Boas with Balls?

[Reinz]

I was just wondering if there was any more danger of fighting if a Boa and Ball accidentally got confined together, vs. two BPs?

My my first thought is no, but I'd like to hear from those with more or actual experience.

[DVirginiana]

My first thought would be about size difference. If the boa were a lot larger than a BP I'd think you might see a feeding response. idk, kind of an odd situation to think about.

[Gio]

This link is published to add and aid to the topic at hand.

It is not intended to promote any webpage, breeder or anything other than educate.

Moderators please remove if you feel the link is a violation.

Note the pictures and consider why most find keeping snakes together is a bad idea.


http://www.boa-constrictors.com/en/n...s_infos_page_3

[Gio]

I should also add, the accidental feeding response is not the only reason NOT house them together. They are a completely different species with some similar and some very different requirements. Do your research on this subject.

Neither species is a communal animal and they do far better as solitary captives, this includes being separate from their own kind unless breeding.

Diseases that are dormant for years in boa constrictors can pop up due to stress and be transferred to pythons and wipe them out.

I know this is a place to learn and ask questions, but if you read the care sheets provided on this very board, you'll see that housing, husbandry and feeding are all covered. You won't see a "green light" in any royal python care sheet stating it's OK to mix up species and house them together anywhere.

You will not find anybody with the animal's best interest in mind intermingling species. Typically the question pops up when somebody wants another snake, but wants to avoid buying more supplies.

If you are thinking of adding a snake to the collection, but looking for a way around separate housing, reconsider and buy the appropriate setup for your next animal.

Do not house them together!!!

[DVirginiana]

Oh, I thought the question was hypothetical (you know, like whether a vampire could beat a caveman in fight or something silly like that). Yeah, there are a thousand reasons not to mix species. I've seen that question so many times on all sorts of exotics forums and it's always been a bad idea.

The only successful interspecies cohabitation I've EVER heard of is between different species of garter or dekay's brownsnakes (all the same sex of course).

[Gio]

Yeah,

I wasn't sure how to take the question.

They don't fight within their species or against other species either (BC's and royals). There are some species that do combat, such as coastal carpet pythons, Darwin carpets and some of the others, but this is male combat prior to breeding and is natural.

[Reinz]

Thank you Gio!

As I said in the OP, "accidentally got confined together".

I would never house two snakes together. And I do realize that Boas need different husbandry.

I'm thinking about a Boa down the line as was just wondering.

And thanks for the Carpet info too! For some reason, those guys have been tugging at me too!

[Sauzo]

You'd love a boa. They are much more social than BPs, at least mine is. My little pied bp girl is active at night and when she smells a rat or if I take her out. My red tail boa will willingly come out when I open the cage door most of time and if not wanting to come out, she will at worst case sit with her head on the litter dam while I pet her head. She actually almost always will sit with her head on the litter dam if I open the door and I almost daily will leave the door open for hours while she sits there or stretches out along the dam and relaxes. If she is in her antisocial mode, she will just wander into her hide and curl up which means "leave me alone". Of course, I always took my boa out as a baby and did stuff with her on me so she is very socialized.

As for the OP question, as everyone else has said, don't house them or put them together for the reasons of disease, husbandry and accidental eating issues.

[Reinz]

Thanks for info and encouragement Sauzo!

Yeah, I really have a yen for a Boa, but I'm not going to do it until I have straightened out the room and made a specific spot for it.