My Reptile Room!

[Will0W783]

Very nice reptile room. The only thing, and I am not trying to be mean here...just looking out for the animals' best interest...is please separate your BP and RTB. Keeping two of the same species together is never good, let alone two different species from two very differnet parts of the world...

Ball pythons (Royal pythons) hail from Africa. They live in the rainforests and semi-arid temperate zones. They are very shy, very secretive pythons, who prefer solitude and tight hiding places.

Boa constrictors live in South American rainforests....they have never seen Africa. They too are solitary creatures, but tend to spend more time in trees and out in the open.

I don't care if you've kept the two together for 15 minutes or 15 years, the fact that you yourself mentioned you know it's a faux-pas and yet continue to house them together really rubs me the wrong way.

Let me list the reasons why:

That boa will get very much larger than the BP, and could easily eat it. A ball python gets 5-6 feet long, while a boa gets 8-12. There are countless horror story threads online of boas eating ball pythons that were housed with them.

Second, the snakes will constantly be at a higher level of stress than they'd be in if they were alone....snakes do not "cuddle" with one another, or really enjoy company. If they are both in the same spot, it's because both snakes feel it is the best spot and they both want to be there and are competing for it. Neither snake will be at ease if they are both stuffed in the same spot.

Constant high stress levels lead to weakened immune systems and a greater susceptibility to illness. Think of having to live in a studio apartment with Andre the Giant? You'd both feel cramped and get in each other's way and you'd be stressed and irritated all the time.

I doubt you will listen to me...if you've been doing it for 15 years, probably nothing can change your mind now. Don't do it for me...do it for the health of your animals. Please separate them and get them each into their own, custom environment with proper setups for each.