Quick question

[Kavyrie]

Okay, to start things off I am getting a mojave bp tomorrow, a little male that is about 74 grams. I have a 40g breeder tank which he will be going into, which is going to have plenty of hides and such. The thing is that I plan on getting a lesser female hopefully sometime in the near future, and would like to house her with my mojave when I get her.

My question is what would be the best way to introduce them so I can house them together without stressing either of them out a whole lot. I'm trying to get them both as close to the same size as possible. Should I house them separately for a while (how long) and introduce them little by little until they are comfortable around each other, or would I be able to just put her in with the mojave when I get her because the tank is so large? Yes I do plan on breeding them together when they are old and big enough, hoping to maybe get some Lucy's out of them in the future.

[alessia55]

Ball pythons are solitary creatures and do not share territories with other ball pythons. You must only house ONE ball python PER enclosure. Co-habitation of ball pythons can be dangerous and even fatal. The only time 2 ball pythons should ever be in the same enclosure at the same time is if you're attempting to breed a male and female together- which you should only do if you are experienced and both the snakes are ready and healthy to do so. Breeding ball pythons is not for beginners. You should only have the two snakes together during the breeding cycle (and even then they are not housed permanently together).

If you house two ball pythons together, it may appear as if they are "cuddling." To think that snakes "cuddle" is a human projection. Two snakes seen wrapped up together are competing for the same space. Co-habitation can stress one or both of the snake out, leading them to miss meals, get sick, or become overly stressed. Eventually, one ball python may eat the other to resolve the issue. The risk simply isn't worthwhile.

http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p54/deb31/Cannibalism2.jpg

There is no way to let them live together without stress or consequences of some kind.

[Kavyrie]

Thank you very much for the info, I had heard of quite a few people housing multiple bps together, but I wanted to be sure before I did anything I could possibly regret. I would never do something to endanger my snakes, I'll be sure they will both be separate until they are old enough to breed. Thank you again

[Kaetlinv]

Wow... those two were almost the same size... yeesh. Competition indeed. :s Glad I never put Romeo in with Val - for a while I'd hoped they would be the same size but nope. Never got close and I put it completely out of mind for all snakes. Figured they would be better off alone. >.>

[Evolieno]

Yikes- not a fan of that photo. What a sad scenario.

[Rogue628]

That's an extreme case..but it has happened. Aside from this, feeding would be an issue because you'd HAVE to put at least one in another enclosure and some won't eat outside of their own 'home'. Then if you put them back together too soon, one may still be in feed mode and tag and wrap the other, which is what probably happened to the ones in the pic.

Aside from the main issue of them hurting each other, you also run the chance of both being sick or get an infection. And if one gets it, the other one will. Then you'll have two sick animals instead of one. Plus there's the point of not knowing who's pee'd or poo'd. It may be in the cage, but who does it belong to?

In all, never house two together (although there are very few who do well with others) for safety and health reason. Your animals will be much happier by themselves. :)

[Kavyrie]

I never feed my snakes in their tanks, for the simple fact I don't want to risk them accidentally ingesting any substrate. I'm definitely going to keep both of them in their own enclosures, now that I know.