit amorous. And that's a serious egg-binding issue if she's not up to the challenge. You'd eventually need to separate them to discourage this early breeding, so why not separate them now...before she gets too attached. =)

Good Things,
Chris =)
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My favorite Ball Python morphs: Albino, Piebald, Ivory, Pearl, and Blue-Eyed Leucistic

Yea - I wasn't going to keep them together very long maybe a couple of weeks or so, they are both about 300 grams so I doubt there will be any breeding anytime soon. I just figured if it helped her calm down a little while might be good for her. But then I don't want her to get too attached after seeing the change Fluffy went through while Harry was MIA. Just wanted to see what everyone else thought.
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Tosha

8.10.0 Ball Python (Harry and Fluffy and currently un-named)
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'm not so sure, Tosha. You know these kids today...they're more curious than when we were young. I blame television and rap music. Don't be afraid to talk to them about sex. Remember...the more they know...the more you'll know.

Good Things,
Chris =)
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My favorite Ball Python morphs: Albino, Piebald, Ivory, Pearl, and Blue-Eyed Leucistic

One thing I can say about BPs is that their behavior is as unpredictable as it is predictable. For example, I have a female that from the time she was 100 grams to the time she was 500 grams never left her hide. Since 500 grams, she is almost never in her hide (although the hide is easily large enough for a 1000 gram snake). There have been no changes in her tub over the time she decided not to go in her hide anymore. She just decided that she doesn't need her hide anymore, like giving up a passifier...lol

So sometimes, their behavior just changes in a period of days for no exact reason. Thus a lot of people come up with weird superstitions and theories on how to modify behavior and such...most of it doesn't really work.

Being in with another snake usually has the opposite effect, i.e. more stress, not less. But I guess every animal is a little different, so if they are both happy, leave them in together. It always seems odd to me that everyone agrees that BPs are primarily solitary, but if you put two in a tank together you almost always find them in the same hide "snuggling". Maybe they are not solitary by choice??

Anyway, good luck

I guess I should also say that if they are becoming of breeding age you should not leave them together to long for the reasons mentioned above.