Housing 2 Female Boas

[chris124578]

I'm planning on getting 2 baby columbian red tail boas at the next show...
i already have a 7'l,2.5'd,2'h wood tank i made not being used...
i was wondering if that was big enough to house them together when they are full size??
also, what would be a good size to house a male in at full size??
thanks...
matt

[Derrick]

Well you're going to be told to house them seperatly. Im no expert but anytime anyone askes this question thats the answer they get

also that cage seems a little spacious for any of them. just my un-expert opinion

[maiden_canada]

house them seperatly :P

[Black Mamba]

Alot of people on here have different opinions on whether you should house snakes seperatly or together. Lot's of people house Boas together and have absolutely no problems but you may want to consider some of the options of housing them together. You can't tell who defecates, and when one get's sick the other, most likely will get sick as well. I am planning on housing my two female CRT Boas together, because I have done so with other Boas and never had any problems. It's your choice... but alot of people will tell you to house them seperate.

[sapphire_moon]

FEED FROZEN/THAWED, house seperatly, put a divider in and that should be big enough for a while.

if you house together.......

-you can't tell who defacates
-if one gets sick, they both get sick, so twice the vet bills.
-stress, no matter how "comfy" they look together, and no matter if they curl up together. They are only trying to conserve body heat.
---they could end up fighting. no matter how they aren't supposed to, they could hurt each other......



---aren't you the same person that is feeding his corn snakes live RATS?

[BoidKeeper]

In my opinion, which I'm basing on things I've read and things that I know large breeders do, I feel that snakes should never be housed together. Here are some points that I keep in mind and reasons why I do not house snakes together.
1. The presence of another animal in their space represents competition, competition leads to stress.
2. Stress leads to loss of appetite and or disease.
3. If one sick gets sick they can both get sick.
4. How do you know who is defecating and who is not?
5. Snakes are not social animals and although captivity its self is not natural, forcing two animals to live together is even more unnatural.
Cheers,
Trevor

[Invictus]

Originally posted by sapphire_moon
[B]-stress, no matter how "comfy" they look together, and no matter if they curl up together. They are only trying to conserve body heat.

Can you explain to me how a cold blooded animal that doesn't have body heat conserves body heat?

Last I checked, they depend on external heat for their own warmth. They can't conserve body heat, because they don't have any. :D

[FireFoz]

I agree it IS better to keep them seperated, but if you dont have a lot of space at your house I don't think the arguments given to house them seperately are more worth than the space you have. You would need twice as much space if you house each snake individually....I agree it's better, but its not always a possible sollution.

I want to do it though, when I move out :)

[BoidKeeper]

I agree it's better, but its not always a possible sollution.
The always possible solution as you put it, is to not get a second snake if you don't have a second cage.
Trevor

[JDouglas]

Can you explain to me how a cold blooded animal that doesn't have body heat conserves body heat?

Boas thermoregulate by going back and forth from warm to cold. While on the cool side boas will "conserve" their heat by coiling up tighter and exposing less surface area. In the Boaphile videos he explains that gravid female boas do this. The Boaphile calls this the heat conservation position.

[sapphire_moon]

I don't mean conserve body heat........I mean like...trying to keep warmer, I'm not sure how to explain it...if one is warm...then the other one might curl up around it.

Plus if you don't have the space for another cage (the space for another snake) then DON'T get a second snake!

[Zoe]

While I do think it's better to keep them seperately, I don't really see a huge problem with keeping 2 females together, if there is enough space, good heat gradient, they are fed seperately, and are well established before living together.

Zoe