Reptile noob needs help

[Rhyno7590]

I just recently adopted four ball pythons 1 normal 1 cinni 1 pastel and 1 spider. The pastel and spider are in quarantine because I just got them from the breeder today and the cinni and the normal I have had for about two months. Anyway I just switched their bedding from the zoo med brick of bedding to a thicker jungle bedding and all of them are going nuts. They are being 100 times more active than I have ever seen any ball. Is this good or bad .


Another question that I have is my pastel is only 8 weeks (60 grams idk why shes so small) and the spider is closer to 10 months (560 grams) is it ok to house them together? Same situation with my cinni and normal too but the cinni is almost 1100 grams and the normal is probably 200 grams... Again I just meet to know if is ok to keep the pairing how it is or do I need to change it

[Mft62485]

Not a good idea to house snakes together. They have been known to eat each other.
What qualifies a "thicker jungle bedding"?

[I-KandyReptiles]

An active bp usually means it is stressed. How are your temps and how are you set up.

Also, do not keep snakes together unless you are breeding them. And then, I'm sure they're only kept together for a few days.

[angllady2]

I am sure the sudden activity is due to the new surroundings and change of bedding. It happens and they should settle down soon if your husbandry is correct.

You should not house these animals together, not even if they are the same size. There have been reports of people doing it and being successful at it, but that is rare. More often it results in stressed out snakes that go off feed, become aggressive or worse, one eats the other. And yes, they will do that even if they are the same size. To me, whatever minimal benefits there may be to keeping two together is vastly outweighed by the numerous problems.

This is why most people who own four or more snakes invest in a rack system. This provides ample housing of individual snakes in the smallest amount of space. They can be bought or made.

Welcome to the site, and to being owned by ball pythons. I look forward to getting to know you better.

Gale

[Andybill]

I am sure the sudden activity is due to the new surroundings and change of bedding. It happens and they should settle down soon if your husbandry is correct.

You should not house these animals together, not even if they are the same size. There have been reports of people doing it and being successful at it, but that is rare. More often it results in stressed out snakes that go off feed, become aggressive or worse, one eats the other. And yes, they will do that even if they are the same size. To me, whatever minimal benefits there may be to keeping two together is vastly outweighed by the numerous problems.

This is why most people who own four or more snakes invest in a rack system. This provides ample housing of individual snakes in the smallest amount of space. They can be bought or made.

Welcome to the site, and to being owned by ball pythons. I look forward to getting to know you better.

Gale

Nailed it! I wish there was a little illustration for that too....