Is it ok to...

Hi, jus one quick question, I've had my ball for about 5 yrs and I work at a PetSmart. My store is having a 30% off all snakes this weekend only and I would get 15% more off for employee discount. I cant pass up 45% off on a new baby ball but my only concern is that hes too small/young to keep in the same tank as my adult whos about 4 ft long now. My adult (Sgt Pepper) is eating med. rats and the babys only now at fuzzies. I really hope i can bring home a new friend. What do ya'll think?
thanks,
Tickles

Nice glad to see someone working at the Petsmart knows about snakes. I'm a noob and I even saw that the one where im at humidity level was 20% and the temp was in the low 70's. Sorry just had to share. But yea it is a deal for the 45% off. Puts it down for like 45ish dollars for u.

can I keep the wee little one with my adult?

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Originally Posted by MrTickles

can I keep the wee little one with my adult?

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In short, not a good idea.

because I dont have another tank and I dont have room for another D: I wouldnt be able to get him

Generally not a good idea to co-habitate snakes. I would set up a separate enclosure for the other snake if I were you.

I wouldn't recommend housing them together regardless of size, especially when one is a new addition. I would quarantine all new additions. Also, housing Ball Pythons together will stress them out.

Depending on the pricing at that specific Petsmart, you could probably find one for even less from a local breeder (if we're talking about normals). You can check out a local breeder or show if you are wanting another one. Some breeders sell hatchling normal males for $20-$50.

EDIT: If you don't have room for a separate enclosure for another one, I would suggest not getting a new one for now.

:'( this is greatly depressing lol I was excited that I might be bringing a new friend home.

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Originally Posted by LGL

I wouldn't recommend housing them together regardless of size, especially when one is a new addition. I would quarentine all new additions. Also, housing Ball Pythons together will stress them out.

Depending on the pricing at that specific Petsmart, you could probably find one for even less from a local breeder (if we're talking about normals). You can check out a local breeder or show if you are wanting another one. Some breeders sell hatchling normal males for $20-$50.

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Good points :gj:

You can allways get a sterlite tub cheap and get a het mat. Its a cheap way out. I would not house them together. Also you dont know if the other snake is carrying any dieses.

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Originally Posted by MrTickles

can I keep the wee little one with my adult?

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Can you, yes. Should you, no. Lots of threads on housing BPs together here that go over the inherent issues with sharing cage space. While some can cohabitate without issues, just based on size difference, I wouldn't even try it. (I personally am firmly in the camp of one per enclosure unless breeding).

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Originally Posted by MrTickles

can I keep the wee little one with my adult?

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I would say no. It's never a good idea to put 2 snakes together unless you're breeding them.

Not to mention you are going to want to quarantine the little one away from the adult for a week anyway just to make sure the little one isn;t carrying some sickness.

I just picked up a lovely spider male today and he;s off in quarantine in his 10g enclosure. I would definitly recommend getting a 2nd enclosure but if space is an issue, a rack would be really good.

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Originally Posted by Karbon

I would say no. It's never a good idea to put 2 snakes together unless you're breeding them.

Not to mention you are going to want to quarantine the little one away from the adult for a week anyway just to make sure the little one isn;t carrying some sickness.

I just picked up a lovely spider male today and he;s off in quarantine in his 10g enclosure. I would definitly recommend getting a 2nd enclosure but if space is an issue, a rack would be really good.

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I would quarantine a heck of a lot longer than a week. Most quarantine for a minimum of 60 days. A week is no where near long enough to show many issues if they exist.

Ive sold my captive bred normals for $20 healthy & eating great,so $45 for a captive hatched or wild caught is way much for me.

I would suggest making room for a second enclosure or building/purchasing a heated snake rack and tubs. THEN start looking for an additional ball. Impulse buys aren't always a good thing, especially when they're living, breathing animals. Prepare for a second and then start looking. So what if you miss out on the sale price at Petsmart. Just glancing over the For Sale/Trade sub-forum here there are normal babies available from breeders registered here that would probably be a better buy than what is found in the big chain stores. Just my $0.02

I would suggest buying your new ball from a exotic or reptile store much better. They would be able to tell you the sex and normals there are MUCH cheaper. I bought my first BP, a normal, for $25 regular price.

Also the normals in those store are reduce pattern or at least some what reduced. These are usualy normals that local breeders produce from morphs breeding and they dont want/need them around and get sold to exotic/reptile stores at discount prices.

And ofcourse I have to try to convince you!

The first day that I got her about 8 months ago, little worm!
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y18...i/100_1161.jpg

And a few months ago...
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y18...i/100_1730.jpg

Don't keep your snakes together...

And don't buy from petsmart. Captive hatched babies will cost you about $15-25 at a reptile show, so even with the petsmart holiday employee discount it's not worth it.

I used to work there a long time ago... on the 30% off day pick up a bunch of tanks ;) Much better value there... I bought a few of those exo-terra 18x18x18 cages for cheap that way.

There must be some place you could put another tank. Since it's a baby, a 10 gallon would work for quite a while until you make some room. A baby can live in a 10g for several months and be happy.