2 snakes in one tank??? GOod BAd??

[Jeromerules]

First off I would just like to say I am the proud owner of another beautiful ball python. I got it free with a 100 gallon tank. She is about 3 years old. That is I was told she is a she. Now I have a male who is approximately the same age. My question is Can I put these two snakes together in the same tank? They are both ball pythons. What if the new one ended up being a male or they are both females by some weird chance. Does it matter what sex they are? I just don't want the woman to eat the man which usually happens in life......... ANyways. ANy response is appreciated.
Thanks

[Princess Erica]

It's generally advised you don't house them together, especially if you're unsure of the sexes. It's impossible to tell a ball's sex just by looking at them, so unless you have them checked by the vet, you never really can be 100% on the sex. Either way, snakes are solitary animals and housing them together can cause unnecessary stress on the snakes. Also, if you find problematic stool, regurgitated meals, etc. you won't know which snake it came from... it's just an all around bad idea.

[Ciddian]

I wish i knew where that old post went...
Basically it was pictures of two snakes that got housed together and one actually ate the other one. Then regurged and died....

Ever since i saw that i would never even think considering it. Plus all of erica's reasons are excellent ones.

Also... are you planning to breed? what will you do when you have eggs? And then will you be able to find good homes and all of that stuff. :) Just things i would think about.

Congrats on the snake btw! Awesome deal ^^

[peterm15]

i have another reason why you shouldnt house together.

balls are problematic eaters to begin with... and in my experence eat only when they feel like it.. so adding another snake will just stress them out and cause them to come off feeding more often..

just a thought

[Jay_J]

I house my females together ina 150 gallon square and I never have had a problem. I house my males in seperate tanks to ensure they don't mess with eachother. All my females are the same age and eat like monsters with problems so it depends on your individual snakes my girls grew up together. I took one away for 6 months last year and the others stopped eating. So what does that say?

[Jeromerules]

Well I have put them together and they both just go to a little hide I have set up in the tank. It's actually really cute they just cuddle in there. Doesn't seem to be any problems. We'll see

[monty bl python]

i house my two females to gather although they are from the same cluch (plan on seperating when larger)
i wouldn t put two that havent been togather all their life togather though, because you never know how thy will react

[Jeromerules]

All they do is cuddle. They haven't reacted badly at all. They go to the hide and cuddle in there and at night they go off and explore. They seem to be fine. Time will only tell.

[Princess Erica]

^^ Take that attitude, and once something DOES happen, it's too late. On another forum I go to, a guy just realized that housing 2 balls together is bad because one ball ate the other one. Just because it "hasn't happened yet" doesn't mean something is NEVER going to happen... why even take the chance??

You can do whatever you want, ultimately. But if it was me, I'd get 2 Rubbermaids, house them separately and use the 100 gallon tank for something that would appreciate all that room.

[reptiles4me]

I had to house two (females) together briefly and I have to say I wouldn't recommend it. My one "female" ended up getting my other female pregnant. And these were snakes that had been sexed by a vet. The problem was that in order to lay eggs it takes a lot of calories so for someone who wants to breed, you beef up the female beforehand. Because breeding was never my intention, I hadn't beefed up the female and by the time she laid the 6th egg, she was weak and crazy thin. I had to remove the eggs, which stressed her out and caused her to refuse food for 6 months. All the expense to get her well would have been much better spent on a new tank instead of housing them together.

[Jeromerules]

The thing is everybody I want my snakes to breed so I am not afraid of them Porkin' I think I'll seperate them soon though in a few days. :thumbsup: