2 Snakes same cage

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Originally Posted by Sputnik

Those two males were there to hide!

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i know they could find another whole in the ground other then the one that already had another male and a female.

They had a threesome and fell asleep ;)

My guess is coincidence, I'm sure if you went back a week later those three snakes wouldn't be together anymore. Social animals tend to move and stay in packs all their lifetimes. Wolves, Lions, Elephants etc.

fair enough. ive found rattlesnakes 10 feet from eachother while they were coming out of there winter "dens", which was actually just a large concave rock with a pocket underneath it for shelter. the second one scared the CRAP out ofmy dad and i :rofl:

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Originally Posted by mr~python

i know they could find another whole in the ground other then the one that already had another male and a female.

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Why find another hole when you are already in one?

I have not seen much in the way of research on ball pythons in the wild. It could be a common thing. Who knows!

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Originally Posted by Spaniard

1. Cannablism
2. Stress, one snake will dominate the other.
3. If you have one sick snake, you will have 2 sick snakes.
4. If one is male and one is female there is a chance they would mate, if they weren't the proper age and weight the female could die as a result.

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Spaniard is right on. #4 should be really "could result in unintended pregnancies, which could be unhealthy for the female and may not result in offspring."

The reason why we stick to these rules with our animals in captivity is that we decide how they live and we restrict their living space...it is proven that housing multiple snakes together in captivity causes stress, eating disorders, dominance, and pregnancy.

Case in point, look at Sheree's VBBs. Housed together before they came to Sheree, the female completely dominated the male, who showed many signs of stress, irregular eating habits and it's taking Sheree and Karen a long time to slowly coax the male out of his agressive behavior. At same time, the female was most likely pregnant and has probably reabsorbed the eggs, an unintended and most likely terminated pregnancy which may have been due to cohabitation stress.

Snakes in the wild have much more space to decide where to live...

I'm suprised no one has brought this point up- *Captivity is NOT the wild!*

You can't make fair comparisons between the two. The difference between those three snakes in the hole in the wild is that at any point in time any of them have the free will to leave and find another place if they are choose to. In no way does that observation justify confining 2 snakes in the same cage on a permanent basis. If you put 2 snakes in one cage overnight, sure, nothing may happen. Its the LONG-TERM effects of this practice is what we are concerned about.

But but but Brad, I did say that! *whimper!* :P

We were typing/posting at the same time. I yield full credit to you, cass!

since most of you have no clue of what goes on in the wild, ball pythons are regularly found huddled together in the same hide. when exporters and poachers catch the ball pythons they find them in large or small groups of numerous snakes...regularly. THIS is what makes the business of exporting so lucrative, easy to catch in large numbers, easy to sell in large numbers as well.

but in regards to keeping snakes in captivity, it is much more beneficial to the snake overall health to keep it in its own separate cage because of the many reasons already listed.

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Originally Posted by Slithers

since most of you have no clue of what goes on in the wild, ball pythons are regularly found huddled together in the same hide. when exporters and poachers catch the ball pythons they find them in large or small groups of numerous snakes...regularly. THIS is what makes the business of exporting so lucrative, easy to catch in large numbers, easy to sell in large numbers as well.

but in regards to keeping snakes in captivity, it is much more beneficial to the snake overall health to keep it in its own separate cage because of the many reasons already listed.

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Has this always been the case?

Or is the space available to them decreasing and their population increasing?