Re: desperate .. new owner in need of help
Also, you mentioned that the smaller one has been treated for worms and an RI. Who is your vet and why didn't he/she tell you they should be seperated in the first place? There's no point in treating one of them for worms in RI when both ailments are just going to contract back and fourth between them while they are housed together.
Re: desperate .. new owner in need of help
keeping them together rasises the risk of butterscotch of geting sick from carmal i would consider geting puting them in different enclousers
Re: desperate .. new owner in need of help
Quote:
Originally Posted by Lauren
... yeah they are together. i dont exactly have the space to house them separately... do you think i should make an effort to get them separated? I feed them separately... but they are indeed housed together
Definitely. Balls can be stressed easily if certain conditions aren't met, and one of the stressors is competing for space/heat with another Ball. A cage doesn't have to be fancy nor expensive. Many people on this forum use plastic containers like the Rubbermaid or Sterilite shoe boxes and sweater boxes commonly found at Walmart.
If you can set them up individualy and with the proper temperature requirements, I'm sure you'll have your snake eating in no time. Just offer food every 5-7 days. I'm not sure what your snake was previously eating, or if has eaten at all being only 2 months old, but you can usually get them started on live mouse hoppers or rat pups. Good luck!
Re: desperate .. new owner in need of help
If you want a cheap space saving way to house one or both of them, look no further:
http://www.ball-pythons.net/modules....warticle&id=40
by the way, this method of housing is MUCH better than a 10 gallon with a heat lamp.
Re: desperate .. new owner in need of help
i was actually taking them to the local pet store at first to forcefeed her... but i noticed her condition worsening quickly and went to the vet... i guess he just assumed they were in seperate enclosures.
she has yet to eat on her own at all yet.
do yuo have any suggestions on heating and humidity and how to keep them regulated in an old drafty house?
Re: desperate .. new owner in need of help
Quote:
Originally Posted by elevatethis
you knew exactly what i was thinking haha
Re: desperate .. new owner in need of help
A glass enclosure in a cold and drafty house can be a disaster. Ever feel a cold draft off of a window during the wintertime? Imagine your snake feeling that on all sides of their enclosure at all times.
Plastic housing is advantageous in that it serves as a much better insulator...keeping inside heat and humidity in and keeping outside cold dry air out. If the room is extremely cold at times during the year, simply placing a space heater near the enclosure will go far in alleviating your temperature woes. Sterilite tubs are cheap as crap too...you could easily get your hands on two for under $10 at walmart.
Re: desperate .. new owner in need of help
just out of curiousity... if the snakes have been in the same enclosure since they were hatched would the dominance problem still arise?
Re: desperate .. new owner in need of help
If they hatch together and are housed together, dominance issues will still occurr. They are not social creatures. In the wild, they hatch together, and quickly disperse to lead their own solitary lives.
Re: desperate .. new owner in need of help
Quote:
Originally Posted by Lauren
just out of curiousity... if the snakes have been in the same enclosure since they were hatched would the dominance problem still arise?
The problem is, if one snake is dominant over the other ... the subordinate snake has no where to go. The stress makes them refuse food and weakens their immune system to the point that they become susceptible to disease.
There is absolutely no benefit to the snakes to keeping them together, and dozens of potential benefits to keeping them apart.
-adam
