A couple questions (plz no back lash!!)

A couple days ago i bought/adopted 2 full grown ball pythons. My female is a 3 1/2 ft, 4 yr old pastel. Shes healthy as can be so is the male that came with her. He is a regular 4ft male. He is docile while the female is not. The person i got them from desperatly needed to get rid of them as an infant was about to be born. He kept and asked me to keep them both housed in the huge enclosure he built. Im totally fine with that because they have lived together for 4 yrs. Heres where it gets cool/ crazy. I have other ball pythons but i dont breed them yet because they are all not ready. The big male n female i just got apparently are. When i picked them up from the dude i noticed that they were outside snakes. (As in their enclosure was out on a balcony outside) im in florida so thats not an issue...it just makes perfect breeding conditions. I asked him if they have bred before and he said they naturally give a clutch off every year. He would take the clutch and sell the eggs $10 a piece to a local reptile store. When i brought them and the enclosure to my house and cleaned it ect. We put them back in it (inside my house though) . The female went right for the hide box and sure enough the male followed. Now this is my first time having 2 snakes enclosed in the same enclosure. I wanted to see how they would curl up together being so big in medium box. I opened it and sure enough they were locked and staid locked for 14 hrs. My question is..how long/ how many days is too much for them to lock? They both still eat ect. The male comes out and explores grabs a drink then goes back in and continues. They are locked right now. Lol. Should i seperate them at some point (once they are done) to give them a break? I gave them both a nice long warm soak in my bath tub. I think it was their first.

2nd question: the previous owner fed really large live rats every 3 weeks...these guys have heavy healed battle scars from previous rats (he fed them before i bought them). I think they should be on medium rats or small rats more freqiuntly. What should i do???

I want the best for these guys. They are my babies ❤🐍 for me its not a job or a hobby..its a passion :)

Well there are several things wrong here so I’ll start:

if they are locked leave them alone; they will unlock when they’re ready. After they separate you need to have separate enclosures for them. Ball pythons should not be housed together; the prefer to be alone and separating them will cause no stress to them. The way they are housed now is stressful and can cause a lot of issues such as competing for the hot spot, unintentional breeding, going off feed etc

Are you prepared to take care of any eggs/hatchlings? There’s no guarantee any pet shop will take them; my advice is to separate them and quit breeding them

Also do not soak your ball pythons; it is not necessary and can cause stress

What is your husbandry like? Hot side/cool side temps? Proper hides on each side?

As far as feeding I feed all our adults one frozen small rat a week; our biggest girl is around 3000 grams and even she gets one small a week.

You have a lot of issues that need to be addressed and fixed if you truly want your babies to be happy and thrive.

Males will literally breed themselves to death - the presence of females, and eagerness to breed, often completely eclipses their food drive. Clutching for a female is very taxing but many will continue to feed throughout much of the process. You probably won't notice a female looking "spent" until after she lays eggs where a male will toil himself away throughout the season. Keep an eye on them and if either animal goes off feed for an extended period, you might consider separating until they're fed back up to healthy proportions.

Food size/frequency can depend on a lot of factors but typically the temperature and activity of the snake is going to dictate how much food they'll require to maintain themselves. Nobody can tell you exactly what's right for your animals. We can give you a pretty good approximation with more details but, in the end, you'll still have to keep an eye on the snakes and adjust their feeding accordingly.

They have been living in the same enclosure together for 4 years before i even got them. They dont need to compete for hot spots because there are many. There is also many hides. This enclosure takes up my whole wall. Yes i am prepaired for eggs/hatchlings. I dont understand how i have several things wrong in this..but okay. I simply came here asking a couple questions. John1982 thank you for being kind. I gave them a bath because they were covered in rat blood and fur and poop -_- i keep all my enclosures well maintenanced. Ill post pics of them and their enclose. Also, next week they both have an apt at a local reptile vet. I dont think they lock to the point of exaustion or they wouldnt have made it the 4 years they've been living together. They accept food still . tomorrow i will try and feed them both a smaller rat then what the previous owner did.

No one is backlashing you. We are pretty kind hearted here. I think the previous owner did a disservice to these snakes by keeping them together. BP's in the wild and usually in captivity are not kept together. They only come together to breed. That has nothing to do with you.

The choice is yours on what to do. You can keep them together which does create stress for them. Another thing to do if the enclosure is big enough is to put a divider in the middle and create 2 enclosures. You can still breed them if you wish.

The choice is ultimately yours. We do have so many experienced breeders and hobbiest here with a plethora of knowledge willing to help you with whatever you decide to do.

I think its pretty cool that you got a mating pair. 2 for the price of 1, and they multiply! Lol.
can you please post a photo of your enclosure? It sounds awesome to have a big, outdoor enclosure in subtropical climate that you live in.

Post some pics. Also not sure how the other person did it but whatever you do don't feed them in the enclosure together. You may already know but it wasn't mentioned. Thats a recipe for disaster.. Ball pythons HAVE eaten eachother and both die from it. Once in feed mode they rely on smell & heat. Rodent breath/smell can make them strike and coil eachother just as they would your hand.


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Quote:

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Originally Posted by Babygecko

I gave them a bath because they were covered in rat blood and fur and poop -_-

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Clarification for the win :) We see a fair share of (new) snake owners with odd ideas about snakes needing baths. A one-off because the snake is a mess is a different thing. I’ve waited for the next shed for small spots of dirt/poop/whatever, but if a snake is well-coated it makes sense to clean it up and make sure there’s nothing worse going on than dirt, especially with concern about rodent bites.


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I'm curious at the idea of keeping them outside... what sort of temps are in your enclosure? Hot areas and cooler areas?

We have thought about it and we will probably seperate them. Im going to show some pics once i down load tapatalk again.