Thought This Was Too Cute

[LonelyGhost]

i am being careful and am now aware of the risk, but my 2 snakes seem happy and maybe they are just the odd balls of the ball python world... i dont know. but if its best for my snakes and keeps them healthy and gaining good weight then jeeze im willing to turn a whole room in my house into a ball pyton cage just to keep both of them pleased and healthy.

sometimes animals bond in the oddest way like a snake and mouse or lion and gazzel.... it happens thats the way our world works.

i appreciate all your guys input and will keep that in mind as a ball python owner because i do love my 2 girls and nothing means more to me than their care and their happiness

[Inknsteel]

Just so you know, snakes don't have emotions or feelings. What you think is cute and "cuddling" is actually the larger snake showing dominance over the smaller snake. I don't think they stopped eating because they couldn't see each other. The MUCH more likely explanation is that when you switched the tub, there was either something wrong with the environment (temps, humidity, not enough hiding places, etc) or they could have just been stressed from being moved.

You're really opening yourself up to BIG risks by keeping them together. Say one of them gets a respiratory infection... Well, you now have twice the vet bill because if one has one, the other is going to get it too... How about if one of them regurgitates a meal after you feed them and move them back. How are you going to know which one? And no, ball python cannibalism isn't COMMON, but there are documented cases of it. There are MANY more reasons that I don't have the time, energy or desire to list, but if you do a search here for "cohabitation" you will find all the reasons it's a bad idea.

There are a lot of experienced keepers - both hobbyists and breeders - on this site with decades and decades of experience, and I guarantee that not a single one would advise you to keep those snakes housed together long term for ANY reason.

[Doortech9]

Say one of them gets a respiratory infection... Well, you now have twice the vet bill because if one has one, the other is going to get it too....

Really? I wasnt aware that an RI was transmissable. (transmittable?)

[LonelyGhost]

to be honest i truely think all animals even reptiles have emotions. Im a huge animal lover and am well aquainted with affection from animals to humans and when i was 16 i had a ball python named russian rioulete. he loved going to school with me, curling at my stomach around bedtime, riding in cars and i sware he gave kisses.

If i asked for a kiss and made the kissy sounds he would touch his nose to my lips. He was a rescue and when i rescued him he had been abandoned in a trash heap, was completely blind and infested with ticks. he was my baby boy and i think he was honestly happy i was his owner and rescuer

[Egapal]

i am being careful and am now aware of the risk, but my 2 snakes seem happy and maybe they are just the odd balls of the ball python world... i dont know. but if its best for my snakes and keeps them healthy and gaining good weight then jeeze im willing to turn a whole room in my house into a ball pyton cage just to keep both of them pleased and healthy.

sometimes animals bond in the oddest way like a snake and mouse or lion and gazzel.... it happens thats the way our world works.

i appreciate all your guys input and will keep that in mind as a ball python owner because i do love my 2 girls and nothing means more to me than their care and their happiness

My biggest issue is that you say things like "seem happy" and "maybe they are just the odd balls of the ball python world." It seams like you are anthropomorphizing your snakes. The fact that you are willing to devote a whole room to your snakes is completely irrelevant. They don't need a whole room. Some animals do bond but snakes don't. What you are seeing is not bonding. You think its cute and have been calling it bonding for so long that you are not willing to accept it as anything else. At the end of the day its your decision but you have to ask yourself, when you say that you are willing to do anything for them, does that include research. How much have you read about ball pythons. I will leave you with this.

[LonelyGhost]

I have done research on co-ihabiting and cannibalization of Bp's and every care sheet and documentation i have looked at or read through says it is possible to keep them together although coihabiting is not always recommended. also everything i have read on cannibalism has been linked to under-feeding or feeding a snake food that is not adaquitly sized or feeding 2 snakes in the same cage.

my snakes eat 3 fat good sized rats every week (according to the snakes size), are always seperated in feeder tubs which are alos kept at 75-80 degrees. but still within view of each other at feeding time. i never feed them in the main tub because i do not want them to get aggressive if i reach in to touch them

TO EACH HIS OWN--- not all snake owners are the same and i would not do this with any other ball pythons unless i had real reason to belive the health of my snakes depended on it. I would rather risk these 2 co-inhabiting a very large tub rather than each of them starving which is what they do when seperated. i also have plenty to invest in vet bills should health issues ever arise

None of you own these 2 snakes so you can not possibly know exactly how they act when it comes to being seperated or together... its not pleasant


I AM BY NO MEANS SAYING I AM AN EXPERT BUT I AM AWARE OF THE RISKS AND HAVE DONE SOME RESEARCH.... IM NOT A NEGLAGENT PERSON RANDOMLY THROWING THEM TOGETHER.

[Egapal]

I have done research on co-ihabiting and cannibalization of Bp's and every care sheet and documentation i have looked at or read through says it is possible to keep them together although coihabiting is not always recommended. also everything i have read on cannibalism has been linked to under-feeding or feeding a snake food that is not adaquitly sized or feeding 2 snakes in the same cage.

I thought you said you had never heard of it?

ok ill keep that in mind. ive never heard of ball pythons canabalizing each other though

my snakes eat 3 fat good sized rats every week (according to the snakes size), are always seperated in feeder tubs which are alos kept at 75-80 degrees. but still within view of each other at feeding time.

That seams like you are overfeeding them.

i never feed them in the main tub because i do not want them to get aggressive if i reach in to touch them

Many people consider cage aggression, at least in BP's to be a myth.

TO EACH HIS OWN--- not all snake owners are the same and i would not do this with any other ball pythons unless i had real reason to belive the health of my snakes depended on it. I would rather risk these 2 co-inhabiting a very large tub rather than each of them starving which is what they do when seperated. i also have plenty to invest in vet bills should health issues ever arise

You said that your reason was that when you separated them they stopped eating. Since I have never seen any research showing that BP's bond in such a way it seams far more likely that there was a husbandry issue with the new setups or that the snake was on a fast from being overfed or just the time of the year. BP's are notorious for fasting. I don't see any evidence to support your causal link.

None of you own these 2 snakes so you can not possibly know exactly how they act when it comes to being seperated or together... its not pleasant

This is just flat out wrong. Its possible to make educated assumptions based on the body of knowledge concerning the multitude of other BP kept in captivity. Its unlikely in the extreme that yours are that different from every other BP.

I AM BY NO MEANS SAYING I AM AN EXPERT BUT I AM AWARE OF THE RISKS AND HAVE DONE SOME RESEARCH.... IM NOT A NEGLAGENT PERSON RANDOMLY THROWING THEM TOGETHER.

No one is calling you a neglagent person. We are all just trying to help. Please try not to take anyones posts as personal attacks. They aren't. We all have snakes that we love and care for as well. Sorry for the follow up post JLC but I have said my piece now and I will leave it at that.

[thedarkwolf25]

awww that is adorable

[LonelyGhost]

I know there is alot of controversy with reptile owners and most think reptiles like ball pythons are too simple minded to bond with anyone but when you own a dozen or so more ball pythons there is not enough time in your day to create a bond like some people belive there is.

I personally take my snakes everywhere with me... shopping, to the store, the park, etc and since i have only 2 yes i can devote a full day to handling them and giving them attention. Ball pythons are not just simple minded creatures because they recognize our scents from others, know our touch and the way we handle them. and can actually be tought to interact with their owners... it takes alot of time but when you have only 2 snakes and a whole day to do nothing you come to realize just how un-simple these animals are... they are very complex.

To be honest most people who own many snakes get that simple minded impression cuz they dont know all their snakes on a one on one basis... of course when in a tub they do nothing but honestly what is there to do in a tub but coil up and strike at food or whatever enters the tub itself.

[LonelyGhost]

I will not comment any longer because i feel you will not listen entirely to what i am telling you.

Im not an expert but im familier with my 2 snakes