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  1. #1
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    Not sure what I should do...

    We are new to the Ball Python world, and my mother-in-law got me and my husband one each for Christmas. We already have a female and now have acquired 2 males. We transported them home, not knowing we would be doing so, and all we have is a 75 gallon tank atm. We got 2 rats for the male's and already had one for the female. She did not eat hers, and though it may not have been smart on our end (like I said we are new to this world) we just put them all in together in the same tank. Female is used to being fed in her cage, but we were not sure on how the male's were used to eating. Yes we do feed live rats. That's what they are all used to. Our female did not eat, which she is close to shed for her eyes are fogged over, both males ate their rat. We did not remove the 3rd rat for we got distracted by Christmas wrapping (our fault) and one of the males (which already ate 1) ate the other rat. Now do we need to be concerned with the fact he ate 2 rats within a 5 hour window and now looks as though he ate a small squirrel instead of rats?! No we are not sure of weight at this time for we don't have scales yet, and as previously stated...We did not know we would be returning with 2 males of about 1-1/2 years old.
    Last edited by MrsLove; 12-25-2016 at 05:32 PM.

  2. #2
    BPnet Veteran piedlover79's Avatar
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    He'll be fine or he will regurgitate it back up. However you need separate those snakes and particularly feeding them all together is asking for disaster. You are very lucky that two snakes didn't get a hold of the same rat as they may have killed one another in the process.

    Also this is a quarantine nightmare. I hope those two other snakes are healthy or else now all three are infected.

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  4. #3
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    As per my post...We did not have anywhere else to put them for we only had 1 snake when we left...And came home with 2 more. So it was either say no we can not accept your gift for Christmas...Or put all 3 together. We were not prepared for this in anyway possible. But that k you for saying he will be fine.

  5. #4
    Registered User Ratikal's Avatar
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    Re: Not sure what I should do...

    A make shift divider of cardboard giving each snake personal area when feeding would suffice. I ran into an issue like this when I was coerced into taking two hatchlings home rather than just one like I had planned. I make a cardboard divider and put them both in a 20 gal long until I had an individual setup for both. I did the same while feeding...worked out great and neither was able to interact while feeding safely

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  7. #5
    Registered User Calider's Avatar
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    Make sure the fat one has ample access to belly heat and make sure he is not disturbed at all. It would be good if he had a roomy hide to himself. Take special care of him because if he barfs, you are in for a long, terrible road... I've gotten stuck in that loop before with a cornsnake and it was awful.
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  9. #6
    BPnet Senior Member cletus's Avatar
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    I'd go pick up a couple 28 or 32 qt tubs from Walmart or Target. Get some cheap water bowls. You could use paper towel for substrate. At least you could separate them for the time being. You would need to warm them, but that would be a great start just to split them up.

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  11. #7
    BPnet Senior Member GoingPostal's Avatar
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    How were you able to get rats to feed them and not able to get something to put them in? Talk about the cart before the horse. I'd be concerned about a lot of things, disease, cannibalism, mating/fighting, on top of the stress of digesting with a newly acquired overfed improperly housed animal. I'm sure you have totes or plastic containers of some sort, separate the snakes asap.

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  12. #8
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    They are doing fine all together. We just had one pass away due what we can only assume was due to moving away from the heat to drink and not being able to get back fast enough to warm up when we had very cold weather. She was very young but our older female seemed to have been depressed since her passing. Since we have had to put all 3 in one tank, she has been slightly more active, but has also been by one of our males sides constantly. The fatso has been left alone. We actually found him in the water dish soaking a little while ago. Should that spark concern in my case of him regurgitating? And per us getting paid again we will be getting a tank to atleast separate them for feeding. But I am not sure if my female would be happy if we separated them completely.

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    Re: Not sure what I should do...

    Quote Originally Posted by MrsLove View Post
    They are doing fine all together. We just had one pass away due what we can only assume was due to moving away from the heat to drink and not being able to get back fast enough to warm up when we had very cold weather. She was very young but our older female seemed to have been depressed since her passing. Since we have had to put all 3 in one tank, she has been slightly more active, but has also been by one of our males sides constantly. The fatso has been left alone. We actually found him in the water dish soaking a little while ago. Should that spark concern in my case of him regurgitating? And per us getting paid again we will be getting a tank to atleast separate them for feeding. But I am not sure if my female would be happy if we separated them completely.
    There are a lot of mistaken assumptions going on in this post.
    You need some accurate info ASAP!
    The best of luck to you.
    Folks here, are here to help.

    Basic care sheets are a good start.

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  15. #10
    Sometimes It Hurts... PitOnTheProwl's Avatar
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    Re: Not sure what I should do...

    Quote Originally Posted by MrsLove View Post
    she has been slightly more active
    This right here is a great showing of stress.....
    Quarantine is also a key, the unknown loss of one animal would also be a great reason to keep the apart also.

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