Hi, My name is Denise and I am new to the site.

[denise_geary]

I am fairly new to keeping Snakes. In the earlier part of this year I bought a female common Royal aged 1 and a female Enchi Royal aged 4 months. The breeder I bought them from had kept them together and being new to Snakes I kept them together too obviously feeding them apart. I did try to seperate them and they pined for each other so put them back together and they are fine. They cuddle up together to sleep, bathe in the same water bowl and follow each other around.
One thing the breeder had not told me was how fussy feeding they could be. I was pulling my hair out when Princess the Common Royal stopped eating for five months! I kept an eye on her weight and towards the end was going to get expert help to feed her when she decided to eat. She was eating rats before but will only eat jumbo mice now. With the rats we tried everything, warming them up, cutting in to the brain, both and other things ect.. but she will not eat them. Is it ok for her to just eat jumbo mice?
They are both in a four foot large viv and are happy in there. With feeding we take Pearl the Enchi out and put her in a tub. She is a striker but Princess was more gentle but now strikes too for her first mouse. The other mice we put in after she has taken the first and when she has finished eating the first she eats the others. They are both shedding well so there is no problem there.
I am looking forward to learning from you all and sharing any wisdom I have that will help others too.
Thanks for taking the time to read this x

[Streller]

Welcome to the forum and congratulations on becoming a reptile keeper.

Ball Pythons are not very sociable animals, so I'm not sure about them being together. The only times that ball pythons really interact with each other is when breeding season is on.

[Yodawagon]

They are not cuddling, the are trying to dominate each other.

[Megg]

They are not cuddling, the are trying to dominate each other.

Yodawagon is correct- what you're seeing isn't cuddling, it's competing for resources such as a place to hide, heat, and water. Welcome to the forums.

[Stormy]

I am fairly new to keeping Snakes. In the earlier part of this year I bought a female common Royal aged 1 and a female Enchi Royal aged 4 months. The breeder I bought them from had kept them together and being new to Snakes I kept them together too obviously feeding them apart. I did try to seperate them and they pined for each other so put them back together and they are fine. They cuddle up together to sleep, bathe in the same water bowl and follow each other around.
One thing the breeder had not told me was how fussy feeding they could be. I was pulling my hair out when Princess the Common Royal stopped eating for five months! I kept an eye on her weight and towards the end was going to get expert help to feed her when she decided to eat. She was eating rats before but will only eat jumbo mice now. With the rats we tried everything, warming them up, cutting in to the brain, both and other things ect.. but she will not eat them. Is it ok for her to just eat jumbo mice?
They are both in a four foot large viv and are happy in there. With feeding we take Pearl the Enchi out and put her in a tub. She is a striker but Princess was more gentle but now strikes too for her first mouse. The other mice we put in after she has taken the first and when she has finished eating the first she eats the others. They are both shedding well so there is no problem there.
I am looking forward to learning from you all and sharing any wisdom I have that will help others too.
Thanks for taking the time to read this x

You need to seperate them immediately; they are not cuddling, one is trying to dominate the other. Also they do not "pine" for another snake; they are solitary animals and are happier that way. They're are following each other around because again one is trying to dominate the other. This is a very stressful situation to keep these snakes in and could be why you're having feeding issues.

They are already stressed then moving them to seperate tubs to feed adds more stress which equals feeding issues.

Seperate them and get proper husbandry set up for each snake; you should see better feeding response and a lot less stress.

[AllThatInThemGenes]

I recommend the same as ^

Welcome to the forum, great place to learn and share your passion for snakes!

[PitOnTheProwl]

Please start: http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...ius)-Caresheet