Any information or advice really.....

Ok I may sound like an idiot here....I was watching my snakes this morning (I haven't separated them yet due to researching the proper information since I have been misinformed) but their "actions" seemed odd to me. Obviously mating was my first thought. I started to Google....at first I as like "no that's not what's going on" but when I returned from smoking a cigarette n looked into the cage.....sure enough their tales are all curled together just like in some of the pictures Google had showed me..... could they really be breeding or mating or whatever the term for snakes is?? If so.....what the hell do I do from here?? I was not expecting for every animal in my house to breed at the same time. ���� I'll do what I gotta do and take the proper steps but first I need to know what those steps are.... I feel all sorts of ways about this right now. *Sigh* excited, nervous, guilty, dumb, anxious, you name it....plz someone help me!!!!

Could they? If male and female yes.
If male and male, more a dominance thing. Just like the "cuddling" is competing for the better spot.

I was told tht they were male n female when I got them. I personally have never had them sexed. Would it be ok if I was to divide the 55 gallon tank in half with plexiglass? I'm getting these things separated today!! Just in case. I feel like I'm getting more then I expected but idk what to do. I'm just trying my best to do the right thing at this point. I feel like people are just reading this n shaking their heads. I'm shaking mine!!! I really wanna do the right n best thing for these snakes. I hope that counts for something. These were not originally my snakes....but I guess they are now. So all I am do is research, learn, and try....

Yes you can divide the tank. A couple 28 quart tubs would be easier and cheaper.
Just remember you still have to regulate their heat sources.

Thank you !! I'm almost positive they were breeding. 😭😭 I would have never thought they couldn't be housed together bc they were together before I got them n counting it out I've had them longer then I thought....about 9½ months. I've never had issues with them at ALL until recently. Now I'm wondering if their attitude was bc they were about to breed?! Now Im researching the crap outta tht. 😞 I had 4 chinchillas n then 11 days ago one of my females had a kit so now I have 5 (for now), I didn't know she was pregnant til I woke up to her giving birth....I just got my dogs fixed, and now the snakes..... Oh boy!!! My entire house is gonna be cages lol my hands r so full!! But what else did I expect right?! I think I'm gonna get the snakes set up properly n sell them. I think I may be in over my head with them bc obviously I don't know what I thought I did. 😮😒 Thanks everyone!! I really appreciate the insight n just want whats best for these critters. I guess only time will tell.

If the female did take and she lays it'd probably be better to just pop/cut the eggs or stick them in the freezer and throw them away so they don't develop. If they're normals(which I'm assuming they are) itll be almost impossible to sell them and it's not worth the trouble to try. Just toss the eggs immediately and they won't develop so you won't be killing anything and won't have to deal with the babies. It's probably too much of a task for you to hatch and start the babies and it's unfortunate but no one wants normals anymore and its better to just let them go before they're hatched so you don't have to hang on to them forever and so they don't end up with someone who won't care.

I was actually talking about the two I have now. But knowing that I have that option make me feel a little better. If I do split the tank with plexiglass for the time being can I use my uth in the center to create both warm ends n use the outside ends as their cool ends?? I can't get the individual set ups right away until chris goes back to work next week. I just wanna make sure we have the money to make it until then and he has the money to get to Alabama n Arkansas from Pennsylvania. (That's his next job locations) if I can't go tht route then I obviously with do what I have to n use my head otherwise to make sure we got what we need. I will be getting scales tmrw to weigh them tho. Also I kind of would prefer to go the tank route vs the tub route. I wanna see them 😍😍 I do really like to watch them!! Would anyone be able to recommend the proper tank size??

The uth can be used in the center as a hot spot for each as long as it's big enough. And for tank sizes I like 40 gallon breeders but you could just buy one and use the 55 gallon for the other if you can take the divider back out. If you don't mind spending a bit more PVC cages are a good option too, they look nice, insulate well, and they can stack up so it takes up less floor space than two tanks

For what it's worth, ball pythons are some of the most low-maintenance animals you can get once everything's set up. It sounds intimidating to find out that everything you thought you knew about how to take care of them is wrong, but relax. They've made it this far, they won't keel over tomorrow. Obviously separating them sooner rather than later so they don't make more is a good idea. But other than that, the main things are having appropriate temperatures and humidity and somewhere to hide, rodents to eat, and poop cleaned up. But they need a whole lot less attention and expense than chinchillas do, and less space, too.

You posted in the "site info" category, which is a bit of an odd place; if you look through the forum, there are lots of other categories such as the one labeled "BP husbandry", the one labeled "DIY etc" and the one labeled "Caging". There's lots of good information in those if you read old threads or do keyword searches, and they are also good places to ask specific questions where more people will go look.

Basically though, you've gotten good advice. The only thing I really want to add is a word of encouragement - you can do it. If you can take care of chinchillas, you can take care of snakes.

You should post a photo of your setup, what do you use for hides? What kind of substrate? What kind of top on the tank?

I have one really aggressive ball python, it sounds just like yours, he keys in on my eyes ready to strike at me from across the room. That's very unusual for a ball python, it makes me wonder if someone mistreated my snake before I got it. All of my other ball pythons are puppy dogs in comparison and would never even strike at me, which it pretty typical. Where did you get those snakes? If they were free you probably know why now, just a bit of a bad attitude.

Personally I would try to incubate the eggs and hatch them out just for the experience. You could probably give away the babies for free on Craig's List and they would go fast, would be an interesting project.

One thing to keep in mind, my very first snakes were Arizona Mountain King snakes and I put two together in a tank, they were always together and looked very cute and seemed very happy. But then the female when into breeding mode, never really laid eggs, but she stopped eating for months and was not at the proper body condition for breeding. She got so skinny I thought she was going to die, but finally started eating again. Hopefully your female is in really good condition because she may go off of food for months in breeding mode.

I have a normal ball python and just love the little guy to death. I got him for free, he was really stunted and I nursed him back to the size he should be, the owners before me were feeding only one fuzzy mouse a month for a whole year! Poor little guy. Now he's up to over 500 grams. I like having a normal in my collection just to see what they are supposed to look like compared to my other morphs, I find even the normal morph really cool looking.

Are you feeding live or frozen thawed? I find that feeding live is pretty dangerous to a snake, and makes them a bit more aggressive. Especially if you are feeding several live mice in a row, I wouldn't recommend it. I'd switch to one frozen thawed medium rat per week per snake. I actually feed my females twice a week but I plan on breeding them, not necessary if you don't plan to breed. You can get frozen thawed rats online, I use rodentpro.com. Shipping is $30 so you will have to buy at least 20 or so to make it worth it. Don't buy too many, I find that after six months they start to smell bad when you thaw them out.