Just got a big female bp

[NormalBallPythons]

I got her from my sister. My male is in a 55g tank. Can I put her in there too? She is bigger then my male.

[EverEvolvingExotics]

No, ball pythons are solitary animals. They will constantly be competing for the best heat source, hiding spot, and food. One snake always looses in the this situation. Also, you need to quarantine your new female to ensure she doesn't transmit any diseases over to your male. She might look healthy, but animals don't always show signs of disease initially.

Good luck. I would recommend reading as many care sheets as you can.

[NormalBallPythons]

Ok thanks. I have her in her own tank that came with her. It's to small for her that's why I asked about having them together.

[Kinra]

I don't recommend housing 2 ball pythons together, especially a male and female. Housing them together is going to make things a lot harder than they need to be. Also if they are big enough to breed they probably will and males will actually breed themselves to death.

You should also quarantine the new one in a separate room.

[EverEvolvingExotics]

Ok thanks. I have her in her own tank that came with her. It's to small for her that's why I asked about having them together.

How small is the tank? Most people don't recommend putting a BP in a 55 gallon.

[NormalBallPythons]

The new snake is in a 20g. She can't relax and uncurled. She is in the other room. She has room to move but doesn't seem to be a enough. That's why I figured her & my male would have plenty of room in the 55g.

[NormalBallPythons]

Also how long do I quarantine the new snake before introducing her to my male ball python? For breeding of course.

[Kinra]

Also how long do I quarantine the new snake before introducing her to my male ball python? For breeding of course.

You should quarantine for 60-90 days.

If you really want to breed you need to do research first. You need to make sure the female is actually big enough, decide what you are going to do with the babies, make sure you have room for the babies, know how you will incubate the eggs, ect...

There is a lot to breeding and you need to know what you are doing.

Also the 20g sounds like it is too small. You should look into getting larger housing for the female since you can't keep breeding males and females together all the time, as I said before males will breed themselves to death.

[kitedemon]

at the minimum 3 months and I personally do 6 to 8 months. There is new evidence that IBD may not kill as fast as most believed some say one year in light of this. I don't know anymore.

[NormalBallPythons]

Ok im holding off breeding. That's for the information. I'll do more research.

The snake I just got. Is in the 20g & they only used top heat lights. No UTH. This ok for a small tank? Until I get a bigger tank will the new snake be ok in the20g?

I have a small 1' bp in a 30g. Maybe switch them?

My two bp have UTH & heat lamps as needed.

The 20g doesn't.