Living together

I know this subject has been touched on before, but I would like to bring it up again and hear some of your opinions on the subject. This includes the new folks thoughts too!

What are the pros/cons on allowing Ball Pythons to live together instead of in their own enclosure?

Does it matter what sex they are? (M/F, M/M, F/F)

What about putting them together if their sizes are different?

How should they be introduced?

Assuming that both are healthy and mite free, is this advisable? Would they "appreciate" having a companion? Or would they "prefer" to be alone?

Mine are currently housed seperately and seem fine with it. But I have considered putting them together for companionship but am unsure how they'd do together. I wouldn't want to stress either of them out by forcing them into the situation, and I sure wouldn't want either of them trying to get territorial or fussy, and strike/bite/ or kill the other.

Your thoughts?

Pros? None that I can think of....except making baby pythons. Snakes are not social animals therfore "companionship" is not something that is applicable to them. They only associate with others of their species to procreate. There really is no good reason to put them together other than for breeding purposes.

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Originally Posted by DavidBeard

Pros? None that I can think of....except making baby pythons. Snakes are not social animals therfore "companionship" is not something that is applicable to them. They only associate with others of their species to procreate. There really is no good reason to put them together other than for breeding purposes.

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Took all the words exactly out of my mouth, David. That's how I feel on the subject as well. So there's my answer. :)

Jennifer

What did I tell you about great minds? ;)

that they suck??? ;)

Only someone insane with jealousy would say something like that. ;)

Doesn't it also lesson the possibilities of breeding if both genders live together for extended periods of time?

how many times must i admit how jealous i am...

btw beard, good explaination. the best way to put it, no matter what people think. bp's don't make friends.

Marcus, I have seen people sucessfully keep snakes together with no problems. Boids are not territorial, and typically not cannibalistic. They certainly are not social creatures, however, and are not lacking any companionship. Having said that, and visited you in your home, I am confident that if you wanted to try it, it would probably work. It just takes more diligence on the part of the keeper. I know how much you love all your babies, and how much time you spend with them, so I bet you could make it work, if you wanted.

Thanks Randy, and thanks everyone for the feedback. I'm still uncertain if I'm going to try it.

If I do, I will keep everyone informed on the progress.

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Originally Posted by RPlank

Marcus, I have seen people sucessfully keep snakes together with no problems. Boids are not territorial, and typically not cannibalistic. They certainly are not social creatures, however, and are not lacking any companionship. Having said that, and visited you in your home, I am confident that if you wanted to try it, it would probably work. It just takes more diligence on the part of the keeper. I know how much you love all your babies, and how much time you spend with them, so I bet you could make it work, if you wanted.

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Yeah....he *could* do it, but why? What would be the reason behind it? There is no good reason to do it unless you are attempting to breed.

Keeping snakes in separate enclosures is essential to good record keeping, and good record keeping is something a lot of keepers tend to overlook, even though it can make a world of difference in determining problems/solutions if something goes wrong. Keeping 2 animals in the same enclosure will cross-contaminate them, there's no way around it. Sharing a water bowl is a huge source of pathogen transfer between two animals. Seems like this wouldn't be a problem for 2 healthy snakes, but there's always the chance that something could go wrong with one & pass it on to the other, whether internal/external parasites, a disease of some sort, or otherwise.

I guess I've just never been a big advocate of keeping snakes together...I can't see the benefits of saving space over the possible detrimental effects of cross-contamination, but maybe I'm just a clean freak that way.

K

you can save space by putting them together...thats an advantage to you, but now look at the disadvantages to your snakes,which have been pointed out before. if its a mature male and and immature female, the female may show aggresion to the male (as i read in will's post about peanut being a female). two males, during breeding season, might result in them "battling". though they wouldnt directly hurt eachother, it would kind of send the other snake into depression. it might go off feed and it might not breed that season.
well anyways... you could always TRY it. if it doesnt work out, seperate them again. they probably do prefer to be alone.

One of the biggest problem with allowing your snakes to cohabitate in a shared enclosure is the risk of activists. Praying Mantis, especially, have been known to stage rather vocal protests over the moral implications of snakes co-mingling outside the bounds of Scaly Matrimony. When the pairings are same sex, the outrage is even more pronounced.

Try as we might to explain to these activists that the housing arrangements are strictly platonic, they invariably dig up the instances where co-habitating snakes have succumbed to the temptation to intertwine their bodies in conjugal ways, resulting in baby snakes born out of wedlock. They insist that such offspring end up on public assistance and are far more likely to be biters and escapees, and no amount of documented data will dissuade them from their bias against these innocent snakes.

If you have snakes sharing living quarters, it is often best to adopt the "Don't ask, don't tell" policy when it comes to discussing the housing arrangements. Let the listeners assume that each snake has its own private enclosure, where they live a happy existence in celibate bliss. It keeps things much more peaceful all around.

(This tongue-in-cheek post brought to you by the Scarlet Letter 'A', and the not so lonely number '2')

OMG! That was great Hoomi! :lol:

Hoomi....that's pure classic!

BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!! ROTFLMAO!!!!!!!!!! Too true!!!! :lol: :lol:

I personally just don't think the possible problems are worth the risk. Although there are some signs of a snake being stressed, it's possible that snakes kept together can be stressed but not show it - at least right away. The idea of losing one snake is bad enough - but two! Or even 2 vet bills....ugh! Also, I see how record keeping could be a bit difficult. How would you know who deficated when you found feces? To me, it's just a great excuse to have fun planning a new setup!

speaking of the social lives of snakes.....anyone read this:

Rattlesnakes social?
http://animal.discovery.com/news/bri...209/snake.html

Yup, read it from your link on the other forum. Very interesting, but not surprising with rattlers.

Hehe - like to hear more as our two new ones came together and I am hesitant to break them up just yet. We DO plan on breeding them but the required maturity is a ways off yet. Does planned breeding lend creedence more to one approach or they other? WIll they be more likely to breed if they have been seperated until that time? Less likely?

Interesting link tigergenesis The only other species Ive read thus far that seems to have any "snake social life" is the spotted python in fact all the antaresia family are said to "not mind" being together although Im not sure if they actualy prefer it.