Thought This Was Too Cute

[Foschi Exotic Serpents]

They are adorable. My only 2 cents on housing them together is this. If they simply refuse to eat unless they can see each other, then fine. Your snakes are the exception to the rule. As far as cannibalism. No it isn't common but when it does happen, it's a case if mistaken identity.

After a snake feeds, it is still in feeding mode. The scent of rodent on the other snake may cause a strike.

Here's a true story... My first snake was an albino Burmese. One night I had my boyfriend feed him while I was at work. This was 16 years ago when all pet stores told you to use a heat rock. My local reptile store at the time told me to wrap the heat rock in a hand towel to diffuse the heat and prevent burns. Well I get a panicked phone call at work that night from my boyfriend telling me my snake is trying to swallow the towel. It had gotten blood on it from the rat and Archon started swallowing it after he ate the rat.

I had to direct him over the phone on gently holding the mouth open and pulling the 6 inches or so of towel out of his throat without snagging his teeth.

It was a stressful time but he was ok. After that, I built him a custom cage with under cage heat and a screened heat lamp and got rid of that darn rock and towel.

All it takes is a scent.

[Kinra]

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.

I agree that they all have different personalities. Back when I only had 5 I knew how each one extremely well. I didn't do everything with them but I did spend 5-10 minutes discribing their different personalities to a friend. Now I don't know them as well because 1.) I have more and 2.) I've been working more. Every snake is different.

If housing them together works for you and them then all the power to you. I know how fustrating it can be when they don't eat, I have a small female currently on a one month hunger strike.

[A&S Reptiles]

Not telling you how to house them but giving you a story. I housed two ball pythons together at one point. One snake ate and the other didn't. The one who didn't eat must have smelled rat on the one who did eat so it struck and coiled the one who ate. I could've lost a snake. Thank goodness I had a friend to call and tell me what to do. Both snakes were fine but I could have potentially lost one or both. Just my input.

Good luck.

[Homegrownscales]

The main problems with housing a smaller animal with a bigger one is
1. Accidental suffocation. Laying on the hotspot big girl accidentally lays on little girl accidentally killing her.
2. Stress due to competition of space equals Ris, refusal of food.
3. Accidental canabilism

My take on it is housing a smaller baby with an adult is irresponsible. However you are doing things is irrelevant. In my opinion animals of like size should only be housed together. And the proper research needs to be done to accommodate for both. A 50 gallon tub just isn't going to do it. Therefor I can only assume you haven't done the proper research on cohabitation

[LonelyGhost]

i know i said i wasnt gonna reply anymore but i decided last night to try the seperate tubs again.

I had to clear off my whole shelf but i managed to get a 50 quart tub for tinkerbell and then i got one of those Reptile Critter Keeper cages for tangerine ( Large is 18" L x 12" W x 7" H)

so now they are sperated in those 2 tubs/containers but of course their cages are side by side so they can see each other like before... we will see how feeding time goes on sunday when they are sheduled to be fed their rat(s)... i hope this works and that they will eat

[PitOnTheProwl]

Dont let these guys get to you, as you can see some people here know what they are talking about and A LOT only know what they google, or hear from a friend of a friend.
We started with 2 together and one would eat and the other not as often. Guess what???
They are BOTH in tubs and one STILL eats and THE OTHER NOT SO OFTEN

[mark and marley]

id eat a human if i havn't eaten in five days.

but that is adorable.

[JLC]

... we will see how feeding time goes on sunday when they are sheduled to be fed their rat(s)... i hope this works and that they will eat

Just bear in mind that getting put into a new home can throw ANY ball python off its feed and it has nothing to do with a "lost companion". It's just how they are. They live life at a VERY different pace than we do. It can take them anywhere from several days to a couple weeks or more to settle into a new home and be confident that it's truly safe and secure.

I would not let the outcome of the first feeding day be "evidence" of whether or not they "miss each other." Give it at least a month....(I'd give it three or four months, myself)....and rule out any other environmental issues as possible cause for not eating....before deciding the separation must be the only cause of lost appetite.

[Inknsteel]

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

Well, I honestly posted in your thread and forgot about you 10 seconds later, but since you felt the need to NEGATIVE REP me for my post, I feel the need to come back here and refute that... So tell me, what evidence do you have that your snakes are "happy" or that they "bond" or "feel emotion"? Did you press your ear to their HUGE tank and listen when they slithered happily up to the glass and whispered sweet nothings in your ear? Again, YOU are projecting YOUR emotions onto an animal that doesn't have the capacity to feel emotions. Snakes are instinctual animals, meaning they act on INSTINCT, not emotion. They're hungry, so they eat. They need to pee, so they do. They don't stop eating because they're sad or because they miss their friends. They stop eating when their most basic needs aren't being properly met. So, the MORE LIKELY scenario is that your snakes stopped eating because there was something WRONG with their environment, not because they had the sads...

But you go on thinking what you will and I will await your post asking us why your snake is mad at you because when you just wanted a kiss, you got your face bit.

[LonelyGhost]

Inknsteel: there was and is no reason for your rudeness. there is really no need for having to refute a negative rep because once again we all have our opinions and in my opinion you did not handle that kindly. I bad rep'd you because of the rudeness you showed me. Everyone else portrayed their opinions in very civil and kind manners. My snakes have since been seperated and seem to be doing ok in tubs side by side which you would have known if you actually read a few post up