Balls and Boas

On another forum that I frequent there is quite a large debate about whether it is safe to house boas (such as BCI's and BCC's) in the same snake room as Balls. I prefer not to take such a chance however I'm curious as to what you folks here think.

I think most will say one snake, one enclosure unless breeding.

I would like to know what's so unsafe about keeping them in the same room? I keep two BPs and one boa in the same rack together and have never had any problems. They were all quarentined from each other before they were placed in the same rack... so I know they're not sick. What's the big deal if they all have their own container?

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Originally Posted by Entropy

On another forum that I frequent there is quite a large debate about whether it is safe to house boas (such as BCI's and BCC's) in the same snake room as Balls. I prefer not to take such a chance however I'm curious as to what you folks here think.

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He didn't mean same enclosure ;)

I would say its ok, as long as quarentine is met,etc,etc,etc.

wash hands inbetween handling!

oh geez same snake room? I mis-read that. Sorry.

well if that's the advice that is given, i guess my next house will need 100+ rooms. geez this business is getting to expensive.

seriously..i think that's a mistake. yeah, quarantine new snakes for a few months to ensure it's not sick...but separate room, for each snake? what a load.

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Originally Posted by ladywhipple02

I would like to know what's so unsafe about keeping them in the same room? I keep two BPs and one boa in the same rack together and have never had any problems. They were all quarentined from each other before they were placed in the same rack... so I know they're not sick. What's the big deal if they all have their own container?

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I believe the concern is that some boas may carry IBD but show no outward symptoms ... ever. These animals would seem healthy but would in fact transmit the virus to other snakes. Unfortunately I am not sure of the actual statistics on boas who do carry it, but show no symptoms. That is where the concern is arising.

I have one herp room (a former dining room) and yes, my snakes are all in the same room; 5 BPs and one BCI. It would probably be useless to house them in seperate rooms anyway, since our floor of the house has an open floor plan, and any bacteria that'd be airborne would travel around, anyway. But I always handle my BCI last, if I am handling or cage-cleaning more than once in a day, and take precautions in between any animal handlings; wash hands good, etc.

Tigerlilly, that is exactly the debate on the other forum. With the devistating effects that IBD has on balls and the fact that boas can be 'quiet' carriers quarantine is not necessarily good enough.
I know quite a few people keep both and this forum has such a nice diversity I was just curious as to the thoughts here.

Even when they are housed in seperate rooms, IBD has been known to spread from boas to balls. Lets say you have a boa in quarantine in another room... and just once, you forget to wash your hands?

Seems to me, the only way to know for SURE is to have your snakes tested for inclusion bodies before you introduce them into a collection, or the room with your collection.

Of course, even then, some people debate whether it's really the inclusion bodies that kill the snake or if the inclusion bodies sufficiently weaken the snake's immune system so much that a simple RI eventually kills the snake (example: AIDS doesn't kill... it just weakens the immune system so much that a person dies from a cold).

As long as you follow proper quarantine procedures, you should be able to house multiple species in the same snake room.

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Originally Posted by nathanledet

I think most will say one snake, one enclosure unless breeding.

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How would you go about breeding a boa and a ball? LOL

I do believe he meant for any snake reguardless of type, not necessarily just boas and balls.

The incubation period for IBD has lasted as long as a year an half in a boa (they received the snake, isolated it for quarantine, and it didn't fall ill til that much later)---most people's quarantining falls far short of that.

So, yes, there is a good point in keeping boas and balls in seperate rooms... if you get a sick boa that is asymptomatic to IBD, but starts showing signs months longer, only the other boas in the room will possibly become infected.

But, that doesn't really solve the problem... because you still lose your boas.

We currently have about 50 Boas and 14 Ball Pythons in one Reptile Room. I see no problem at all in having Boas, Pythons and even Colubrids in the same room as long as strict quarantine and maintenance procedures are followed throughout the year without exception.

If you mean keeping Boas and BP's in one enclosure? I would not keep any two snakes whether they be Boas and Boas or BP's and BP's in one enclosure, unless some breeding was taking place.

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Originally Posted by Mr. H

How would you go about breeding a boa and a ball? LOL

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You don't, it can't happen.

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Originally Posted by bpkid

You don't, it can't happen.

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Erm, that's what the LOL was for, some guy once said that you should keep a python and a boa together to see if they can mate, I was like "WHAT!?"

Oh, I thought you were serious.

I was hoping you weren't :)

I think most of us here realize what a bad idea it is to house two snakes together. I was meaning the same snake room, not same enclosure. :)

Also, in reference to an earlier post, how many people do pay to have every new boa tested?

Testing for IBD actually requires a liver biopsy to find inclusion bodies... it can cost upwards of $150 per snake.

Oh I know how pricey it can be, that's why I asked how many people test as I don't think it's very likely at all.