Need some help and advise asap plzplzplzplz!!!!!

Ok i am a new member here.. hello everyone. i am john.
I am the proud owner of a baby female python... and recently adopted a full grown male ball python. (earlier today actually)
He came with everything he needs including tank and lamps and all that.. but the tank is only 30 gallons or so...
but my baby who is about 2 feet or less is in a 100 gallon tank :rolleye2:
i know thats a crazy size for a bp especially a baby.
I want to put them both in the 100 gallon... Im afraid of the male killing my baby... how long should i wait to combine them? plz plz plz help

You should never combine them. Use separate tanks.

Why would you not just bag both snakes, sterilize both tanks, put the baby in the 30 and the big guy in the 100 ?

Both of those tanks are much to huge for a ball, but at least that makes more sense than putting them together in the same tank, no matter how big it is. That is just asking for something to go wrong.

By the way, welcome to BP.net! We hope you will stay and learn from us, we'd love to see pictures of your snakes some time. Most of us here got into snakes under less than ideal circumstances, so we can sympathize with you, and of course we are happy to answer any questions you may have and help you become a better owner. I've been here for 3 years myself, and I still learn something new about every week.

Gale

thanks for the rapid feedback!
and thanks for the welcome!
I was told by my local reptile store that ball pythons can be housed together and everyone i know that owned a bp owned two in the same tank... ofc they were the same age...
the male is a good 4 ft.. and quite thick.. so im afraid for the baby...

as for switching tanks... I feel bad but that would make the most sense if i chose not to try them together.

Keeping ball pythons in the same tank is just asking for trouble... If one gets sick, they both get sick. There is a chance that they will hurt/kill each other. Ball pythons only need 1 square foot of floor space per foot of length of the snake. I agree that the larger snake should be in the bigger tank, a 30 gallon is even on the big size for a 2 foot BP.

Are you following proper quarantine procedures? (at least 90 days long, separate tanks, wash hand before and after handling each snake, not letting anything that comes into contact with one snake come into contact into the other)

wow i had really no plan on keeping the separate at all.. i thought there was like a weeks grace time before putting her in with the baby...
but they should stay sperate for life?
I didnt even think to wash my hands before and after.. im very new to reptiles and bp's.

Yes they absolutely should stay separate for life, mine will only ever see another snake during breeding season.

In the wild they are solitary creatures from the moment that they hatch from their egg. There mother is already gone and all of the hatchlings go their separate ways.

Give this a read, it should really help:

http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...s%29-Caresheet

and this as well:

http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...Husbandry-FAQs

i will give it a read.
what does the numbers and decimals mean when talking about pets
Example 0.1 ball python

1.0 = male, 0.1 = female, 0.0.1 = unknown sex

so 4.2.6 would be 4 males, 2 females, and 6 snakes of unknown sex

oh wow!! i love discovering a new community!!
this is just like two years ago when i started car modifications.. had to be a noobie in the threads. ty for your help!

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Originally Posted by JohnyB

oh wow!! i love discovering a new community!!
this is just like two years ago when i started car modifications.. had to be a noobie in the threads. ty for your help!

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no problem, if you ever have any questions feel free to ask

Hey, welcome to bp.net, as you see we here are all very willing to help with questions and concers. First, its IMO going to be a pian in the rear to get husbandry perfect in a 100gal glass tank. You may want to skip the tanks all together (after quarentine) and either buy or build a 4-5 tub rack... I've just built my rack and put my bpsin tubs and its so much easier to keep temps and humidity right it also helps with perfect sheds and other health issues... Good luck and again, welcome:salute:

Hi John,

Welcome to bp.net!! You picked the best place to learn how to properly care for your bp's.

Please read thru the care sheet to get your tanks set up properly - your snakes health relies on their temps, humidity, security being provided properly.

I second the recommendation of getting a rack - I started with a 30 gallon tank and quickly realized what a hard time it was to regulated - I now keep all mine in racks.

Best of luck to you as you learn all about bp husbandry.

Here's my general answer for questions like this...which are sadly common.
Cohabitating reptiles even as the same species is not recommended. Insead of just telling you "no" I'll list the common reasons why.
1) Cannibalism, not common, but there are DOCUMENTED cases. This alone isn't worth the risk.
2) Stress. Even the most friendly snakes get stressed out, so why cause the stress? Snakes have no want or need to be with another snake unless it's for breeding purposes. Other than that, it's just an unwanted roommate that they can't get away from.
3) Space. They will constantly try to dominate eachother for the best spots in the enclosure, even if you have multiple hides, you'll mainly see them together in one spot. People usually see this as "cuddling". It's not cuddling, they are fighting over the best spot.
4) You wake up in the morning after feeding and there's a regurgitated mouse. Which one did it?
5) One gets sick, now both are sick. That's 2X the vet bills, 2X the medications, and 2X the stress.
6) You are told the new snake you bought is the same sex as the one you already have. a year later, you find eggs in the enclosure. You have not prepared, no incubator, no space for babies, and no one to sell them to. What do you do now? The pet store/vet/person sexed them wrong.
7) Quarantine. How are you going to quarantine the new snake away from your original one? As you gain more experience, you'll find that quarantine is a NECESSITY. You could get a perfectly healthy snake, or one covered in mite eggs that hatch 3 days after you bring it home. Now both snakes have mites. Snakes also can take a long time to start showing symptoms of illness, now you got your original snake sick because you didn't quarantine.

Those are just the more known and common issues with housing multiple reptiles. The list goes on. The only pro to housing them together is to save space in your house by only having one enclosure, but is it worth it? That is up to you.

Oh, and welcome to the forum, we all start somewhere :)

wow thats great advise thank you so much..that kind of stuff never would have occurred to me =/.
the 100 gallon i do find to keep just right and it did take alot of trying things out to get it the way i like.
but i can safely say the temp will always we high 80s-mid low 90s and humidity of 50 or better.


so i will switch tanks today and have the adult move to the 100 gall.. but is it safe to have them out together? Or should i avoid this as well?

make sure you have thermostats to regulate the temperatures.been alot of posts about burns lately.it isnt a good idea to have them anywhere nere each other since they are both new animals.u dont want one passing any parasites or diseases to the other.gl with your new babys

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Originally Posted by JohnyB

wow thats great advise thank you so much..that kind of stuff never would have occurred to me =/.
the 100 gallon i do find to keep just right and it did take alot of trying things out to get it the way i like.
but i can safely say the temp will always we high 80s-mid low 90s and humidity of 50 or better.


so i will switch tanks today and have the adult move to the 100 gall.. but is it safe to have them out together? Or should i avoid this as well?

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Right now i would say its a bad idea but once theyre sepreated for approx 3 months or so then taking them out together isnt a problem. As long as theyre both healthy: no mites, RIs etc...

I don't have BPs but I read this thread anyways.
I want to welcome you and THANK YOU for being open minded and listening to people who know what they're talking about! You are going to be a great snake keeper if you keep learning! :gj:

You can have them out at the same time, but I will warn you, keeping an eye on two active snakes is not an easy thing to do.

I am very glad you are willing to make some changes for the health of your snakes. Sometimes we come across as kind of stuck-up or know-it-all's, but we don't mean to. We see a lot of people here who go about things badly, then when something bad happens they come here in a panic, but don't want to be told what they are doing wrong and try to fix it.

We always mean the best for you and your animals, even if it isn't what you want to hear. I know when I first came here, I thought I was doing a good job with my snakes. It was hard to hear I had pretty much everything wrong. At first I was pretty adamant my snakes were different, and I didn't need to change all these things. I was however, very wrong. After about 3 years of doing things my way and being smug about proving the people here wrong, my snakes went downhill fast. I tried too little too late to help things, but ended up admitting I was over my head.

I scrapped everything I had up until then, which included huge glass tanks and heat lamps, and two very aggressive, very large ball pythons and starting over. Now, I follow the wonderful advise and instructions I get here. I have 25 ball pythons now, all are happy and healthy, gentle and enjoyable, and I'm even going to have baby pythons of my own this year.

Anyway, the point of my ramble is, we really do mean the best for you and your animals, and we hope you take our well meant advise as such.

Gale

Yup, as other have said, they should never be together. And both tanks are large. Your little one would do fine in a 20. And your big guy should be ok in the 30. 100 way too big for either. Make sure you have lots of hides for the little guy to feel secure if he has to be in a bigger tank. Also should read up on qt. You wouldn't want them both sick if you can help it.

So i cleaned out both tanks and did some re-arranging to fit both snakes needs.. went to the store and picked up some stuff.
I can take pictures if you would be interested in seeing the snakes and seeing the setups and giving me some pointers.

I will be the first to admit i know next to nothing as i am just starting.. but i do try to research every thing before i do it.

Wow Johny, I applaud you for your willingness to learn, you seem to be really eager to soak up some snake knowledge!

You've already got lots of great tips from the lovely members here, and we'd love to see your setups.

For the record, here's an article I wrote for my website regarding co-habbing: Can I Keep Multiple Snakes in One Enclosure?

I will warn you now, the article does include photographic evidence of cannibalism.

Sometimes I feel like printing it out and handing it out to pet stores, as they sometimes pass on less than good knowledge to new reptile keepers.

Good luck with your snakes, and like I said, pics please! We're all about pics here :P

Ok so this may be the wrong spot for pics... but i will enclose some below. (sorry mods if this is considered incorrect)
My babys 30 gall
http://i44.tinypic.com/35aj2c5.jpg
my males 100 gall
http://i43.tinypic.com/4scorl.jpg

http://i40.tinypic.com/1zpmo44.jpg

Quote:

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Originally Posted by JohnyB

Ok so this may be the wrong spot for pics... but i will enclose some below. (sorry mods if this is considered incorrect)
My babys 30 gall
http://i44.tinypic.com/35aj2c5.jpg
my males 100 gall
http://i43.tinypic.com/4scorl.jpg

http://i40.tinypic.com/1zpmo44.jpg

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Looks ok, the only thing that I see that should be changed is your thermometer/hydrometer. Those dial thermometers are known to be inaccurate. You should get one of these. They cost $12 at Walmart and are much better.

http://i1186.photobucket.com/albums/...nt/photo-3.jpg

And you should have 2 identical hides (one on the hot side and one on the cool side)

I have digital in the 100 gall and more laying around i havnt set up...
my anologs read the same as digital though.. because i have both.
I figured an identical hide would be boring haha.. they really lay in everything thats in there.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by JohnyB

I have digital in the 100 gall and more laying around i havnt set up...
my anologs read the same as digital though.. because i have both.
I figured an identical hide would be boring haha.. they really lay in everything thats in there.

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The point of having 2 identical hides is to make sure that they don't prefer one hide and stop properly thermoregulating because of it. With some this is 't an issue but I prefer to be cautious.

i just fed him cause the people i adopted him from said he hadnt eaten in months..
He hits ALOT harder then my baby... I was surprised he ate considering its his second day here and first day in his new tank.
He ate two small rats thawed.

You are off to a good start. You have done a decent job of cluttering up all the empty space in the tanks, and that is a good thing.

I'm not as adamant about two identical hides, I only use one in my tubs and my snakes do fine. Or at least they have for the last two years.

It's a good thing if he eats that easy for you. That is a good sign. He undoubtedly was quite hungry, and just decided since all this stuff was going on anyway, maybe he'd better eat while he could. The real tell will be if he eats again in a week to 10 days.

I'm glad you are willing to make adjustments in your husbandry as you learn. Some people are not, and that is tough.

Gale

Looks pretty good. Thank you for taking advice to try to get your snakes happy and healthy. One thing you might try to do is, make sure the hides are snug and not to big.