2 or my pythons

i was just wondering how close in size 2 or more ball pythons have to be to live in same cage.

u should never let 2 or more bp's live in the same cage unless they are breeding. bp's have sometimes been known to become cannibalistic

yes but iv read that its ok if they are close in size

Search the forums you will find a lot of info on this subject. A lot of books people read are 10-15-20 yrs old. Check the dates on your books then come ask what the experts are saying today.

It is never acceptable to keep two ball pythons together. They will stress each other out. They will spread parasites/diseases to each other if they have them (twice the vet bill) and yes, they may eat each other, or kill each other.

The only time they may be together is for breeding purposes.

Reading something and hearing it direct here from the experienced keepers and breeders that are long time members of this forum will perhaps help you decide. The fact is through their experience, wisdom and years of working with pythons they will advise you that these are solitary snakes that should never be housed together for a lot of very solid reasons such as domination of one snake over the other, cannibalism, spread of disease, inability to ascertain exactly which snake is ill, accidental breedings - just to name a few. Other than the short time they spend breeding each year they are best kept one per enclosure.


~~Jo~~

If you go cheap now, you'll pay in the long run. Just spend the extra money on 2 cages :)

i wasnt going cheep
i just saw 2 pythons in one cage at the store and thought my python would like a cage mate

ive seen 5 near death pythons in the same cage at the petstore too. i didnt go out and do that.

your python would be much happier WITHOUT a cage mate. trust me, ive done it before, it is NOT good to have more then one in the same cage.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by hediboru

i wasnt going cheep
i just saw 2 pythons in one cage at the store and thought my python would like a cage mate

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Stores frequently put them all in together - they just want to sell them.

I've only been on this forum for a few months so am relatively new - but trust me, these people here are the people to listen to for good advice - many of them have kept multiple snakes for very many years. If I have a problem - I never ask a pet store - I always come here :)

thanks for the advise everybody

Quote:

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Originally Posted by hediboru

i wasnt going cheep
i just saw 2 pythons in one cage at the store and thought my python would like a cage mate

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Snakes are not social creatures. They prefer their own space and will sometimes fight to get it. If they're not aggressive enough to fight for it, it will stress them out and can cause them to go off feed or suffer other health problems.