Need advice!!! Keeping snakes together...

[SnowFoxx]

I just bought a new BP and would like to keep him with my yearling in my big Vision tank. They (the snakes) are the same size and both of unknown gender. I will be taking them for a checkup a the vet's before introducing them. My plan is to clean out the whole tabk very well and scrub down the furniture to get rid of any scent, then put both snakes into opposite ends of the tank at the same time and let them work things out (while I watch them, of course)

Is this a good plan? If not, what should I do? Are there any reasons why keeping them trogether wouldn't be a good idea (I'd like to have them together if at all possible)

I posted this on the forums at another popular reptile site and no one answered...no pictures of some pretty morph here, just someone trying to do the best for her normals - no one's interested in that there, I guess.

Please help me out...thanks.


- Victoria

[Pixie]

Hi Victoria,

Keeping balls together is fine but you should take two things in consideration before putting them together.

First, a new snake boa or python should be quarantined for 6 months to avoid contaminating your first with a disease that could be deadly, BID. There are other diseases and parasites that could be spread but the first I mentionned is deadly and can take months before "showing up".

Second, it's a good idea to have them sexed before introducing them together. A couple or two females will usually get along fine but you may have some problems keeping two males together in the same enclosure. Get your vet to sex them and find out, you can always try to put the two together if they're two males but be sure to keep a good eye on them and foresee to get a second enclosure if they don't get along.

When and where did you get your first ball? And the second? Shop or breeder or other?

I would suggest you do the quarantine, always better to play it safe than to lose both snakes... Good luck and keep us informed on how they are doing.

Pixie

[Jeff_Favelle]

I wouldn't keep them together for a million reasons. Just you wait and watch this thread unfold. 99% of the people here will hopefully tell you to not house your snakes together.

[Bryan Self]

It is not recomended to keep multilpe snakes in an encloser. Now having said that. Have most of done it before for one reason or another? Most likely yes.

[SnowFoxx]

I got my first one from Petco a year ago after having a *very* bad experience with a "responsible" breeder. That snake died soon after I got it, so I bought a new one right away. Now I know better than to buy from a pet shop, but...I used to work at this particular Petco as their small animal expert, and I know they take *very* good care of all of their animals, so when I saw a pastel in the tank on Saturday, I didn't even think twice (they take good care of their animals, but apparently don't recognize a morph when they see it!)

The reason I wanted to keep these two guys together is mostly because of my living situation...I'm moving to a new apartment soon and figured that my new roommate would be more amenable to both of them being contained in the same tank, since she's a little bit afraid of snakes. I'd heard that keeping BPs together was fine, but so many people have told me otherwise in since I started posting my dilemma that I've decided to0 keep them apart, roommate be damned. The health and comfort of my snakes is what's most important to me. I bought a little plastic drawer from Wal-Mart, and after drilling a few holes I think it will work as well as any rack system, and I think it's small enough to appease my roommate, while still giving the little guy room to stretch (it has more floor space than the 10 gallon aquarium he's in now, just not a high ceiling) It'll do for now, anyway, until I can have my custom herp-house built (hopefully next summer)

Thanks for your advice on this. I have a question about the box, though...how many air holes should I put in it? And what about lighting? I've heard of people who keep all their animals in racks, but I don't understand how they get enough light. Heating isn't a problem, I have that worked out.

- Victoria

[Big Mike]

Balls don't need additional lighting, as they are nocturnal. As long as they have some way of knowing when day & night are they should be fine.

I agree with your decision to keep them apart. It could be a source of stress for them to be kept together.

[derek]

drill alot of holes but just make sure the bp can't squeze out of em'

[Linds]

Glad you made the choice to house your balls separately :) Not only can the living conditions have impact on the snakes, but it can be very hard to monitor each snake individually if their are more than one in the enclosure, for instance if their is a regurgitation you woudln't know who it came from, and if one gets sick they all do........

Here's how I drill most of my rubbermaids...

<center><img src="http://www.ssnakess.com/photopost/data/500/22holes.jpg"></center>

Hope this helped :)