Thought This Was Too Cute

[DC Reptiles]

Its not common, but it has happened. She could mistake the little one for food, one quick movement and stike and shes gone, would hate for you to lose her that way.

[LonelyGhost]

i had bp's also when i was 16....... i had a 150 gallon tank that i kept 5 ball pythons in for over 2 years untill i sold them all

Never had a problem and two were about 4 feet easily over 1000 grams and all the others were hatchlings

[LonelyGhost]

ill be careful though and monitor their time together. ill have to buy another tub for tangerine though so she isnt living with tinkerbell all the time

[DC Reptiles]

I"m not saying you will have a problem, I hope you dont

[Ch^10]

i had bp's also when i was 16....... i had a 150 gallon tank that i kept 5 ball pythons in for over 2 years untill i sold them all

Never had a problem and two were about 4 feet easily over 1000 grams and all the others were hatchlings

Poor snakes

The only time BPs should be housed together is when you are *intentionally* trying to breed them. BPs are extremely solitary animals; housing them together causes unnecessary stress. "Cuddling" is merely them fighting for the best hides, basking spots, etc.

After proper QT, a group photo shoot is fine, but extended or permanent housing together is asking for trouble.

Please give these wonderful animals the respect they deserve and provide them with their OWN enclosure.

[LonelyGhost]

Poor snakes

Please give these wonderful animals the respect they deserve and provide them with their OWN enclosure.

please dont make it seem like im being a bad owner. the tub is almost the size of a baby crib so its not like in cramping 2 snakes in a tiny rack type tub. when they had seperate cages they refused any meal both live or dead and since i have been caging them together they are eating like champs.

i let them out in my home all day to roam their enclosed room which is snake proof and completely empty except for the tub

[LonelyGhost]

even when i feed them they need to be placed in clear tubs side by side or they wont eat their rat(s)

either my snakes are weird or something more than meets the eye is going on between them... to be honest i wish i coulds speak snake cuz i would ask them

[OhhWatALoser]

Its just the simple fact that there are less potential problems with housing separately, so most of us wonder why wouldn't you house them separately? You might not have problems, but if you do, it will seem pretty silly then eh?

[LonelyGhost]

to clearify as to why i choose to keep them together.

I used to have them caged seperatly when i first got them. the tubs were originally clear and were placed directly beside each other on a shelf. The snakes were eating great (2-3 rats a week) and all was going well until Tinkerbell outgrew her tub and needed to me moved to a bigger one.

I bought a large clear tub but because both tubs could not fit side by side on my shelf they were moved around and that resulted in them both refusing food and staying curled up in the cold corners of their tubs.

I went out and bought a larger tub (almost the size of a baby crib) and made sure it was big enough that they would not fight over spots in the tub so i made sure there were 2 hot spots and 2 cool spots. During feeding time they are removed and placed in 2 clear tubs side by side so they can see each other otherwise they refuse their food until i move them.

They also have a whole room enclosed and snake proof just so they can be loose from the tub all day. I have yet to peek in and see them more than 3 feet from each other

[JLC]

To LonelyGhost -- You'll want to realize that most folks here are very passionate about the well-being of the pets we all keep, and housing ball pythons together is not usually considered a good idea. Therefore, anytime you demonstrate that you do so, you are likely to get many responses trying to explain to you that it's a bad idea. Some will be more diplomatic about it....some...less so. It's not a matter of judging you as a "good" or "bad" keeper, it's just a matter of wanting what is believed to be best for the animals, and doing their best to convince you of that. Some people, though, may be abrasive about it...just a heads up.

To everyone else -- Once you've said your piece about housing animals separately, then let it drop, please. Every keeper figures out what works best for them and that is what they are going to do. Beating them over the head with arguments doesn't help. (NOT saying any "beating" has begun in this thread yet...but we've all seen it happen before and I'd just like to head that off.) We all choose our own path and do what we feel is best for our animals...and those paths will not all be identical...ever. Give reasons for what you believe...but then it's up to the reader to decide for themselves...not up to us to force it down their throats.