Can I house two ball pythons together?

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Originally Posted by Skiploder

To the OP - you've asked a question that has been a hot button issue on this forum for awhile.

In one corner, you have people who have kept maybe one two species of snakes, and have doing it for a relatively short period of time. Gaps in their knowledge are filled in by Google searches.

In the other corner, you have crusty old, viagra popping, mobility scooter riding old farts and menopause queens who have their own experience to rely upon.

I am of the opinion that the following things should be considered before deciding to co-habitate two snakes:

(1) Some species of snakes have been documented to be bigots towards other snakes. I have personally seen vanilla ball pythons refuse to even look at a black pastel or a chocolate. In these cases, you can either send the offending snake to a racial sensitivity course or report him to the NAACP.

(2) You need to consider the political or cultural preferences of both animals. A progressive snake should not be kept with a conservative snake. A gay snake should not be kept with a homo-phobic snake and a vegan snake should not be kept with a carnivorous snake.

(3) If you keep two snakes together successfully, you still run the risk of one or both animals not imprinting with you. Snakes bond to their owners much like dogs do. If you keep two of them together, they will bond with each other rather than you. This will rob you of one of the greatest rewards in herpeto-culture, the unconditional love and undying loyalty of your pet snake.

(4) In some species of snake, the females (after they hit sexual maturity), will ceaselessly nag the male snake about how often he sleeps, where he poops, how much he eats and his weight. This is very stressful on the male snake and may cause him to prematurely bald and have stress related health issues.

(5) In some species of snakes, the males will get bored of mating with the same female, especially if they have seen said female pass a bunch of eggs or if said female hasn't bounced back well from pregnancy.

(6) Snakes are pack related animals and fights often break out in wild herds over who eats first at a kill, who mates with the hottest female, or who get control of the TV remote. When you artificially keep them together in a small space, this can lead to intense interpersonal issues that may require years psychotherapy to correct.

You may read this list and think I am full of crap. However, I assure you that the reasons I listed are every bit as valid as the other arguments against co-habitation you have read on this thread.

Toodles,

Skip

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^^^This :rofl::rofl:

Its possible but i wouldnt reccommend it to someone who doesnt know what theyre doing.

Same way i wouldnt reccommend someone to learn to drive stick on my ferrari lol

EDIT: lmfao at Uncle Skippy's response!!!

Skiploder, you have posted some entertaining posts before but this one surpasses them all. :winner:

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Originally Posted by Don

Skiploader, you have posted some entertaining posts before but this one surpasses them all. :winner:

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You may all find my post humorous but I can sure you that Wes and I have had some intense fights over this issue.

Last month when I was shopping for a new colostomy bag cozy, Wes confronted me (he was there buying some peppermint scented coffee enemas) and was very angry about my anti-cohabitation stance. We kept it civil but it upset me to the point that I demanded that he return all of my ABBA cds immediately. That bitter old queen can buy his own version of "Dancing Goat".........damn dyslexia.......you all know what I meant to say.

Old schoolers like Wes cut their teeth on a lot of old husbandry myths - Wes believes that snakes can ingest bedding, I place all prey items on a lace doily, he also insists that pine bedding is safe, when we all know that it leads to prolapses, regurgitations, chronic diarrhea, explosive flatulence, hemipene dysfunction and fetal snake pine phenol syndrome.

I would suggest that all of you newbies read the extensive works of Melissa Kaplan to get some REAL information on how to properly keep snakes.

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Originally Posted by Skiploder

You may all find my post humorous but I can sure you that Wes and I have had some intense fights over this issue.

Last month when I was shopping for a new colostomy bag cozy, Wes confronted me (he was there buying some peppermint scented coffee enemas) and was very angry about my anti-cohabitation stance. We kept it civil but it upset me to the point that I demanded that he return all of my ABBA cds immediately. That bitter old queen can buy his own version of "Dancing Goat".........damn dyslexia.......you all know what I meant to say.

Old schoolers like Wes cut their teeth on a lot of old husbandry myths - Wes believes that snakes can ingest bedding, I place all prey items on a lace doily, he also insists that pine bedding is safe, when we all know that it leads to prolapses, regurgitations, chronic diarrhea, explosive flatulence, hemipene dysfunction and fetal snake pine phenol syndrome.

I would suggest that all of you newbies read the extensive works of Melissa Kaplan to get some REAL information on how to properly keep snakes.

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Dude, you're on a roll. I am literally laughing out loud.

And those scented enemas have my old pooter puckering like never before.

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Originally Posted by wilomn

Dude, you're on a roll. I am literally laughing out loud.

And those scented enemas have my old pooter puckering like never before.

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The new meds are treating me good.

I think the simplest and most pressing reason not to keep snakes together is that they may decide one day to devour their cage-mate.

Rare in ball pythons? Certainly not common. Unheard of? Far from it. "Cannibalism is a small but present risk" should be enough to dissuade most folks who care about their pet snakes.

Apart from that, even if both snakes are healthy, have been properly quarantined for a year, and are both female, there's still the possibility that they quite simply will not like it. Ball pythons that are unhappy tend to express this by fasting.

If you don't know your snakes' genders, place two males together may result in a WWF slam match, which is stressful, strenuous, and may result in bruises. If male and female, they will most likely breed at some point, and that's something you're better off planning.

The snakes will spend their entire lives in your care...why not ensure their lives are as stress-free as possible?

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Originally Posted by WingedWolfPsion

I think the simplest and most pressing reason not to keep snakes together is that they may decide one day to devour their cage-mate.

Rare in ball pythons? Certainly not common. Unheard of? Far from it. "Cannibalism is a small but present risk" should be enough to dissuade most folks who care about their pet snakes.

Apart from that, even if both snakes are healthy, have been properly quarantined for a year, and are both female, there's still the possibility that they quite simply will not like it. Ball pythons that are unhappy tend to express this by fasting.

If you don't know your snakes' genders, place two males together may result in a WWF slam match, which is stressful, strenuous, and may result in bruises. If male and female, they will most likely breed at some point, and that's something you're better off planning.

The snakes will spend their entire lives in your care...why not ensure their lives are as stress-free as possible?

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Bull friggin crap donna. You know this isn't true yet you keep harping on it. Buy a new record, you obviously have nothing to contribute that isn't tired and wrong.

I'm curious to know, what part about WingedWolfPsion's post isn't true?

There are photos to prove that ball pythons have eaten each other. Also, I have seen 2 males together, and slam-match is really a good way to put it. From what I experienced, anyways.

I have no doubt that people successfully cohab their snakes. Perhaps in my original post I should have had a disclaimer stating that it was JUST MY OPINION, but since it's on my website, I figured people would be able to figure that out for themselves.

PERSONALLY I choose not to cohabitate my snakes, and PERSONALLY I do not recommend other people cohab. Just my own preference, based on the teeny, tiny RISK associated with cohabbing.

Cannabalism in most snakes, those who are not naturally snake eaters, is almost always because of feeding and returning the the common cage too soon or while one snake is still hungry. How many time have you seen males slamming and how long did it last? Are you SURE they were males?

I've kept boys together. I've kept, am now keeping a trio together that have been cohabbing for years, females together. I've kept mixed pairs and trios and large groups together and have never in over 25 years and hundreds and hundreds, thousands most likely, had an incident of one eating another. Same for corns. Same for milks. Same for FWCs. Same for Rosy Boas. Same for Sand Boas. Same for Pacific Gophers. I'm sure there are others, but I think that makes my point.

There are exceptions to every rule, but an exception is just that, an aberrancy in the norm, NOT the norm.

donna has had this explained to her multiple times.