Reptile & Amphibian Forums

i was just wondering everyones thoughts on putting two in the same cage. i will be keeping a friends while he goes to college. his snake is a lot smaller than mine but it is a 50 gal aquarium. they are somewhat familiat with each other. any ideas?
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Mom of four turtles and a ball python

Its a bad idea.

There is stress involved, possibly sharing diseases, and the inability for you to monitor their health. How will you know who regurgitated due to the stress if they're in the same cage??

Also, its well documented that snakes have no problems eating each other. Its just a bad idea all around.

If you're short on space and don't think the little guy needs 50 gallons, get something smaller for him, or swap cages even, but make sure to disinfect both cages well.

I don't know that it is that bad of an idea. It's not ideal but it's not unheard of. Take a look at any pet store (I know they are not as concerned with the well being of the snake as we are but they house multiples with few problems). Has anyone ever heard of a ball python eating another ball python of any size? Two males being housed together can cause some aggressive behavior to show dominance but I don't think it ever goes that far. I don't think 2 females together would be a problem other then spreading disease. I have seen many comfortably housed together without any problems. In fact I think they may enjoy it because they get that closed in feeling when coiled up to another. I think they prefer the feeling of closeness over just a hide box that doesn't press against them. Hopefully you have healthy snakes that are disease and parasite free to begin with. If someone is a collector of many or a breeder, they quarantine before exposing a new snake to the group. I don't think regurgitation is likely unless you have a sick animal already or if you feed them something too big or rotten. Common sense wil prevent that. I've never had a ball regurg. If you feed them outside of there normal living area, then you will be able to monitor there feeding habits and if you feed them on an alternating schedule, you'd be able to tell which one regurged as well. You could also put a divider in the tank to keep them seperate but you would need to have heat on both sides as well as room for them to escape the heat if desired. just my opinion.

>>Its a bad idea.
>>
>>There is stress involved, possibly sharing diseases, and the inability for you to monitor their health. How will you know who regurgitated due to the stress if they're in the same cage??
>>
>>Also, its well documented that snakes have no problems eating each other. Its just a bad idea all around.
>>
>>If you're short on space and don't think the little guy needs 50 gallons, get something smaller for him, or swap cages even, but make sure to disinfect both cages well.

There's a lot of IFS in that post...

I think you're trying to say... its a bad idea, but you can do it anyway. Why would you want to do that? Is there anyone here who really wants to emulate the housing conditions in the average petstore???

Come on people, use your heads. Two snakes in the same cage is a bad idea.

Yes, I'm pretty sure two ball pythons have eaten each other sometime, somewhere. I know of at least 2 instances where a snake other than a ball has eaten a ball.

I'd tell you to use your head but it doesn't seem to be doing you any good, so lop it off.

>>There's a lot of IFS in that post...
>>
>>I think you're trying to say... its a bad idea, but you can do it anyway. Why would you want to do that? Is there anyone here who really wants to emulate the housing conditions in the average petstore???
>>
>>Come on people, use your heads. Two snakes in the same cage is a bad idea.
>>
>>Yes, I'm pretty sure two ball pythons have eaten each other sometime, somewhere. I know of at least 2 instances where a snake other than a ball has eaten a ball.

Of all the bp legends, this one will probably never go away.

Why would it be a bad idea? The difference in size is the only REAL reason to be wary, if you ask me!

if you want to be an amateur, and have snakes that don't thrive, then go ahead and keep stuff together. any good keeper knows that they do best when kept apart, and jumbling snakes together for lack of space is only one aspect of neglect that leads to high stress, poor health, and ultimately one or both snakes will pay the price.
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robyn@proexotics.com

Pro Exotics Reptiles

well so far they are doing fine. i dont know if mine thinks the smaller one is its baby or if its a courting thing or what seeing as i dont know if mine is a male or female. im thinking female but anyway. they dont take care of their babies once the eggs are hatched right? but almost every morning i look in on them and mine is coiled up with the little one coiled up in the middle. i have a picture of them resting on each other and i have seen no agression.
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Mom of four turtles and a ball python

That is exactly what I would expect. What SOME self-proclaimed Pro's don't understand is that not EVERYONE on this forum is trying to breed thousands of snakes from a single pair! Ideal conditions for making snakes so fat they produce a dozen eggs a year is not EVERYONES goal. Just peaceful cohabitaion!

>>well so far they are doing fine. i dont know if mine thinks the smaller one is its baby or if its a courting thing or what seeing as i dont know if mine is a male or female. im thinking female but anyway. they dont take care of their babies once the eggs are hatched right? but almost every morning i look in on them and mine is coiled up with the little one coiled up in the middle. i have a picture of them resting on each other and i have seen no agression.
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>>Mom of four turtles and a ball python

hey anybody know if a resperatory infection is contageous to other snakes? someone asked and i said id try to find out.
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Mom of four turtles and a ball python