Habitats

[rtmaster1]

well, right now i have two ball pythons that are litter mates and have been together since birth and i have been told by some people that since they are litter mates that its fine to have them in the same cage but it sounds like that is not a good idea.... they are both very healthy as of right now and they have been together for about six months..... comments please???

and if I need to seperate them can i circulate the air thru both tanks to regulate the temp and humidity or is that defeating the purpose of the seperation???

also i really want to put some potted plants in with them to decorate the tank and make some better habitat and so i was wondering if someone could put a short list of good plants to put in with them.... do they need to be native to the snakes habitat or can i just use plants native to my area in the ozarks???

Thanks

[mykee]

Welcome to the site. Firstly, ball pythons do not have litters, they have clutches. The term "litters" are reserved for live-bearing animals and reptiles. Your clutchmates should have been seperated, at latest, after their first shed, which happens about 15 days after they hatch. If you want two ball pythons, you NEED two seperate environments; complete with their own seperate enclosures, heat sources, water dishes, substrate, etc.

[Smilts]

also when you get them in there new tanks, I've recently learned Pothos Ivy makes great tank plant.

[Chu'Wuti]

Pothos is safe, but many plants are not. An animal that did not evolve in a particular area may not do well with plants from that area. Here's a good source for checking out plants:

Edible and Harmful Plants (Link to discussion of plants that are harmful/toxic to herps with links to alphabetic list of plants to avoid and why)

Melissa Kaplan's Plants For Herps Resources (Link to main page from which you can access a variety of resources)

Also, if you are wanting to do naturalistic vivaria, I strongly recommend Philippe de Vosjoli's book, "The Art of Keeping Snakes," in which he describes the requirements necessary to keep snakes in naturalistic vivaria successfully. It isn't as easy (at least initially) as keeping them on aspen shavings or in Rubbermaid tubs. It is attractive, but you must be very careful with landscaping, cleaning, and watering in order to keep your snakes healthy. You will still need to supply at least two hides in each enclosure to ensure that your snakes can seek warmth or cool, damp or dry as needed. However, if you are like me and enjoy having your snakes in a naturalistic habitat that is a display, de Vosjoli's book is a huge help.

Good luck!

[Deej85]

Snakes are not social animals.


I do not think snakes of the same clutch, or of any relation of any kind would have any bearing on how they interact. Another snake is probably just another snake to them.

If anyone with more knowledge than me knows better, please correct me.

[Chu'Wuti]

IMHO, another snake is one of three things to a snake:

1. A predator to be avoided
2. Prey
3. A potential mate

If the other snake is not a potential mate, then you're left with the first two. If the snakes are of similar size, they'll both be stressed because they're living with another predator. If one is bigger than the other, the small one may become a meal.

In any case, unless you have a male & female of opposite sex, same species (or within the same genera and you're planning a cross), that have been properly prepared & are ready to breed, keeping them together is stressful & not recommended. If they are to be bred, keeping them together for long periods of time is stressful & not recommended.

So, to sum up:

Snakes are not social animals.

Now we have reasons to go with the statements that they should be separated . . . 'nuff said, right?

We should mention the Herpstats by Spyder Robotics--anyone setting up two enclosures for one snake species might want to check into purchasing one of these, as Mykee highly recommends them.