keeping Savus

[Nicki]

Can you keep two Savus together? I've got a gorgeous male, and am wondering if I find a great female, can I put them together?

I'm used to caring for kings and milks, which tend towards cannibalism... are pythons like this too?

BTW, the enclosure is 3'x1'.

Thanks!
Nicki
:D

[Liasis]

Hi!

Yes, you can keep liasis savensis together, my pair lives also in 1enclosure and it works very good. The cage should be some higher then cages for lampropeltis, about 80cm because liasis savuensis likes to climb, and it is a great show when you watch them :). When you feed them, please set them several, to prevent a fight about which savu gets the mouse. Also take care of the humidity! It should be about 80/90%, otherwice they can dye in a short time!
so, uch fun with them, those are great snakes :)

regards,
Julian

[Nicki]

Thanks so much for taking the time to reply!

I love my Savu, I think he's really beautiful, and I want to keep him happy and alive for a good long time!!!

Nicole

[Invictus]

Sorry, but you should never house 2 snakes together unless they are breeding. Julian, you must be new to this hobby. Giving them "several" mice is not the solution, nor is housing them together! And by the way Julian, by giving them "several" mice, does this mean you feed your snakes live mice? If so, you have a LOT to learn about snake care my friend, because you just hit the top 2 NO-NO's of snakekeeping.

- Snakes are solitary creatures, and housing them together DOES cause stress, whether they show it immediately or not.
- The presence of another snake represents competition for food, and this leads to stress during feeding time.
- A male and a female housed together could breed prematurely, and this can serely harm or kill the female.
- If one of them gets sick, you don't have one vet bill to pay, you have TWO vet bills to pay.

DO NOT house your snakes together. If you can't afford a separate home for them, you can't afford to have 2 snakes.

[Beardonicus]

Ditto what Ken said.....not to mention the dangers of feeding 2 snakes in the same enclosure.

[Liasis]

hi invicticus,

breeding savus isn't that easy, if you want to do that you HAVE to keep them several.
That they live in more stress than in 2enclosures is correct, no way. But if you give them some wood where they can hide on their own, it works well. Nearly every keeper that i know keeps a part of its snakes together, so it can't be that wrong i think.
But there are some reasons, giving by nature of some species, why you never should keep them together, bothrochilus boa for example, they are sometimes cannibalism.

by the way, i do this hobby since 2 years, also i bred cornsnakes last year. 2 years isn't that much, i know, but some experience i could catch in this time.
And i would like to get explained why i shouldn't feed living mice? when you say the nature of a snake is to live alone; isn't the nature of a snake to strike living mice?(or what ever aimal...)

greetings,

Julian

P.s.:please excuse my very bad english, i can't do it better :-/

[Invictus]

The reason why you don't give live mice is very simple - live mice can bite, scratch, and maim your snake. Don't think that it can't happen either - we have seen photos on this very board of blood pythons and ball pythons absolutely MANGLED by mice... so it's simple.... a snake will still strike dead prey - it doesn't know any better. But at least dead prey can't fight back.

As for housing the snakes together, you're just plain wrong. Just because other people do it doesn't mean it's right. And putting multiple mice in with 2 snakes is just plain crazy - they can still end up going for the same mouse, and then you have a MAJOR problem on your hands.

[gonesnakee]

I'll agree with Invictus on his points & those that 2nded them. I'll also point out that just because certain species aren't apt to be cannilbalistic doesn't mean they won't be. I know of instances where Jungle Carpet Pthyons have killed/eaten one another after breeding as well as things such as Olive Pythons & yes folks even the docile Cornsnake can become a cannibal quite easily. Feeding specimens together at the same time in the same enclosure only escalates the chances of such occurrences. I won't even get into the live prey aspects (frowns) Mark
P.S. also any python breeder knows that it is required to house a female in with 2 males sometimes for breeding purposes. The males only together to combat & then one removed after & only under supervison. This only takes 10-20 minutes & other than that the "winning" male is only left with the female to breed, not to live with. :rolleyes:

[Beardonicus]

Ditto what Ken said again.

[Nicki]

I agree with all that's been said about feeding. I have always only fed frozen/thawed, and I also feed each snake not only alone, but in a separate container than its home, although recently I've heard a lot of people do feed in the enclosure.

I've only worked with colubrids, so I just wasn't sure if pythons were just the same in whether they need separate enclosures or not. That was my question. It's not a case of not being able to afford more enclosures, but just a curiosity question as to whether or not it should be done.

Thanks for all your responses.
Nicki

[nita]

I used to keep my BP's together and had not had any problem other than when one got an RI I didnt' quaranteen her soon enough and one of my others got it as well. Being stressed well, if they are eating every week and shedding well and have no problems when they come out I figure they werent' stressed over being together. Mind you there is no shortage of food in my home either wich I personally think is the main reason they are solitary in nature. When I took them to the show they were in one cage and no matter what they all stayed together, they really dont' seem to mind being together imho. I do keep mine separate though because I prefer the ease of a racking system for BP's and the ability to maintain proper husbandry in a rubbermaid rack is very easy, not to mention they are space savers too. For the Bloods I will be using stacking enclosures but again only 1 snake per enclosure because i couldnt' image the size of cage needed to house two of them together. Personally I never feed in their living enclosure I have a separate feeding box for them and they know dinner is coming when they go in there.