Ball Python buddies?

[D&J-burgos]

Any one know of any species of snake, turtle/tortoise, frog...etc... that can live in the same habitat as a ball python? My python is about 2 foot about a year old now, just wondering if any thing could share a habitat with out harm to either creature. Thanks for any replies!

[infernalis]

Welcome to the forum....

Please do not put anything in with your python.

Any animal you put in there aside from food at feeding time will stress your snake out and prove very unhealthy to your snakes overall well being.

Royal (ball) Pythons are reclusive and live alone, they like to live alone and thrive living alone.

[Aaron_S]

Or your python will just eat it...

[infernalis]

Originally Posted by Aaron_S

Or your python will just eat it...

Best case scenario

[Nafun]

The best cohabitants for ball pythons are rocks, branches, and dead rats!

[shaunyboy]

hello and welcome,i have to agree with everyone.dont put anything in the tank with your python.why not get a seperate tank for whatever else it is you fancy keeping.
cheers shaun

[infernalis]

I can understand where these thoughts come from, folks get the idea that they want to recreate a "jungle habitat" in an enclosure and often forget that this may not be in the animals best interest.

[shaunyboy]

ive read threads on other forums on folk creating their own micro climates.they have fish,reptiles and live plants all in the same tank.from what ive read they take a fair bit of work to set up and run properly.although the idea sounds appealing i think i'll stick to just my morelia for now.
cheers shaun

[Aaron_S]

Originally Posted by shaunyboy

ive read threads on other forums on folk creating their own micro climates.they have fish,reptiles and live plants all in the same tank.from what ive read they take a fair bit of work to set up and run properly.although the idea sounds appealing i think i'll stick to just my morelia for now.
cheers shaun

When people make these enclosures they do so with very limited amount of animals. Not only a small number but smaller ones too. A lot of people do this with their dart frog enclosures.

[D&J-burgos]

I just thought i would ask, i only have little experience with ball pythons, i once had a mixed enclosure that i kept fish a soft shell turtle and a few anoles, and never had a problem, just thought i should ask before i try and risk an experament

[Nafun]

The problem with cohabitation is that in the wild, most animals don't cohabitate, especially when it comes to carnivores. Aside from a handful of cross species symbiotic relationships (like plovers picking the teeth of crocs), other species fall into one of three categories; prey, predator, or competition. The best example of this is probably fish. Ask anyone who keeps an aquarium of mixed species. Eventually they wake up one morning with one less fish, and one fat fish.

The only thing I would ever remotely consider "cohabitating" with my bp is either another bp of similar size (and even this, I wouldn't recommend unless you're breeding. They're not social animals, you're just going to stress them out) or defenseless prey items (I wouldn't recommend that either. Aside from being massively cruel to the prey, you run a gamut of risks of everything form overfeeding, to disease.)

There are social animals, make no mistake, and there are many that it is cruel to keep alone (like gerbils for instance). Your bp wants to be left alone. That's what they do in the wild, that's what they want in captivity. They can be conditioned to not view their owners as a threat, and tame to humans. However, you'll never teach it to ignore that big juicy frog lounging in its water dish, or that fat crunchy lizard lounging on its branch.