living together?

[Kyle1989]

I just bought two het albinos a male and a female that were hatched this year can I keep them in the same.

[XIIIPythons]

its not a good idea, b/c of sickness. if one gets something that ='s 2 getting it.. so 2x the sickness and vet bills...

[Sammy412]

I would not advise that. One, it is very hard to tell which snake has a problem if one occurs. Two, it can cause unnecessary stress on both snakes, and stress can = not eating. Ball pythons are private/reclusive by nature. If money is the problem, just use rubbermaid/sterilite tubs. Much cheaper and easier to keep temps and humidity correct, IMO

[sarahlovesmiike]

It's not recommened. If one is sick the other will be too, so twice the vet bill. If one poops you won't know who did it, so that will make a fecal exam impossible. Not to mention the fact that they are solitary animals and do not enjoy living together. They will compete for the best spots in the cage and most likely won't eat.

I have heard of people being successful keeping them together when they are provided enough hides, but that is more than unlikely and far too stressful on the snake to even be worth trying.

[cinderbird]

Here is my canned reply on the subject.

To quote another post on the exact same topic (PS: search feature is your friend). Take this post with a grain of salt, but please understand why it is better for your animals to each have a home, than to have to share one. (This post was also made for someone who was already housing animals together).

NO, you should not.

it is NOT good for the animals to be housed together. There are a multitude of reasons for this, including but not limited to the following;

1. You didnt quarantine your new addition and if its carrying something, chances are your older animal has it too anything from parasites, worms, sickness and disease, (even if there arent any symptoms yet)

2. Did you get these animals sexed from a reliable source? Or are you trusting the pet store.. This means you could have two opposite genders and you have the chance that they could now breed early causing the female (if one is a female) problems and possibly killing her

3. Cannibalism is known to occur in a few documented cases involving BPs

4. If one of your animals is sick, you probably wont know which one because you cant tell their feces/urates/regurges apart

5. If one gets sick, they both get sick and now you have to spend 2x the amount of money in vet care.

6. Actions we see as "cuddling" are actually one snake competing with the other. They both may be eating fine now but how long is that going to last? The smaller one is especially at risk for stress which could lower immune levels. They will constantly be competing for the best hide spots and best heating spots, etc.

housing two animals in one enclosure when they arent social isnt something novice keepers should do. Each animal should have their own space to thrive. If cost is the problem then maybe you need to take one back or rehome him until you can provide a sutible environment for any animal that comes into your home.