BP's housed together

MTCvenom · 04-02-06, 12:02 AM

I was just wondering how much stress if any can BP's have if housed together. I keep my 100% het pieds and my lemon pastel together in a 3 foot neodesha and they seem to do fine. All three of them are strong feeders and very docile.

reptiles4me · 04-02-06, 07:19 AM

I strongly advise you not to do that for a lot of reasons. If one gets sick, it's spread easily. If one gets sick, how do you know which poop to bring in for a fecal? Since they don't usually poop on a regular basis, you could lose valuable time waiting for a "movement". On top of all this...it takes a lot of prep work to breed a female. If she breeds too early, it can be fatal. From the sounds of it, you have younger snakes, which are usually harder to sex. I wouldn't even trust housing 3 together if you told me you had them sexed by a vet. Just too risky IMO. Most vets don't know a lot about reps (even the reptile vets) and I've had 4 misexed at a young age so I'm cynical lol. If you have a female in with 2 males, the males could start getting aggressive over the female. And on top of aaallll this...there have been occassions where BPs have been known to turn canibalistic for no apparent reason. I'm sure if you Google it you'll find the pictures. Very graphic. I guess the bottom line is...is it really worth it? You can buy the tubs or used tanks for pretty cheap. I just found a used 55 gal for $35.

MTCvenom · 04-02-06, 01:16 PM

I will be getting a rack pretty soon so it will not be a problem anymore but until then I have to keep them togehter. they have been together for about a month or so and have been fine. I'm not to worried about breeding because all of my BP's are under 275 grams.

mesmera · 05-01-06, 12:01 AM

Yes, I have 5 together and they are happy enough that one of the females has just laid 6 eggs!!. Cage is large enough so that they can go off to far end to be alone, by the way. Several are piled closest to heat, several my be in bath together. I separate for feeding, however.

malaysianbloods · 05-05-06, 11:20 AM

reptiles4me has some very good points it's not a good idea to house them together unless breeding. I'm pretty sure all reputable breeders will tell you the same. MTCvenom, Personally I think you should have wiated to get the snakes untill your rack is finished as it's not fare to the snakes. mesmera, all animals naturally want to reproduce to pass on there genes just because they lay eggs doesn't mean there happy and you are a responsible owner you should buy seperate cages for them. If you think about it in the wild they don't live together so you shouldn't force them to live together in captivity. Just my 2 cents

reptiles4me · 05-05-06, 12:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mesmera

Several are piled closest to heat, several my be in bath together.

These piles you mention are actually a fight for dominance. They aren't cuddling and hangin' together; they're fighting for warmth and the best spot. Maybe you haven't had problems yet...I knew someone who smoked for 30 years and then died of old age. Doesn't mean I would recommend lighting up. Point being...you know there are risks, so why not remove the chances altogether and just not house together? Hopefully, you're female is now separated at least so you can keep an eye on her.

daver676 · 05-15-06, 11:00 AM

I find it funny that people can have the money to obtain these hets and morphs and whatnot, but not the common sense to protect their investment by properly housing said snakes. Just my 2 cents.