what are d risk of having 2 bps in one enclosure?

[theartofsolitude]

same size, same age.. same kind, but different parents.

[Clint Bundy]

No risk that I know of. I have had 5 in a cage at a time but I seperate them for feeding. The cage is a 75 gallon tank with proper heating and humidity. I also had 4 hides that they all shared. I must preach quarentine the snakes before adding them though.

[FatBoy]

Some people do this but it is not reccomended. BPs are not known to be social animals. The major risk is stress and dominance, but there has been reports of cannabilism.

[angllady2]

Ok, here we go.

Truthfully, there are a lot of people out there who do this, but in my opinion it is not a good idea.

Firstly, ball pythons are not social animals, they only get together long enough to breed and are otherwise solitary. Housing two or more together is very likely to severely stress the snakes and cause them to go off feed or possibly induce sickness.

Second, if one snake develops a problem, it's going to be next to impossible to know which snake is sick. If one gets diarrhea, how will you know which one it is?

Third, while cannibalism is rare, it does happen. How would you feel to go to bed with two snakes, and wake up to one, or worse, one dead one?

Now I know a lot of people will tell you, as long as you have a big cage and hides and blah, blah, blah.....

Listen, if you've got room for one big cage, you have room for two smaller ones, so do the responsible thing and separate.

Gale

[hunter94]

Some things to worry about our Fighting, Feeding, Quarantine, Spreadings of sickness.

Each need there own separate feeding container or the risk of Cannibalism is increased.

You need to have a separate tank ready for quarantine or if one gets sick and if they fight.

Need to be able to go to the vet when ever because the chance of a sickness is increased.

[LP.]

Ok, here we go.

Truthfully, there are a lot of people out there who do this, but in my opinion it is not a good idea.

Firstly, ball pythons are not social animals, they only get together long enough to breed and are otherwise solitary. Housing two or more together is very likely to severely stress the snakes and cause them to go off feed or possibly induce sickness.

Second, if one snake develops a problem, it's going to be next to impossible to know which snake is sick. If one gets diarrhea, how will you know which one it is?

Third, while cannibalism is rare, it does happen. How would you feel to go to bed with two snakes, and wake up to one, or worse, one dead one?

Now I know a lot of people will tell you, as long as you have a big cage and hides and blah, blah, blah.....

Listen, if you've got room for one big cage, you have room for two smaller ones, so do the responsible thing and separate.

Gale

Thanks for saving me time of typing that out.
But you might want to edit something. Check out the bold.

[angllady2]

What do I need to edit? Not that I can. But in the case of cannibalism, best case is you wake up to one snake. Worst case is, you wake up to one dead snake because it died after or in an attempt to eat the other.

I saw a picture of that here. Turned out the one ate the other and then I guess died from to large a meal?

Gale

[cinderbird]

here is my canned reply on the subject.

That said, i do keep some animals that cohabitate. Just not my bps.

To quote another post on the exact same topic (PS: search feature is your friend). Take this post with a grain of salt, but please understand why it is better for your animals to each have a home, than to have to share one. (This post was also made for someone who was already housing animals together).

NO, you should not.

it is NOT good for the animals to be housed together. There are a multitude of reasons for this, including but not limited to the following;

1. You didnt quarantine your new addition and if its carrying something, chances are your older animal has it too anything from parasites, worms, sickness and disease, (even if there arent any symptoms yet)

2. Did you get these animals sexed from a reliable source? Or are you trusting the pet store.. This means you could have two opposite genders and you have the chance that they could now breed early causing the female (if one is a female) problems and possibly killing her

3. Cannibalism is known to occur in a few documented cases involving BPs

4. If one of your animals is sick, you probably wont know which one because you cant tell their feces/urates/regurges apart

5. If one gets sick, they both get sick and now you have to spend 2x the amount of money in vet care.

6. Actions we see as "cuddling" are actually one snake competing with the other. They both may be eating fine now but how long is that going to last? The smaller one is especially at risk for stress which could lower immune levels. They will constantly be competing for the best hide spots and best heating spots, etc.

housing two animals in one enclosure when they arent social isnt something novice keepers should do. Each animal should have their own space to thrive. If cost is the problem then maybe you need to take one back or rehome him until you can provide a sutible environment for any animal that comes into your home.

[hunter94]

What do I need to edit? Not that I can. But in the case of cannibalism, best case is you wake up to one snake. Worst case is, you wake up to one dead snake because it died after or in an attempt to eat the other.

I saw a picture of that here. Turned out the one ate the other and then I guess died from to large a meal?

Gale

Yes, you will most likely end up with 2 dead snakes if one try's to eat the other.

Also if your going to keep 2 together to save money you might wan't to look at using Plastic Containers for housing your snake. I think they would like it better then glass because they can't see out and they will feel more secure.

[LP.]

What do I need to edit? Not that I can. But in the case of cannibalism, best case is you wake up to one snake. Worst case is, you wake up to one dead snake because it died after or in an attempt to eat the other.

I saw a picture of that here. Turned out the one ate the other and then I guess died from to large a meal?

Gale

Just the way you worded it. Being a bit of an English teacher here.
I saw the same thing. Kind of gross.