Ball Python breeders housing together

[BallPythonGirl]

Hello everyone, This question kind of falls under breeding and housing, so dont get mad if i posted in the wrong area.
Heres my situation. I have a pair of het albino balls. Yes i plan to breed them. Currently they live together, they are only a few months old. Now my questions is, should i keep them together or not. I have had a few people tell me yes and no. If not, could you please tell me why. Any information on this would really help. Thanks a lot.
Also, what if i kept them together and then seperated them a few months prior to breeding time... PLEASE help! thanks!
Sara

[LadyOhh]

No.

Keep them seperate until you need to breed them. This way you can guarantee the health and feeding of your animals by being able to independantly monitor each of their environments.

[mainbutter]

i don't know who told you to keep them together, but I'm pretty certain everyone on this forum will tell you to split them up.

The only time you put two BPs together is to breed them(then it's only temporary, a few days at a time usually), and that's a whole different thing than normal housing.

[BallPythonGirl]

What if they are very healthy. They have been housed together now for a month. is there any other reason why i shouldnt?

[LadyOhh]

Stress.

Feeding issues.

Competition.

[blackcrystal22]

What if they are very healthy. They have been housed together now for a month. is there any other reason why i shouldnt?

Quite a few reasons actually.

• As LadyOhh said, competition is a problem. If for some reason they were mis-sexed and were both males, they would fight.
• If you see them laying on each other, they are competing for space, and creating dominance. Which is extremely stressful.
• Ball pythons are naturally unsocial animals, and will be stressed with other snakes around.
• Even if you are planning to breed them in the future, they could breed much too early, which could cause huge problems in the female and egg bounding.
• If one gets an RI (my boa might have an RI, just because of the season change) then the other one gets it. If one gets parasites, it's a double vet bill that could have been avoided.
• Cannibalism is not unheard of.
• Feeding becomes difficult, as feeding inside the enclosure is recommended and with two snakes, that's nearly impossible.

[BallPythonGirl]

oh ok. Weird. Um well they've been sexed properly for sure, i know how to do that. popping and i also have a probe kit. Also had 2 professionals pop them. Also in the past ive housed 2 adult snakes and they are very healthy. one did end up getting scale rot, really not sure now, and yes i know what it is caused by. but the point is, my other one did not get it. I do have them seperated now. But i have never had a problem with housing 2 together. they both eat very well too. i have a few friends who house theirs together as well. they are about 5 years old and they have bred successfully twice now.

[blackcrystal22]

oh ok. Weird. Um well they've been sexed properly for sure, i know how to do that. popping and i also have a probe kit. Also had 2 professionals pop them. Also in the past ive housed 2 adult snakes and they are very healthy. one did end up getting scale rot, really not sure now, and yes i know what it is caused by. but the point is, my other one did not get it. I do have them seperated now. But i have never had a problem with housing 2 together. they both eat very well too. i have a few friends who house theirs together as well. they are about 5 years old and they have bred successfully twice now.

Some people house snakes together successfully, however that does not necessarily mean that there aren't large risks that are being taken that could really be avoided. There are no benefits to the snake by keeping them together, and it is generally just stressful. As the keepers, it should be our job to eliminate as much stress as possible and create a thriving environment.

The main thing I would worry about with two ball pythons is the egg bounding. A female ball should be at least 2000g and 2 1/2 years old in my book. Anything under 1500g could probably seriously injure the animal. The male will likely be breedable much earlier than the female should be bred, even if she is capable.

We can't 'make' you do anything, but we can make our suggestions from experience and success. Good luck.

[python.princess]

Well I saw huge differences in my snakes when I followed the advice of people on this forum and separeted them. They were much healthier, happier, and they grew much faster.

But it seems like you've already made up your mind. Hopefully they don't breed too young, though. Wouldn't want an eggbound female!

[LadyOhh]

Since you don't seem convinced that it is a bad idea, all I can say is good luck and I hope you have no problems...