Housing 2 young BPs in the same cage?

Hi. I have 2 young ball pythons (about a year and a half old) who have been raised together since they were hatchlings. They seem to get along very well and are thriving well. However, I have heard that you should not house more than one ball python per cage. Currently, they are in a 20 gallon terrarium which I know is too small for them. I am going to purchase a new one, but I was curious if I should buy one and seperate them. Does anyone know if it is ok to keep them together or should I purchase one more cage and seperate them? Any information would be very appreciated.

Ball pythons are not social. They do not want or need to share a cage. Doing so stresses them out, causes them to compete for access to needs, catch and then share disease, can also provoke cannibalism, etc. Separate those two snake ASAP.

Do not keep ball pythons together. Eventually there will be a problem.

Can it be done? Yes some people do it and do so successfully, those people are very rare and usually they have decades of experience.

Is it recommended or should it be done? No your average pet owner should avoid doing this.

Are there any benefit? There are no benefits only inconvenience, and doing so can result in serious issues.

Finally as a general rule if someone ask if it can be done than this mean they lack the necessary experience to do it right, so I will say no do not do it.

Separate them. When you see them laying on top of each other or "cuddling" in the same hide, they are not getting along or being social, but are competing for the best spot. This is not a social species, so housing them together is stressful and has risks.

For keepers without years and years of experience the benefits of housing them together would be for the keeper, out of selfishness or ignorance or lack of education on the subject. The results will be a stressed out, unhealthy situation for the animals. Snakes are extremely solitary and there is a reason that experienced, knowledgeable keepers house their snakes separately and advise that others do as well.

Ever seen one snake eat another? Well, keeping yours together and you might be a firsthand witness to it. Snakes are not social except during hibernation like in rattlesnakes or during breeding.

I read a story where a guy put 2 snakes into one tub to clean out both their cages and when he came back, one had eaten the other and then one who did the eating died after that so he lost both snakes. And that was just in the time it took to clean 2 cages.

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Originally Posted by JaniKaralee

Hi. I have 2 young ball pythons (about a year and a half old) who have been raised together since they were hatchlings. They seem to get along very well and are thriving well. However, I have heard that you should not house more than one ball python per cage. Currently, they are in a 20 gallon terrarium which I know is too small for them. I am going to purchase a new one, but I was curious if I should buy one and seperate them. Does anyone know if it is ok to keep them together or should I purchase one more cage and seperate them? Any information would be very appreciated.

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As everyone suggests it's far better to give them separate vivs / rubs .

I tried keeping my unrelated pair of Albino Royals together , in a good sized Viv , with loads of branches , about 7 different hides , lots of hiding places and they seem to get on really well , they were usually to be found in the same place - even though there were numerous similar places available with the same temps. I tried to think of everything .
On many occasions I observed the female following the male around just as much as the other 'expected' way . So it wasn't just a case of the male harassing the female for a touch of naughties :).

Anyway I tried it for about 6 weeks and they both acted in their normal way even when being handled . They looked fabulous together in the evening when they were both out exploring .

The BIG problem was that they both went from feeding every time to not feeding well at all . I used to feed them in separate containers , which was different straight away to being fed in their vivs .

The male fed 2 out of 5 attempts and the female just once in the five attempts .

When I returned them back in their own vivs , left them for a week or so they both returned to feeding every 7 to 10 days .


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Following each other around and sharing the same space isn't getting along in snakes. That's competing needs access behavior. They are both trying to share the favorable spots, and getting stressed out and frustrated that they have to share. Even in a decent sized enclosure with lots of space to roam so they have the ability to choose whether or not to be around each other, you will have tiny micro climate pockets, and each snake will want to use the best one. The fact that they stopped eating is your proof positive of this. They were stressed by having to share the good spots constantly, so even if they seemed to be acting perfectly normal to a human, they were trying to say how unhappy they were to have a hoggy room mate.

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Originally Posted by Lizardlicks

Following each other around and sharing the same space isn't getting along in snakes. That's competing needs access behavior. They are both trying to share the favorable spots, and getting stressed out and frustrated that they have to share. Even in a decent sized enclosure with lots of space to roam so they have the ability to choose whether or not to be around each other, you will have tiny micro climate pockets, and each snake will want to use the best one. The fact that they stopped eating is your proof positive of this. They were stressed by having to share the good spots constantly, so even if they seemed to be acting perfectly normal to a human, they were trying to say how unhappy they were to have a hoggy room mate.

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I kinda explained all that as best as I could . They weren't competing for the most favourable places as there were many places of each temperature to choose from . I realise that it doesn't suit your agenda to read hear that but it's true . Many times they'd both be curled together in a hide in the cooler side and again there would have been two or more hides with the same temps and a few quiet hiding places as well - all the same temps . I made a point of providing many hides in the warm side , the middle and the cooler side .


More often than not they'd be together . Why would they both always want to be warm then want to be cooler at the very same time , it doesn't add up . Why was the female following the male as often as the male would follow the female ?


You'd imagine that on occasion one would want to be warm and the other want to be cool , yet that very rarely occurred .

I've been totally honest , I can only relay what I observed .

They simply didn't feed anywhere near as well as they do when they're apart . That's the difference in my experience .

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Originally Posted by Zincubus

I kinda explained all that as best as I could . They weren't competing for the most favourable places as there were many places of each temperature to choose from . I realise that it doesn't suit your agenda to read hear that but it's true . Many times they'd both be curled together in a hide in the cooler side and again there would have been two or more hides with the same temps and a few quiet hiding places as well - all the same temps . I made a point of providing many hides in the warm side , the middle and the cooler side .


More often than not they'd be together . Why would they both always want to be warm then want to be cooler at the very same time , it doesn't add up . Why was the female following the male as often as the male would follow the female ?


You'd imagine that on occasion one would want to be warm and the other want to be cool , yet that very rarely occurred .

I've been totally honest , I can only relay what I observed .

They simply didn't feed anywhere near as well as they do when they're apart . That's the difference in my experience .

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I have actually been wanting to do this experiment for awhile with a male and female that I know very well and record everything that goes on. If it starts to go south I will stop the experiment. I am going to get a very large tub I am going to use identical everythings throughout the enclosure. I am on ambient so in theory there will no one place better than the other in the enclosure.

I absolutely do not advise new keepers to attempt this. Unless you know your animals very well and are prepared to loose one don't even think about it.

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Originally Posted by JodanOrNoDan

I have actually been wanting to do this experiment for awhile with a male and female that I know very well and record everything that goes on. If it starts to go south I will stop the experiment. I am going to get a very large tub I am going to use identical everythings throughout the enclosure. I am on ambient so in theory there will no one place better than the other in the enclosure.

I absolutely do not advise new keepers to attempt this. Unless you know your animals very well and are prepared to loose one don't even think about it.

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Exactly !!

I'm certain it is possible , just needs experience , space and time patience . ( money helps for all the hides etc )

I have 22 snakes ranging from a pair of 12" LTRs and 7' Snow Boa so TIME is always problem .


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Originally Posted by Zincubus

Exactly !!

I'm certain it is possible , just needs experience , space and time patience . ( money helps for all the hides etc )

I have 22 snakes ranging from a pair of 12" LTRs and 7' Snow Boa so TIME is always problem .


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I ran out of editing time :)



Here they are back in adjacent , matching vivs in a synchronised feeding session on thawed frozen !!

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...e29c13aec3.jpg


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won't cost me that much to set it up. i'm thinking maybe $30. i'm the king of cheap. I've got a good idea of how to set it up. Just have to wait till the girl I want to use lays and starts eating again. i think i will might as well do maternal incubation experiment in conjunction with this one if the female ends up becoming gravid. time is definitely an issue, but i have help so it is doable. may stick a game camera or something in there to monitor what they are doing.

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...1acd08ae3d.jpg

This is always the photo I show people when they ask if they can house two ball pythons together lol It works every time and they always separate them immediately!


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Originally Posted by Vithaxton

https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...1acd08ae3d.jpg

This is always the photo I show people when they ask if they can house two ball pythons together lol It works every time and they always separate them immediately!


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That is definitely a picture that should be convincing. I have seen this picture before but never with any context. Male/Female? Female/Female? Visually I would guess female/female. Both look under fed to me. Just guessing on my part since one has been swallowed and the other cut up.

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Originally Posted by Zincubus

They weren't competing for the most favourable places as there were many places of each temperature to choose from .

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Temperature isn't the only thing to consider. The way the snake fits into the hide, the hide's location in the tank, and the amount of light and open space immediately around the hide are all factors. I've noticed that most of my snakes will prefer a tight fitting hide - even one that's a little too tight - to a loose one. Some snakes prefer more vertical space in a hide and some snakes prefer flater hides. Almost all of them prefer hides in darker locations with more cover, farther from the transparent front of the tank, tub, or enclosure, and far from any open spaces. You may have multiple hides on the warm side, cool side, and in the middle, but some may have more cover than others or be closer to the back of their habitat.

The point is, no two hides are really alike. Even if you had six identical hides, two for each temperature zone, the location of each would differ slightly. Snakes always have a preference.

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Originally Posted by Zincubus

More often than not they'd be together . Why would they both always want to be warm then want to be cooler at the very same time , it doesn't add up . Why was the female following the male as often as the male would follow the female ?

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By huddling together they can make the hide feel even smaller. If the hides are a bit on the large side, or even just big enough that the snakes aren't touching all the sides at once, they can feel insecure. When a hide fits a snake well it shouldn't be possible for another snake of the same size to squeeze in alongside it.


For the record, the above information comes from my observations also. I housed a pair of young BPs together once, but I've come to regard it as a dumb thing I did when I wasn't very educated about them. I provided everything they needed as far as multiple hides for each temperature zone. Unlike you, I didn't have feeding issues. They both ate every meal I gave them (in separate containers, which was a lot of unecessary stress on them), but it was a really busy tank. Plenty of fakes leaves, wood logs, and other decorations that created nooks and crannies for them to hide in, so that might have helped them feel secure.

What I noticed was that both snakes would cram into the same hide often... until they got bigger. Once the snakes were almost as big as the hides they were using they no longer spent time together. I'd typically find them at opposide ends of the tank.

I ended up separating them for multiple reasons. The main one is that I just wanted to provide the best environment possible. Can you house two snakes together? Sure. Mine were doing fine that way. But I wouldn't say it's a good idea. They're just as happy in separate enclosures, if not more so, and separating them has many benefits. They don't have to compete for space. If one of them has a weird poop, bad shed, or a regurge, I don't have to worry about which one it was. Don't have to worry about any accidental eggs before the female is ready to breed either.

Even while breeding I've noticed that adult snakes will often take opposite sides of an enclosure unless they're in the mood to do the dirty. They're really not cuddling because they want to be together. They're huddling because they're scared. There's too much open space and they feel vulnerable.

Thank you for your information. I am going to seperate the snakes. I was pretty sure this would be the best idea, but I wanted to ask others opinions. I have raised snakes for many years, but never before adopted snakes that have been rasied together. I figured it would be in their best interest to be seperated. Thank you so much for your information. :)

I appreciate you information. I have many years experience with snakes, but have never adopted snakes that had been rasied together before. They do seem to get a long quite well, but I am going to seperate them because of their preferance to be solitary. I asked this question to hear others opinion on the matter and I appreciate your information.

Thank you for your information. However, I do not feel like I am being selfish or lack education on ball pythons or snakes in general. I have raised snakes for many years. These specific ball pythons were raised together before I adopted them. I was curious if this would be a different because of their situation. I am going to seperate them nonetheless there is no reason for me to have them in the same area and again, I really do apprecaite your information :)

Thank you so much for your information. Your experience having multiple ball pythons in the same cage sounds very interesting. Thank you also for not attacking me for my quesiton and assuming I am uneducated/new raising about snakes, uneducated, ignorant, and selfish like some of the other repliers to my post. I have raised snakes for many years, but had a specific quesiton about hatchlings that had been rasied together before I adopted them. Thanks again for your information and your story about your snakes. Have a great day!