Can you house a male with afemale?

well i live with my mother in law who is terrified and wont let us have another enclosure..

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by keelenswife217

i can tell they are happy because i know them.. i can tell if they feel bad. or anything.if it wasnt safe for them to be together then why are so many housed together?

---

You can tell. What do they do to let you know? what behaviors do they display?

So many are housed together because it is cheaper for business that are selling them. If you ask ANY major snake breeder (which makes up a lot of this site) they will all tell you that they house all of their snakes separately.

If i asked this question, i would have gotten every single answer i needed in the first 2 pages. and this thread would be a tthe bottom of the pile by now.

at this point its getting redundant and people are starting to get rude. now i see why i just stayed out of it after i saw how it was forming.

the answers you need for proper care of your snakes in regards to cohabitation are all here in this thread. either abide by the informed and correct suggestions or dont. at this point we should be done with this. some times the hard way is the only way to learn.

Ok here's the deal, the snakes need seperate housing, can you house them together yes, is it wise no.

The first snake you own still has signs & symptoms of a RI.
The male snake should be in quaranteen for at least 30-60 days before being keep in the same room with the female.

Unfortunately you do not want to take any of the advice you have been given.

Your older female snake will dominate the younger male, he will become stressed and probably stop eating, and he stands a chance to develope a RI from being exposed to the female that still has a RI.

Please don't get any more snakes

its dont that i dont want to house them separatly its that i cant. and its not that i dont want to take the advice because its good advice, but all i asked was it okay to keep them together. period.

As I said a few posts ago. She doesn't care so why bother posting? I'm just sad for the poor snakes :(

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by keelenswife217

well i live with my mother in law who is terrified and wont let us have another enclosure..

---

NOW we're talkin'.

Your snakes are not "happy" to be with each other. They're competing with each other.

If you can only have one enclosure, why in the world did you get a second snake?

You asked one simple question, and got a complicated answer.

i got the other snake because i wanted it, fell in love with it, and yes they are happy. they are well taken care of.im over this thread. got to work tomorrow. y'all can go be rude to somebody else.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by keelenswife217

i got the other snake because i wanted it, fell in love with it, and yes they are happy. they are well taken care of.im over this thread. got to work tomorrow. y'all can go be rude to somebody else.

---

you were just as rude as others. sorry :S all they were doing is trying ot look out for your best interest for your pets.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by keelenswife217

i got the other snake because i wanted it, fell in love with it, and yes they are happy. they are well taken care of.im over this thread. got to work tomorrow. y'all can go be rude to somebody else.

---

You drive me crazy.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by keelenswife217

its dont that i dont want to house them separatly its that i cant. and its not that i dont want to take the advice because its good advice, but all i asked was it okay to keep them together. period.

---

NO!

It is not ok

It is not ok under any circumstances

It is not ok if you ask enough times in enough forums.

It is not ok....

It is not ok

It is not ok

You should give up your second snake.

If you can not live on your own and make your won rules don't you think you should be worried about other things?

Once again it is not ok.

It is not ok...

I think i said in enough but jsut in case you missed it....

It is not ok.

Please give your snakes up for adoption... Please :(

You are being very selfish. Please return the snake to the store or find someone who can care for it until you can provide him with what he needs.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by keelenswife217

Hey. We bought a male ball today and put him in with our female.. i dont want lil babies.. what can i do? i havent got another tank to put him in and i really dont want to take him back. is there anyway to keep them from breeding?

---

No offense but if you dont have the room or setup for another snake you shouldnt have another snake.

Let’s see if I can resume the situation

You did not do any research prior to purchasing yours animals or did very little
You were not prepared for a new animal
You do not quarantine
Your vet thinks RI cannot be passed on to other snakes
You are attributing human emotions to snakes
You think you will be able to prevent your female from being gravid.
You do not listen to advice from people who have experience (Pet stores do not count)

Did I miss anything?

Now to the question should they be house together the answer is NO.

BP are not social they do not have friends, they will dominate one another leading to stress and feeding issues etc etc etc

BP do not benefit from being house together, YOU do, you have already jeopardized the health of your snake by bringing a new animal without any quarantining it, so how about trying to do the right thing now? (Not what YOU feel they would like but what THEY need)

Also I would also recommend you to change vet.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by keelenswife217

Hey. We bought a male ball today and put him in with our female.. i dont want lil babies.. what can i do? i havent got another tank to put him in and i really dont want to take him back. is there anyway to keep them from breeding?

---

Let me try to answer your question:

there is nothing you can do to stop them from breeding if they have the mind to do it. Females do not have to be cooled to breed.

ball pythons are solitary creatures. they do not crave friendship or companionship. People often anthropomorphize their pets.

housing two balls together, with one unquarentened, is extremely irresponsible. they can transfer diseases between eachother, and when one gets sick you will have to treat both. if one has weird or runny stool you will have to play a guessing game as to who is having the problem, or if you're a responsible pet owner you will have to treat both and that means 2x the vet bills, same thing with any regurgitations.

a note on pet stores: they RARELY do anything correctly. they feel that a "one size fits all" for snake keeping is appropriate and should be used. This has been proven wrong. Please, the breeders and keepers on this website for the most part have a much better understanding of the needs of these animals than some uneducated pet store clerk.

Males can breed extremely young (400 grams is not unheard of). And your female is obviously at breeding size. If you arent prepared for eggs and the babies that may follow, you should really separate them. Females can become egg-bound and that can kill them or requires an experienced vet to take care of and is a surgical procedure. Males can experience injuries to their genital areas during breeding that may take vet visits and antibiotics to take care of.

If you aren't prepared to do what is right for the animals, perhaps you should rehome one of them. I know you stated that you "fell in love" with one of them, but it is a much better decision to make the RIGHT decision for the animal even if it means that you might not be happy.

Domination in snakes is shown as them appearing to cuddle. Snakes do not cuddle. Your larger female is bound to dominate the smaller male, this will stress him out. Stressed snakes get sick easier.

You will have to separate them to feed them.

Cannibalism is possible and has been documented in ball pythons.

Solutions:

you really should quarantine. See if a friend can watch the snake while it is in quarantine away from your current snake.

divide your current enclosure to house two snakes. Keep in mind you may have to buy a bigger enclosure to give them both enough room.

give the new snake back. If you cant come up with a feasible solution to this problem to keep both snakes, then it is detrimental to their health to keep them both like that.


I hope this helped. People get kinda uppity on these forums because they care so much about these animals. Housing two un quarantined animals together for no reason other than the OWNERS benefit is not a good idea. A lot of keepers find this out the hard way, we are trying to help you do waht is best for you and your animals and keep them healthy.
Please look past that and do waht is best for your animals.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Deborah

Let’s see if I can resume the situation

You did not do any research prior to purchasing yours animals or did very little
You were not prepared for a new animal
You do not quarantine
Your vet thinks RI cannot be passed on to other snakes
You are attributing human emotions to snakes
You think you will be able to prevent your female from being gravid.
You do not listen to advice from people who have experience (Pet stores do not count)

Did I miss anything?

Now to the question should they be house together the answer is NO.

BP are not social they do not have friends, they will dominate one another leading to stress and feeding issues etc etc etc

BP do not benefit from being house together, YOU do, you have already jeopardized the health of your snake by bringing a new animal without any quarantining it, so how about trying to do the right thing now? (Not what YOU feel they would like but what THEY need)

Also I would also recommend you to change vet.

---

Do you get it yet...

It is not ok....

Do we need to recap?

Mike

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by keelenswife217

and the guy we got him from said it would be safe to put themtogether

---

:weirdface Boggles the mind.

Well I'l be the one to say it.

The guy you bought him from is an IDIOT

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by keelenswife217

you all said to seperate them but i have been to several pet places and they are housed together

---

Pet stores are TEMPORARY housing. My local pet store has them on sand, they are all skin and bones, horrible sheds, and they told me that I'd sterilize them if I sexed them. Pet stores are the LAST place to get advice from. They are there to move product, period.

You came to a forum with experienced keepers and asked if you could permanently house a male and female together. Can you? Yes - you can. And you can have all sorts of issues with sick and stressed snakes as a result.

SHOULD you? Absolutely not.

Why come and ask the question, and then proceed to argue with everyone who has told you no?

Shouldn't these questions have been asked BEFORE you got the second snake?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by keelenswife217

no if i thought for one second that they werent happy id do something about it. they are like my kids and i wouldnt do anything to harm them.

---

But you are.

I had the same question when I first joined up, however, it is essential that you heed what the majority of the people on this forum say. There is a deep rooted love for herps here, along with an extensive knowledge base. You have to keep in mind that we are trying to help your snakes through you. We are not trying to get you to do what is best for you, or the most convenient for you.

If room is the issue as to why you cannot get another enclosure, there are plenty of stackable enclosures out there that you can get your hands on. I just got some vision cages myself and have not had a problem.