Keeping Balls Together

I'm getting a female ball in a few months and was told if I get a larger cage, I can keep her in with my male instead of getting a separate cage, and then just pull one out on feeding day. Is this okay? Thanks.

NOPE if you dont want to have eggs then keep them separate.

Breeding is the least of your worries housing snakes together.

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Originally Posted by RichsBallPythons

Breeding is the least of your worries housing snakes together.

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well what should I worry about...? haha

A lot of people house their bp's together but this is generally not a good idea. It is stressful for a non-social animal to have to live in a limited enclosure with another one. There can be competition for good thermoregulation spots, etc. that can cause one snake to dominate over the other causing poor health on the other snake.

Another problem with this is when one gets sick the other is exposed. Also, it would be difficult to tell who poop'd, who shed, etc., so that problems cannot be identified quicker.

Even breeders do not house their males and females together at all times during breeding season. They usually only put the male in the female's enclosure 2-3 days out of a week to give them a rest period.

Just some thoughts.

well, it's rare but happens one snake eats the other and then both could die as a result. more common would be the more dominant snake stressing out the other, a stress snake could go off feed for a long period of time. when you see them laying together looking like they are getting along real good. the one on top is showing dominance over the other for that spot in the tank. they should not be kept in the same tank. :snake: :snake:

DO NOT HOUSE THEM TOGETHER! All I have to say is you could have early breeding/egg binding, snakes getting hungry and eating each other, or too much stress with could also kill one or the other because the display of dominance. I think these are all good enough reasons not to house them together.

No, not a good idea!

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Originally Posted by brikimura

I'm getting a female ball in a few months and was told if I get a larger cage, I can keep her in with my male instead of getting a separate cage, and then just pull one out on feeding day. Is this okay? Thanks.

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ohhh you started it people here feel very strongly about this topic. It's not really good for them due to stress issues. Be careful where you tread someone recked my rep points for telling someone they could do it very temperarially.

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Originally Posted by ed4281

ohhh you started it people here feel very strongly about this topic. It's not really good for them due to stress issues. Be careful where you tread someone recked my rep points for telling someone they could do it very temperarially.

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I'm not saying you can keep them together, I'm asking. I'm all new to this, ah stop! haha. I'm just asking because this is what someone told me and I want to make sure its correct for the safety and happiness of the two snakes. Thats all. Thanks everyone for your help.

Housing BPs together is a bad idea. I was going to do it before I got my Ball Python, and I found out that its terrible to do. If you feed them together one could possibly eat the other. And also they will fight over hides. And if they are young they could try and mate and it can cause the Female serous issues.