3 BP'S in 1 tank?

[Jockdeeznutz]

i went to a reptile show today and got 2 adult BP
s (male and female). I also have a 3 month old BP. Right now their all in a 20 gallon tank but im going to buy a 30-40G tank tommorow. Is it a good idea to put the small BP with the 2 adults or seperate the small one from the Adults? i want the adults to breed in the future also. I cant believe the Male Adult ate a gerbil today. I fed him a live gerbil and he ate it the first day i got him. I thought it would take some time before he eats but guess not. I dont feed gerbis ever but i had one laying around =0. so what do you guys think about all 3 Bps in 1 tank?

Thanks

[CDN-Cresties]

I would say thats a bad idea and I would sepearte all 3 until you are ready to breed. I have also read that its a pain in the neck to get BP's off of gerbils and on to rats.

[mykee]

Please on everything that is holy, DO SOME RESEARCH!!!

[Jockdeeznutz]

lol i did some research but just wanted to know from other people

[Derrick]

lol If you did any sort of research they wouldnt be together. let us know where you read it was ok to hose multiple snakes of different sizes in the same enclosure?

[silent_truth]

you say you did research, but if you had, you would know that snakes are solitary creatures and they should not be kept in the same enclosure on a permanent basis. This is one of the most basic rules of snake keeping. I'm feeling like I should address all the newbie questions tonight, so I'll give this one a shot as well.


1) Separate all of your snakes. Use rubbermaids, tanks, whatever. Make sure they are housed separately.

2) Ensure that the species' heat and humidity requirements are met and that all animals are on a suitable substrate (ie. newspaper is best, especially for new snakes)

3) Don't even think about breeding animals until you have the basics down. It's not like putting two rabbits of different sexes together and letting them mate. (sorry to any rabbit enthusiasts for this crude reference)

4) Since you obviously have internet access, go on google and type in "ball python caresheets" and read all that you can find. Once you've done this, then come back to this forum and ask a specific question if you should have any.

People here are always willing to help, but first you have to display a willingness to help yourself and your new pets.

Wishing you success,
-Adam

[Jockdeeznutz]

thanks for the info..but ya i have more than 10+ saved sites for BP care sheets. and yes, i always use google and read for hours about info on BP's. i just wanted to know your opinions. I read that

"After a 2-3 month quarantine, two or more Ball Pythons of similar size can be house together in a big cage. If they happen to stop feeding, I would suggest separating them to individual cages, and you'll want to separate them at feeding time"

Well i guess for now il just keep them seperated til im more experienced.

[ChokeOnSmoke]

I dont know where you got the quote but its wrong. Whats more is you aren't even following it. Listen to the advice that has already been given. I would unbookmark the pages you have bookmarked and find some new ones.

[arkuden]

ok just to justify a few things here since there seems to be a lot of unneeded hostility on these boards as of recently. Before i got my BP i did as much reseach as i could. It wasnt enough. Ive had no bad experiences but you can expect to go into a field knowing everything that you need to know. researching things as a beginner are totally different from doing it as a seasoned herper. For example as someone with experience doing research you have a better idea of what to research deeper other levels. There are lots of great beginner sites out there that give a great starting knowledge for beginners in the herp field. It helped me learn what i needed to get started confidently. I discovered this site a few months after i got my BP and learned more things that go into specifics on what i had previously learned. Yet you still scold him for things that may not be in his control. Why is it so hard to politely answer the question and be glad that hes still learning and not thinking that he learned everything possible. Somethings i will agree are best if they are researched deeper before making the purchase but thats not in our control and after getting properly informed he can get on with having the wonderfull experience of keeping snakes.


To answer the original question:

First off i would try to not feed live if possible as there are many things that can go wrong and are very hard to keep safe. Rats are probably about the best for BP's ive discovered from this site.

keeping more than one BP or possibly any snake in one tank can cause many problems including snakes being protective of each other causing striking, and you can also encounter feeding problems. Something good to avoid with BP's the baby snake should do fine in the 20 gal tank, but im not sure on the best size or setup for adults at the moment. Hope you get some proper help here. Dont let other discourage you from having a great experience. :)

[silent_truth]

Arkuden:

it's not being rude or harsh to make sure the proper information is received in a clear and straight-forward fashion. I cannot speak on the behalf of others, but I find it's better not to "sugarcoat" things to avoid possibly offending a sensitive person. The goal is to get as much relevant information across to the person in the most concise way. Everyone wants a herper to have a great experience with their reptiles, but it starts by having all of the correct information.

[Ptindy]

Double post, sorry.

[Ptindy]

Well Jockdeeznutts, I'm not going to bash even though I feel that you haven't done any research at all. Bookmarking sites doesn't help much, it's kinda like buying a text book and not reading it. You should go out and read MORE caresheets because if you read more then you would have realized that the guy who said you can house snakes of similar size together maybe does that with his and has success, but doesn't mean you can with yours. By all means you can try, and feed them separatly, and if it works, well awesome. Every herper has their own techniques and as long as the snake stays healthy I don't care how yo udo it. Just make sure there are TWO of everything. Two adults will definately not fit together in a 40 gallon. If you want 40 gallons go buy two underbed sweater boxes from wal-mart. Big flat long tubs that are very shallow and throw each of them in one of those. I think they would do way better in one of those by themselves personally. If you want to keep them both in a tank I suggest you get something a lotbigger! Personally I wouldn't house my BP's together but do whatever works for you. Also, feeding live gerbils is a bad idea unless you have a surplus of gerbils and they are cheap. A BP will get hooked on gerbils, nevermind live gerbils. Just read a bit more before you ask any more questions or you will get more posts like the previous. I'm very tired so I didn't feel like bashing, just helping.

Mike

[BoidKeeper]

If one gets sick they all get sick.
Trevor

[Jockdeeznutz]

Thanks all for the info. There's no need to be hostile like arkuden(thanks) said. For the feeding gerbils, I dont plan on doing it again, it was just a one time thing.

Ptindy- Theres never need for any bashing especially if no one offended you. There's no need to bash someone who has questions. All those sites i bookmarked. Not only did i bookmark them, I actually read every single one over and over. I've probably read almost every caresheet out there and even printed most out. Yeah, i agree everyone has their own technique. So far, my snakes eat every time i tried feeding them, have good weight, no mites, and are active. Whatever im doing must be right because their heathly. Thanks for the info tho. Im still LEARNING.

[arkuden]

im glad you got the info you need bud. Good luck with your BP's Im not sure if you have mentioned whther or not this is your first time having snakes but its always good to start small and build that knowledge you also may get a little burned out from all the cleaning and feeding things you need to do. But if you feel you got the situation under control then congrats!

BTW: i wasnt referring to this thread specificly as almost every board i visit i see a thread that has a good deal of flaming in it. I recall one in the general forum that had several people just posting owned after he was berated. I agree that he should not be in this field but i dont think the right way of telling him this was accomplished. I just think that some of us need to be aware that we wouldnt enjoy getting flamed anymore than anyone else so if someone does need to be corrected it can be done in a polite manner.

[Artemis]

YOU got MORE BPs??????

wow.


thats all I can say


Mykees original answer says it all.

[marisa]

Keeping snakes together is a cheap crappy way of practicing proper husbandry if you ask me.

Snakes are SOLITARY creatures!
Snakes CAN pass illness to each other!
Snakes DO regurgatate once in a blue moon, with your methods, you'll never know who it was.

You are still learning, that's good. But learn this lesson fast, and keep snakes the RIGHT way which is in individual enclosures, with individual heating elements, individual heat controlling devices and so on. Individual.

This post is not, and not meant to be "hostile" Its simple some facts that I hope you realize and take action on.

Marisa

[kjay]

he only asked a question, chill out, keep answering the way some of you do and its a good way to get people to stay away from this site as well as a hobby that is already unduely frowned upon. It seems there a couple people who always pop up with a coarse way to get there point across, to me the only thing your getting across is you have a need to enhance the fact that you know more than others and toot your own horn.
granted thats only a few people without the positive people i would know nothing even though i read all the books caresheets what ever i could, it was the kind courteous people that helped the most

I got into this reptile thing to teach my 4 year old nephew how to respect creatures and i read many of the post that he knows the answers to just to continue his knowledge, i read him some of the replies and a 4 year old stated "some of those people arent very nice".

ITS ALL ABOUT CHARMA PEOPLE.
and thaks to all who have always helped my nephew nd myself

[marisa]

How is telling him that housing snakes together (when HE himself has now said he will continue) tooting someones own horn? lol

Keeping snakes together is Wrong. If I look like I am tooting my own horn because I say so, then so be it.

Marisa

[kjay]

marisa dont be so persumptious that you were being label as the horn tooter, or the person you were refering to, it was the way info was being presented, i have seen your post many times and never once have i seen a rude or arrogant post by you , you always been helpful to others

[paulsreef]

People get sensitve when they hear how incorrectly others are caring for their reptiles. When you are passionate about a reptile, topic or subject and someone tells you how they do it and most of their info is based on myth it can push some buttons. I remember when I got my first iguana in the 60's and the care sheets or books would tell you to feed them iceburg lettuce and ground beef. If I was away from the hobby for 30 years and someone asked me what to feed an iguana; and I said iceburg lettuce and ground beef, it would probably start a fist fight. Paul.

[HeatherRose]

ITS ALL ABOUT CHARMA PEOPLE.
and thaks to all who have always helped my nephew nd myself

'Karma?'

No one knows everything about herps, I was just as clueless when I first got here....the difference though, was that I didn't own any animals that I didn't know how to take care of.

No one's really jumping down anyone's throat here, I've seen worse. I don't know if there's a polite way to let anyone know that what they're doing is detrimental to their snakes health and that they've made several mistakes in buying an animal that they didn't know how to take care of.

:)

[marisa]

Yeah I mean what really IS the poliet way to say someone is wrong? I mean really my post was exactly that minus a bunch of happy face gif images. LOL.

kjay- I was speaking for all messages as I feel no one in this thread at all was too rough. Especially considering the response. But nice to know.

Marisa

[kjay]

your right it wasnt that bad , my concern is somone may not ask the questions needed to keep a snake safe, i just felt bad for the guy, no harm done in the grand picture

karma, yes not charma it was early ok, lol

[Artemis]

kjay honey, im all about my karma, believe me, but you should do a search on his other posts and read away, this one is just the tip of the iceberg for me, and I really dont have anything "nice" left to say to anyone who asks for advice, doesnt take it, and wonders why his snakes arent healthy.

Artemis