BRB's housed together, good, bad, or terrible?

MGJ · 07-24-16, 07:45 AM

I have two young Brazilian Rainbow Boas currently housed separately and would like to hear as many opinions as possible about housing them together. My male is a Hypo about 2 years old an the other (sex undetermined) is under 1 year old so the size difference is significant. I've read in my books that they can be kept together in a large enough enclosure year round with the only potential problem being males fighting during mating season. I had them together for 3 hours but I got nervous and separated them. The little one seemed startled twice by the big one when they met and he was very curious. He's such an aggressive feeder, ready to strike at any movement. The internet scared me as I even read about one bigger boa trying to eat and killing a smaller one. That wasn't about BRB's but still. In the 90's I worked in a pet store that housed many large red tails together. Things seem to be a bit different these days in many ways. Maybe I should wait till the little one has grown? I'm hoping it's a female by the way. My end goal was 2 to 3 cages, 2 males, and 2 to 3 females. Thank you for reading this and any advice. If people disagree, I'd like to hear it to get a broad view to narrow my final opinion from.

dannybgoode · 07-24-16, 01:53 PM

Is there a reason why you want to keep them together?

Generally I'm of the house separately school of thought with all reptiles. Sure some people house together very successfully but it is always a bit of a risk.

bigsnakegirl785 · 07-24-16, 09:29 PM

Housing them together is a terrible idea, especially if there's such a large size difference. You open your snakes up to the chance of injury, undo stress, and cannibalism. Rainbow boas are solitary, there is absolutely no benefit to cohabitating them (I don't consider keeping them together for breeding cohabitating, but even the short time spent together for breeding can be dangerous).

Each individual should have their own enclosure. If you're unable or unwilling to give each animal their own space then maybe you should reconsider how many you want to own.

**Tsubaki** · 07-26-16, 07:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bigsnakegirl785

Housing them together is a terrible idea, especially if there's such a large size difference. You open your snakes up to the chance of injury, undo stress, and cannibalism. Rainbow boas are solitary, there is absolutely no benefit to cohabitating them (I don't consider keeping them together for breeding cohabitating, but even the short time spent together for breeding can be dangerous).

Each individual should have their own enclosure. If you're unable or unwilling to give each animal their own space then maybe you should reconsider how many you want to own.

I could type a reply myself, but i full-heartedly agree with the one above!

Snakesitter · 07-25-16, 02:27 PM

Separate, except for breeding. Not only does cohabitation raise health risks, it also complicates recordkeeping (whose poop was that?).

Ian of Oldham · 07-25-16, 04:47 PM

Do not house them just let them be

SnoopySnake · 07-26-16, 02:36 AM

No. Listen to your gut and say no, even if one is a male and one is female, the males can get rapey and try to breed before the female is ready. Best to not do it and avoid any problems.

MGJ · 07-28-16, 08:16 PM

No I'm totally willing to keep housing them separately, and capable. Just wanted some more opinions because I've read and heard contradictions. I've kept and bred many reptiles since the late 90's. Many years ago my big Red Tailed boas lived together and did just fine in a 6 foot by 2 foot by 3 foot cage. I separated them for 3 months, then put them together during mating season and they bred successfully. These are my first BRB's though. Thanks for the advice. It's what I expected to hear actually.

MGJ · 08-20-16, 09:44 PM

Is that it?? I was hoping for more replies. If you stumble across this a year from now, please leave a comment. An try to be nice. I have many interests and hobbies an it's always ridiculous to me how often someone gets on a high hoarse an types a condescending or passive aggressive comment to someone they don't know. Like in fishing for example. The veterans love to talk down to who ever they assume are rookies but we all stink like fish to the rest of the world. We're all dorks with our hobbies an whatnot. We should respect each other. Thanks guys.

SWDK · 08-20-16, 10:21 PM

I've never housed multiple snakes together before. From all my knowledge and feedback from others in the hobby it's a no go. Health risks, possible injuries, possible canibalism, feeding, etc are some of the issues.

There are some species that do ok together and some members can attest to that. A forum member, Roman, keeps multiple Spilotes Pullatus in a very large enclosure and multiple Gonyosoma Oxcephalum in another large enclosure without any issues. He's a very experienced keeper of those species so he knows what to expect and how to properly care for them.

I would agree the general consensus is to house separate and you'll have better success.