two pythons together?

[oliverstwist]

can i keep two girls together or is there a way to intoduce them or how does this work?

I am looking at getting a second young girl and I was hoping I could keep them together becasue it seems that mates can be together without a hitch

[stratus_020202]

The problem with this is, one could become dominant. The dominant one would get the best hide all the time, and the other would most likely go off food. Especially if you plan on feeding them together in the same cage, they could get hurt.

[TheOtherLeadingBrand]

I wouldn't.

Plus, you want to quarantine the new one. Learned that the hard way for sure.

[wolfy-hound]

No. There's a lot of very good reasons why you should not house two snakes together.

They can become ill, and you would not be able to tell which one is ill, and they both would sicken if it was contagious. Two vet bills instead of one.

They will be stressed, because they are not social, and will instead attempt to dominate each other for the best hide, best food, and general space. This would appear to be them "hanging out" but it's really one trying to force the other to submit. Once you have a dominance issue, one will go off feed, or even regurgitate the meal, due to the influance of the second snake.

The stress can easily cause one or both to attempt to escape, even more than usual. As good as ball pythons are at escaping already, they don't need any added incentive.

Even when breeding, the male is put in only for a limited time, and during breeding season, the snakes often are uninterested in eating anyway.

There is no real good reason to keep two snakes in a cage together.

[oliverstwist]

thanks so much, i just didn't know if you could because i see babies at pet stores together.

Not social animals, got it

[stratus_020202]

I think babies are a different story. You can keep hatchlings together, but most people don't for very long. Also, pet stores are a different story all together. And if they get mites, they get them everywhere. Most of them don't even have hides, and the babies usually aren't there long enough for it to make a big difference. I have seen some unhealthy babies in my time though.

[rabernet]

thanks so much, i just didn't know if you could because i see babies at pet stores together.

Not social animals, got it

They're only together in pet stores as a temporary set-up until they are sold - not to be a permanent housing solution.